Grocery shopping is a complex and nuanced
task, in which many different variables affect the grand total of a
receipt. Because of the potential for greater profit, enormous amounts
of data have been gathered regarding the motives and habits of every
imaginable market segment. My study focuses on differences in shopping
habits between men and women, and America is currently undergoing a
large-scale shift in how these groups make purchases.
Foremost, I found it very interesting that men and women have
different objectives when they enter a store. Women are generally
geared towards the shopping “experience”, which goes beyond the
product for which they are shopping. Men are product driven, and seek
to obtain their item as quickly as possible, then leave the store.
Women see shopping as an inter-personal experience, where men are
focused on the practical aspects of obtaining the items they need.
This difference also affects what upsets each gender about a shopping
trip. Women are more likely to be upset by “lack of employee help”,
and it is the most common reason a woman will not return to a store.
Men are more likely to be upset by “lack of convenient parking” and
the absence of their desired product.
In recent years, men have increasingly become primary shoppers in
their households, but their numbers still do not compare to the number
of female shoppers. In 2008, men made up approximately 35% of grocery
shoppers. By 2015, men had grown to 43% of the primary grocery
shoppers for a household. This occurrence was exacerbated by the 2008
downturn, in which the majority of job losses were in male dominated
fields.
<http://www.fierceretail.com/story/43-men-are-primary-grocery-shoppers-their-homes/2015-02-13>
Grocery shopping volume is in large part a function of the day of the
week, and the time of day. Monday through Thursday are the days of
lowest sales for most grocery stores, and shoppers on these days are
more likely to be female, and older than median age. This is explained
by the presence of retirees and women making multiple trips over the
course of a week for their families. Weekends have a much higher sales
volume, and more men than women shop on these days, as well as age
being skewed down. Also worth noting is that over the course of a
normal business day (7AM-9PM), there is a negative correlation with
age as the day goes on, as well as a positive correlation with average
family income.
<http://timeuseinstitute.org/Grocery%20White%20Paper%202008.pdf>
The actual data of interest for my study
comes from a Nielsen report. At grocery stores, women spend an average
of $44.43 per trip, compared to $34.81 for men. At discount and dollar
stores, a $3 gap per purchase remains, with women spending more. At
warehouse and membership stores, women retain a $5 per purchase edge
over men. Between the years of 2004-2010, no noticeable change in
these disparities can be noted, but more recent data would be
necessary in light of previous findings in this paper.