Digital CPG Blog

Photo Credit: Wall Street Journal.

There’s a new consumer shopping, and she’s all about receiving goods just-in-time, reports Ellen Byron of the Wall Street Journal. Byron describes customers that will eat out of their pantry and are averse to hoarding to save money, preferring instead to put more money towards savings or mortgage payments.

And now that the recession is showing signs of lifting, those consumer’s “antipathy to hoarding hasn’t changed. ‘I’ve stopped purchasing things just to have them on hand,’ [a consumer] says.”

No longer does buying in bulk seem like the best strategy to many shoppers to stay frugal.

“Consumers are saying, ‘I’m going to buy what I need for a specific period of time,’ rather than loading up and buying two or three extra units just because they can get a good price on it,” says Richard Wolford, CEO of Del Monte Foods Co. He calls the phenomenon “need it now.”

“Procter & Gamble Co. has been tracking consumers’ pantries since mid-2008, believing them to be a reliable gauge of how the recession has changed shoppers’ behavior,” Byron reports. “About one-third of consumers are changing their pantry levels, P&G’s research indicates, with about 75% of those cutting back on inventory.”

“There’s almost a confidence and pride in the ability to make tailored choices for themselves,” says Joan Lewis, P&G’s global consumer and market knowledge officer.

As someone who has been shopping like this for years, I highly recommend you go and read the entire WSJ article. And then, let us know what you think – are you seeing the shopping habits of your consumers change? Have your own changed?