In this report we look at shoppers’ behaviour both before and after the shop but not at their behaviour whilst in-store. We will see how shoppers plan their grocery shop (if at all) and how much food they have in their homes in stock. Then we take a look at when individual meals are planned. Specifically, we will look at Food & Grocery shoppers’ behaviour in relation to: Stock Items – Overview of two meal occasions Planning Shopping trips – When and how trips are planned, and how they differ to the actual shop that happens Shopping lists – The types of shopping lists that are used and the mission they are used on Planning meals – When meals planning occurs and how far in advance individual meals are planned

1. www.evolution-insights.com
Shopper Planning & Lists 2013
Evolution Insights Ltd
Prospect House
32 Sovereign Street
Leeds
LS1 4BJ
Tel: 0113 389 1038
http://www.evolution-insights.com

2. • Evolution offer a range of products & services for
clients in the field of shopper research:-
• Off-the-shelf research
– Evolution’s off the shelf research
publications deliver affordable insight
into shopper motivation and
behaviours in UK food, drink and
grocery
• Insight Plus
– Insight Plus offers your business the
opportunity to engage in any of our
regular shopper research projects in
advance of publication, tailoring the
scope to suit your needs
• Bespoke Consulting
– As publishers of research, we are able
to draw upon a wealth of existing
proprietary data for consulting projects
– helping to better inform and shape
any further research requirements.
Evolution is a leading research consultancy specialising in shopper motivation and behaviour. We deliver off-the-shelf, tailored and bespoke
research for manufacturers, retailers and agencies.
Further information is available at our
website http://www.evolution-
insights.com
Visit and sign up for Reflections, our free
quarterly newsletter offering analysis and
commentary on topical issues
About Evolution Insights
As a leading publisher of shopper
research, we are ideally placed to
offer your business actionable
shopper insight.
Our research and analysis helps
clients develop targeted shopper
marketing initiatives designed to
influence shoppers at the point of
purchase.
We use a range of research
methodologies to discover genuine
insights. Our research incorporates
a broad spectrum of robust
qualitative and quantitative
research techniques.
www.evolution-insights.com

3. Contents
www.evolution-insights.com
Key Findings & Summary 5 Planning Meals 41
Introduction 42
This Report.. 7 A Guide 43
When Meals are Planned 44
Stock Items 9 Breakfast 45
Introduction 10 Evening Meal 46
Breakfast 11 Summary 47
Evening Meal 13
Demographics 15 Methodology 49
Summary 17
Glossary 52
Planning Shopping Trips 18
Introduction 19
Impulse Purchases 20
When Shops are Planned 23
Shopper Diaries 24
Fully Planned Categories 25
Planned Items Vs. Purchased Items 27
Influences on Planned Purchases 28
Planning 29
Planned Consumption 33
Summary 34
Shopping Lists 35
Introduction 36
Brief Introduction 37
Lists, by Mission 38
Examples 39
Summary 40

4. What This Report Will Cover
www.evolution-insights.com
In this report we will look at Food &
Grocery shoppers behaviour in relation to:
• Stock Items – Overview of two meal
occasions
• Planning Shopping trips – When and
how trips are planned, and how they differ
to the actual shop that happens
• Shopping lists – The types of shopping
lists that are used and the mission they are
used on
• Planning meals – When meals planning
occurs and how far in advance individual
meals are planned

5. Stock Items - Breakfast
www.evolution-insights.com
How long will
your current stock
of Breakfast foods
last?
96
89
74
60
48
41
36
95
86
69
48
44
36
29
0
20
40
60
80
100
1 Day 2 Days 3 Days 4 Days 5 Days 6 Days 7 Days+
You/Partner Children
We look here at how long shoppers can go without replenishing their
stock of foods. The graph below shows that shoppers have a lower stock
of breakfast foods for their children than for themselves/partners. As
we can see, 36% of shoppers could go 7 or more days before they
replenish their stock of breakfast foods for themselves/partners,
compared to only 29% who can go this long without buying anymore
breakfast for their children.

6. There are many theories as to why we buy items that we hadn't planned to. Here we look at some theories as to what
causes impulse buying and what can affect it.
Planning Shopping Trips - Impulse Purchases
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Are we attracted to fancy packaging?
According to a recent study, shoppers base over 75% of their decision
making on the attractiveness of the packaging. Apparently, even
shoppers that use a list cannot resist the temptation caused by a fancy
package. It is not unknown that shoppers often change their
behaviour in-store from what they intended to do to what they end up
doing, however, it wasn’t clear that impulse purchases are so often
based on these subliminal cues. F this is the case, manufacturers can
capitalise on this by creating more visually pleasing products.
Source: POPAI
Are unplanned purchases as
unplanned as we think?
Not according to US researchers who
questioned various shoppers what they
plan to buy and how much they think
they will spend. They found that ¾
shoppers bought more items than they
had expected, but didn’t exceed their
predicted spend. Researchers attributed
this to what they called ‘in-store slack’ –
where shoppers know they will find
items they want when they are in the
shop, or things they have forgotten and
so have technically ‘planned’ to buy
extra items.
Source: Journal of Consumer Research
Mobile Blinder
A drop in impulse sales at the till in recent years is being blamed on
the increasing use of smartphones. While traditionally, shoppers made
impulse purchases at the till of chocolate and magazines, they are now
too busy staring at their phones to notice the treats around them. This
phenomenon is being dubbed the ‘mobile blinder’, and is said to be
the reason for the sharp fall in magazine sales in the US.

