Many Millennial Shoppers Playing “Grocery Chess”

Millennials are not simply cutting back in response to inflation and other cost pressures; they’re adapting in ways that are more deliberate, layered and sophisticated than expected, a new study by consumer data analyst Cashew concludes. “Such shoppers are building complex multi-store strategies, combining couponing, loyalty apps, sale tracking and advance planning to optimize each trip. It is no longer about a single store or a single habit. It is about coordinating multiple tools and choices at once,” says the report, titled “Grocery Chess: How Millennials Mastered Shopping.”

Some specific findings in that study, which is based on survey responses from almost 800 millennial shoppers (those aged across 30 to 45) in Canada and the United States, include:

• Such consumers are making intentional trade-offs within their baskets. 59% of millennials say they deliberately splurge and save across categories, spending more where it matters and pulling back where it does not. It is not about restriction. It is about prioritization.
• The decisions made by such shoppers are being shaped in real time, 78% of the respondents report purchasing a food item specifically because they saw it on social media.
• Millennials are being more pragmatic and responsive, cooking at home more to manage costs while still engaging with new products and trends. In true millennial fashion, these decisions are highly considered – shaped by research, comparison and the desire to get it right – even when it slows the path to purchase.

“This is a generation under pressure that has moved quickly into solutions mode,” says Addy Graves, CEO of Cashew. “They are feeling the impact, but they are also actively reworking how they shop to stay in control.”

Click here for the full report.