More Shoppers Heading to Discount
Giant for
Electronics, Home Improvement & Grocery Items
Specialty Retailers Remain Strong but Lose Consumer Share to Wal-Mart
COLUMBUS, OH -- (MARKET WIRE) – 5/6/08 – Higher gas and grocery prices coupled
with an uncertain economic environment are driving more consumers to Wal-Mart
for electronics, home improvement and groceries according to the April Retail
Ratings Report from BIGresearch (http://www.bigresearch.com).
For the Electronics category, Wal-Mart had the highest year over year growth in
share of consumers that shop there most often for electronics, with 16% vs. 15%.
This growth gives Wal-Mart a Consumer Equity Index™ (CEI)* score of 107.15 in
the April Ratings. Best Buy saw a slight decrease in share from 28.6% in April
07 to 27.7% in April 2008 making their CEI 96.88. *CEI measures growth in
share year over year. An index of 100 is flat, while an index of 105 indicates
5% growth.
Home Depot continues to lead in the Home Improvement sector, but share of
preference declined from 28.6% in April 2007 to 27.6% in 08 with a CEI of 96.39.
Second place Lowe’s remains flat with a CEI of 100.46, while third place
Wal-Mart experienced relatively substantial share growth year over year with a
CEI of 111.97.
Wal-Mart maintains a strong lead in the Groceries category as consumer share
increased to 15.3% from 13.6% in 2007. #2 Kroger marginally weakens with a CEI
rating of 96.81 and #3 Publix experienced a steeper decline (83.98).
Wal-Mart is also picking up grocery shoppers with higher incomes. Among
households who report an income greater than $50K, Wal-Mart’s share of
preference as a grocer increased from 12.3% in 2007 to 13.5% in 2008.
Groceries (Shop at Most Often) – $50K+ Income
| Share | Share | Share | ||
| Store | Apr. 2007 | Apr. 2008 | +/- | CEI |
| Wal-Mart | 12.3% | 13.5% | 1.1 | 109.04 |
| Stop 'n Shop | 2.3% | 2.6% | 0.3 | 114.26 |
| Publix | 4.3% | 4.4% | 0.0 | 100.98 |
| Shoprite | 2.9% | 2.9% | 0.0 | 100.84 |
| Giant Eagle | 1.9% | 1.9% | 0.0 | 100.47 |
| Meijer | 2.5% | 2.5% | 0.0 | 99.72 |
| Costco | 2.1% | 1.9% | -0.1 | 93.73 |
| Kroger | 6.6% | 6.4% | -0.2 | 97.44 |
| Safeway | 3.6% | 3.2% | -0.5 | 87.44 |
| Albertsons | 2.7% | 2.1% | -0.6 | 78.57 |
Source:
BIGresearch, Retail Ratings Report, Apr 08
BIGresearch’s Retail Ratings Reports (RRR) are available monthly for 12 major
merchandise categories. They are developed from BIGresearch’s monthly Consumer
Intentions & Actions (CIA) Survey of over 7,500 online interviews. For a sample
of the April report for Electronics (all consumers and those with household
incomes less than $50,000), please click the following link:
http://info.bigresearch.com/.
About BIGresearch
BIGresearch is a
consumer intelligence firm providing analysis of behavior in areas of products
and services, retail, financial services, automotive, and media.
They conduct the
Consumer Intentions and Actions (CIA) Survey which monitors the pulse of more
than 7,500 consumers each month. The CIA delivers fresh, demand-based
information on where the retail consumer is shopping and their changing
behavior. They also
conduct the Simultaneous Media Survey (SIMM) which monitors over 15,000
consumers each month.
Contact:
Chrissy Wissinger
BIGresearch
450 West Wilson Bridge Road
Suite 370
Worthington, Ohio 43085
(614) 846-0146
chrissy@bigresearch.com