Cost of Living: Irish parents switching supermarkets to save money on the weekly shop

According to a survey of 800 parents, Irish families are clearly moving towards offers and discounts wherever they can get them in order to be able to afford to feed their family healthy meals

Irish families report feeling the pinch when it comes to grocery shopping.

It was interesting to see research just released about shoppers and offers and vouchers. The research, commissioned by Aldi Ireland found half of Irish shoppers claimed to have intentionally overspent, shopped more frequently or bought something they didn’t need to qualify for supermarket money-off vouchers.

Our own ParentsandBrands research with over 800 parents, who are all key household grocery shoppers, contradicts these findings quite a bit.

We asked parents to share their views on their weekly food shop habits, loyalty programmes and the impact of price rises. Parents gave feedback on what would make them change where they shop, weekly grocery shop costs and which offers they prefer.

We found that parents are feeling the pinch from price rises on their weekly food shop, particularly larger families with more kids to feed, and that they are actively searching for ways to save on their weekly shop as prices rise.

There is a move towards more price-checking, switching products to save, looking actively for deals and offers, and even changing stores to reduce costs.

Just under one-third (31%) of parents now choose where they shop based on vouchers they receive, with 23% mentioning using their supermarket’s app for deals.

When it comes to shopping around 28% of parents said they have started doing this more compared to last year.

“I’ve seen a big increase in prices in store and I have to shop around more often which means it’s time-consuming but worth it to get the best value for my family.” 

Of the factors that would encourage parents to switch the main supermarket they used, top of the list were offers with 71% saying these would encourage them to change where they do their main grocery shop, not surprising in our current climate of price rises.

Half of parents (49%) said price increases would make them switch, while 31% cited either a new loyalty scheme or new store nearby as a reason to switch.

“Things have definitely gotten more expensive over the last couple of years and we have used probably every supermarket in our area to try and keep costs down. We find that switching regularly can make a difference.” 

Parents are definitely noticing the pinch in their purses as grocery bills rise. 70% of parents said they had noticed price increases, resulting in many now actively shopping around to keep to the same spend.

The research showed that 30% of parents are now actively comparing prices on products or looking for offers in-store compared to last year, with an increasing number of parents opting for more own brand products instead of the traditional brand favourites.

“I have noticed significant increases in some products. I look to other product lines or change product type to get better value. Also I wait and stock up when things go on offer. Also avail of 3-for-2s to stock up and reduce weekly cost.” 

When it comes to deals and offers on products, 6 out of 10 (63%) parents said they deliberately look for offers on products they like while over half of parents said they stock up when they see deals.

Parents were asked in more detail what particular offers they prefer. Money off the grocery bill was most appealing followed by multi-buy or Buy One Get One Free offers.

Other offers that would make a real difference to parents’ shopping habits would be money off the weekly essentials - tea, coffee, eggs, butter, etc. along with discounts off the cost of healthy items to encourage more healthy eating, and also family meal deals.

“I think dinner deals, like meat, potato and veg for family of four would be great. Or lunch deals for school - like crackers, cheese, yoghurts, snacks etc.” “More offers on fresh fruit, veg and bread, would encourage healthier eating and cooking from scratch.” Final Thoughts There’s no doubt this is a hot topic at the moment with parents, what with costs rising across all household spend categories from energy to consumer goods. But when it comes to feeding the family, that has to be done every day!

The price of food affects every family meal throughout the day, from breakfast to lunches to snacks to supper. Parents are clearly moving towards offers and discounts wherever they can get them, in order to be able to afford to feed their family healthy meals.

As one parent said, “I’m now buying cheaper cuts of meat and using the slow cooker as the meat is more tender when cooked in the slow cooker. Also – I’m constantly checking the “must go” sections in the shops as they have food that’s about to go out of date greatly reduced. We have three teenagers who are constantly hungry so the rising price of food is a concern.”