Men like it fast and cheap when buying groceries

Men are less likely to open their wallets when shopping for food, preferring to rack up the bargains instead, according to research into consumer habits.

While men appear to be more price-conscious, women are more concerned with healthy purchases.

They also admit to spending longer in-store than men, though not by much. Women take an average of 41 minutes to complete the shop, only five minutes longer than men.

Fewer than half of adults make a shopping list and stick to it. On average, journey time to the supermarket takes around 13 minutes. Most of the main grocery shopping takes place between 2pm and 3pm, while most top-up shopping is done at 6pm.

Ready to hear the latest on shopper outdoor from our research with @KineticIreland #shopperooh pic.twitter.com/QHyG9dbPTP

— MindshareIRL (@MindshareIRL) October 23, 2014

The survey employed the latest in eye-tracking technology, which essentially measures what someone looks at and how long they look at it for.

Shoppers in Cork and Dublin were shown footage of a typical trip to the supermarket taken from a customer’s point of view.

The eye-tracking component then tracked second-by-second eyeball movement and iris focus to see what caught people’s attention the most.

The participants were also asked to fill out questionnaires after watching the video.

The majority of people go grocery shopping less than twice a week, while those who like to buy fresh produce go up to three times a week.

Those over the age of 30 are more likely to buy leading brands, apparently, and are more likely to use loyalty cards or vouchers than younger shoppers.

Those behind the research, Kinetic, Mindshare, and GroupM, wanted to gain insight into consumer shopping patterns, specifically in relation to out-of-home advertising — that which is seen “on the go” in public places.

Gráinne Dilleen, communications director in Kinetic, said the project provided a valuable insight into how consumers interact with this advertising. Hilary Tracey from Mindshare said they can now improve the relationship between products and consumers.