Baby Boomer Segmentation:

Gas Price Hikes continued from page 34
Chart 2: Dollar stores decline, Club &
Supercenters increase
% household shopper penetration
Warehouse
50
50
52
2001
2005
mid-2006
Supercenters*
51
5861
Dollar
Drug
Mass Merch
Grocery
Source: ACNielsen Homescan & Spectra
*Includes Kmart, Target & Wal-Mart Supercenters
59
67
65
86
83
83
95
87
85
100
99
99
Value pricing assumes even more importance in this volatile
climate, and promotions touting at-home family fun nights,
home-cooked family meals and at-home entertaining concepts
accelerate to the front of the strategy options.
Changing habits
Consumers also cited other budget-stretching adjustments to
their shopping and purchasing patterns. Among them are
patronizing supercenters to buy in bulk at lower unit prices,
clipping coupons to capture available savings, and switching
to less expensive grocery brands.
Premium and mid-grade gas patrons downgraded to regular.
Warehouse club stores and Internet shopping options both
benefited from the desire to keep the lid on the gas tank and
spending.
Homefront, workfront
A Florida State University professor explored different
aspects of the fallout from gas prices, discovering that 44%
of the 300 employed consumers surveyed worried about
making ends meet; 41% were paying off debt more slowly
and 25% had gone without basic necessities like food and
heat to conserve funds.
When queried about how changes in their financial picture
affected their job, results were alarming. Respondents cited
negative outcomes across the board, related to more stress
at home. They were less enthusiastic about work and their
employer, less agreeable and helpful to others, less productive,
more sensitive to daily irritants at work and more
depressed overall.
Penetrating insights
Dollar stores, once on a seemingly unstoppable expansion
trajectory, actually experienced a two percent decline in
household penetration, the sole exception among the
“value” channels to lose ground. In a surprising turn
of events, this represents the first decline in dollar store
shopper penetration since we first began tracking the
channel. ■ See chart 2.
This is surprising on the one hand, because gas price
increases that affect those on fixed incomes and with
modest means (the prototypical dollar store shoppers),
might be expected to drive more consumers toward
dollar outlets. It is less surprising in the context of trip
consolidation, where shoppers try to meet all their needs
in the fewest trips possible. The limited food and beverage
assortment and lack of fresh foods at most dollar stores
may be the force behind the decline.
36 Fall/Winter 2006