Brand equity needed to win over shoppers

He says this is key to winning over Singaporean shoppers, who have become more discerning about prices.

“At the same time, they are developing more reward-based programs to incentivise repeat purchases to attract or retain shoppers,” he told Campaign. “More crucial than ever, now is the time to step up initiatives to enhance brand loyalty to drive volumes and command a stronger share of wallet.”

The Nielsen Shopper Trends survey showed that Singaporeans are the second most price-senstive shoppers in Southeast Asia, after Malaysia. Some 13 per cent of Malaysian shoppers claim to know all the prices of items they buy regularly.

In Singapore, the average household expenditure on food, groceries and personal care items is on a downward trend across all income groups, indicating that shoppers are more cautious in their spending.

On average in 2010, households spent approximately US$447 on food, groceries and personal care items monthly, of which over half was spent on fresh food. This represents a seven per cent decline from 2009 and a four-year low.

Some 63 per cent of shoppers indicate they are promotion-seekers when it comes to shopping for food, groceries and personal care items.

They will change stores due to promotions (12% of respondents indicated this), search for promotions (45%) or buy different brands on promotions (6%).

Supermarkets continue to have the biggest market share as they remain the key channel for shoppers to buy their food items (70%), followed by Convenience stores (10%).