Survey reveals shoppers' attitudes to new products

45% of British consumers feel new products introduced onto store shelves do not fit their needs, but admit they can be influenced into changing their minds. The information was revealed from a survey conducted by Ipsos MORI, leaders in the consumer marketing research field. Their research further revealed shoppers are bewildered by choice - 51% of consumers feel there are too many varieties for the same brands nowadays - 36% say it is becoming increasingly difficult to find the items they want.

Tim Maton, Director, Ipsos MORI's specialist Retail Division said in the Retail Bulletin: "While consumer sophistication is ever increasing, more people seem to be getting confused and maybe even frustrated by the choice at point of sale. So it is very interesting and prognostic that 19% of people said they would be doing most of their grocery shopping on-line in the future compared to a base of only 5% at the end of last year".

Another interesting shopping habit unearthed by the survey is that 54% of British consumers said that items they buy on special offer or on promotion were things they would buy anyway. Three-quarters of UK consumers think products nowadays have too much packaging, and overall 57% said packaging nowadays is too difficult to open (rising to 71% of those aged over 45). 35% of people say it is rare that they bother to read any detail on packaging, and this is pretty uniform across all age groups and gender, suggesting impact and clarity of branding remain more important for most than the details.

The demise of the brand and the growth of store's own products are over-heralded, the survey revealed. Whilst nearly four in 10 British consumers say they will buy more store's own label in the future, a similar proportion still trust manufacturer brands more than store's own products. Ipsos MORI is part of the Ipsos group, the only independent, publicly-listed company in its field that is managed by research professionals. Founded in France, the company expanded both through organic growth and an aggressive strategy of acquiring companies which shared its worldview of inquiry and multiple points-of-view.