Grocers Woo Holiday Shoppers With Targeted Discounts

Grocers looking to boost holiday sales would do well to offer seasonal deals.

By the Numbers

Research from PYMNTS’ recent study “New Reality Check: The Paycheck-To-Paycheck Report — The Holiday Shopping Edition,” created in collaboration with LendingClub, which draws from a survey of more than 3,400 U.S. consumers about their holiday season spending, finds that nearly half (46%) of shoppers spent more on groceries last holiday season than they did the rest of the year. Plus, a considerable share (38%) expects to spend more this holiday season than last.

To meet the needs of these holiday season shoppers, grocers will need to offer special pricing incentives. Sixty percent of those surveyed said that discounts or sales are an important factor when choosing where to shop during the 2022 holiday season. A similar share said the same of lower prices.

What Insiders Are Saying

This demand for special deals is also affecting how consumers shop, steering them away from digital channels, such that targeted online coupons could help drive omnichannel engagement.

In an interview with PYMNTS, Barbara Connors, vice president of commercial insights at 84.51°, the marketing insights subsidiary of grocery giant Kroger, shared how increasing cost-sensitivity affects adoption of eCommerce channels.

“We know that very price sensitive customers are those that have lower engagement with eCommerce and are lower on the adoption curve, and those are the customers that are most likely to go into a store,” Connors said. “And one of the reasons is because they are looking for sales, deals and coupons, and it is easier for them to do that in-store than online.”