Articles

26.11.2010 Thrifty US shoppers move "just in time"

Major brand owners like Procter & Gamble and Del Monte are adapting to the "just in time" purchase behaviour now observable among many consumers. Economic prosperity brought with it a belief in stocking up - partly in the hope that bulk shopping, often on credit, would bring greater savings. However, recent unemployment figures, together with plummeting home values and depleted savings have, say marketers, convinced many that buying less, but more frequently, is the only way to keep afloat. So far, the impact of "just in time" buying on the corporate bottom line is mixed.

Smaller unit sizes generally mean higher prices in-store and higher profit margins for manufacturers, but as a Kimberly-Clark spokeswoman noted, potentially higher profits on smaller packs can easily be wiped out by the higher manufacturing costs involved. Over the past two years, the number of items kept in American pantries has fallen about 20%, according to a recent SymphonyIRI survey, and consumers are also cutting back on the range of goods they stock. The average household had 369 unique items in its medicine cabinets, pantries and cosmetics bags this year, compared with 404 in 2006, the survey found. Procter & Gamble has also been tracking consumers' pantries over the past two years, discovering that around one-third of them are changing their stock levels. Some 75% are cutting back, rather than adding extra lines. P&G expects consumers' leaner, pickier shopping habits to last.

B.L. 26.11.2010