Changing habits

Changing habits

According to a recent survey, many consumers in the UAE are dumping their favorite grocery brands to save money.

January 10, 2010 4:38 by Aarti Nagraj

“Luxury brands should not be changing their methods. The prices they charge are very much focused on the basis of the brand. And if the brand falls, that would destroy their value. The luxury brands really have to maintain their standards now, or in the good times, consumers will feel cheated that the brand is being devalued,” he says.

On the other hand, he believes, brands with mid-market appeal have to focus on value right now, which will help them reach out to consumers.

Not surprisingly, the report found that 68 percent of consumers in the country have started closely monitoring whether they are getting value-for-money from their purchases, and 34 percent have also started to use shopping lists to control spending. Another 38 percent said they planned to actively limit the number of shopping trips they make. And 41 percent said that they have started cooking from scratch at home in a bid to reduce their reliance on convenience foods.

Research by Nielson released last month also showed that, although sales (by volume) of fast-moving consumer goods in the UAE increased in 2009, the growth rate was much slower than 2008. Sales growth of food items fell from 30 percent during the first eight months of 2008, to 11 percent during the same period in 2009.

Home-care items saw a 15 percent sales growth during the same period as compared to 26 percent in 2008. Sales growth for personal care products decreased from 23 percent between January and August 2008 to 8 percent during the corresponding period in 2009.

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Tags: brands, consumer, loyalty, shopping, trends, UAE