7. An impulse purchase is one that is not pre-planned. The decision to buy the item is done so almost immediately before
the purchase takes place. At Evolution, we define impulse purchases, or ‘unplanned’ purchases as the following:
Planning Shopping Trips - Impulse Purchases: Definition
www.evolution-insights.com
Fully-Planned
Purchases
Semi-Planned
Purchases
Unplanned
Purchases
Written list
Mental list
I realised I
needed it
whilst in-store
It caught my eye
I fancied a treat
Other
Cheaper price than
expected
It was on offer

8. On the following pages we summarise the number of items planned to be bought, the number of planned items which
weren’t then bought and the final number of items purchased for each mission.
Shopper Diaries – Planning, Trip Summaries
www.evolution-insights.com
No. Items Planned
x items
(average x items per
trip)
No. Items Planned
but not bought
x items
x% of planned items
No. Items Bought
x items
(average x items per trip)
x % of planned total
This is the % difference
between the number of items
planned to be bought and the
number actually bought
This is the % of items
which were planned to
be bought but then not
purchased

9. It is interesting to see how the use of shopping lists changes by mission. Here we can see that use of written lists
correlates with an (typical) increase in size of shop.
Shopping Lists – By Mission
www.evolution-insights.com
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
I use a hand-
written list
I don't use
shopping lists/just
have a mental list
I create a list on
my computer and
print it off
I use the notes
section on my
mobile phone
I have an app
designed to create
my shopping list
Other
Main shop Top up MFT
%
I just see what's
cheap
As far as food goes I see
what is in the shop that
takes my fancy then plan
round that
I make a list and forget to
take it, then just hope
I've got everything
I like the variety I get from
choosing from the reduced
price ready meals on their use
by date
I see what's on offer
Shoppers use of lists, by mission:

10. Methodology
10www.evolution-insights.com

11. Secondary and desk
research
Shopper Diaries
Preliminary
quantitative survey
Main quantitative
survey
Focus groups Insights
Evolution carried out a preliminary survey of
100 shoppers , to test questions for the main
survey.
Detailed secondary and desk research was
conducted to define the digital shopper
marketing landscape, macro drivers and
trends, scope and examples of initiatives to
date.
Initial insights gained were used to help
further design the main survey.
The main survey was completed by 1193 UK
adults who said they regularly shop for food
& grocery. 40 Shopper diaries were
completed over a calendar month.
Comprehensive and detailed assessment of
all the data received was then used to
discover insights.
Throughout this process, primary research
was supported by secondary research
drawing on Evolution’s proprietary
databases, national statistics, news and
industry resources.
Evolution’s consultants also maintain close
relationships with industry figures across
retailers and manufacturers.
Methodology
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Evolution’s methodology

12. Detailed shopper insights were gained from
a survey of 1193 UK adults who say they
regularly shop for food and grocery and own
a smartphone. The samples were fully
representative of the UK population.
The survey contained 11 questions relating
to shopping lists, planning grocery shopping
and stock items – in addition to standard
demographic profiling questions.
The questions were designed to give
maximum insight into shoppers level of
planning of their grocery shop and how and
when meals are planned, along with the
levels of stock items shoppers have in their
homes.
The survey was carried out online during
February 2013.
Methodology: quantitative survey
www.evolution-insights.com
Stock items (specific meals)
Stock items (days until replenishment)
Use of shopping lists
Planning evening meals
Planning main shops
Planned meals (breakfast & evening meal)
Demographic profiling
Topics of questions in quantitative survey

13. This presentation is a Sample
Extract. Full Report 52pages.
For Details on the full report please
contact dale.henry@evolution-
insights.com
Evolution Insights Ltd
Prospect House
32 Sovereign Street
Leeds
LS1 4BJ
Tel: 0113 389 1038
http://www.evolution-insights.com
Evolution Insights: Shopper Insight Series
SAMPLE EXTRACT

14. Contact us
Evolution Insights Ltd
Prospect House
32 Sovereign Street
Leeds
LS1 4BJ
Telephone: 0113 336 6035
e-mail: craig.bradley@evolution-insights.com
Web: http://www.evolution-insights.com
Company No. 07006001
Country of Incorporation: United Kingdom
www.evolution-insights.com