So far 2020 has not been the best, with all of us suffering from the effects of the Covid pandemic, in one way or another; and despite the Lockdown being eased, although there remain localised hot-spots, Social-distancing is still with us and, it could be argued will be so for a few more months to come, probably up to Christmas.
Sector growth + Big shift to on-line!
All of which has impacted on UK grocery, both in terms of problems and opportunities, with some sectors like, healthy eating, alcohol and BBQ seeing significant growth, whilst other areas struggle. Lifestyles and shopping patterns have also changed with three-quarters of households now ordering, at least some of their groceries on-line, resulting in a significant shift back towards big weekly shops, although paradoxically younger consumers are also shopping more at convenience stores.
Is in-store sampling dead?
These changes have also impacted on both retailers and brands capacity to engage with consumers with the likelihood of experiential store sampling returning in any meaningful form in the near future being pretty remote. In fact many industry analysts are predicted the complete demise of in-store sampling and possibly car-park activity as well!
