For most consumers! the biggest impact of economic strain is faced at the tills when paying for food. While official figures put national inflation at 9.4% in the UK! the prices of many food products are rising significantly higher than inflation: low-fat milk (26.3%)! butter (21.5%)! flour (19.3%)! pasta (15.9%)! eggs (11.5%)! bread (9.7%)! etc.
We’re talking about essential products for many people in the UK and most food products increasing below the national inflation rate are already sold at high markups! such as lager (2.0%)! confectionary (2.7%)! wine (1.4%)! etc. – and they’re still getting more expensive.
Again! this is reflected in the search data with
Google insights showing searches for “buffet price” increased by 300% over the past year and searches for “food pantry” grew by 100%.
Higher search volumes for “food stamp app” (80% YoY) and “menu with prices” (50% YoY) show food price sensitivity is increasing.
Key insights:
- Searches for “buffet price” have grown globally by over 300%
- Searches for “food pantry” have grown globally by over 100%
- Searches for “food stamp app” have grown globally by over 80%
- Searches for “menu with prices” have grown globally by over 50%
Planning for unforeseen life events
After several years of uncertainty and heading straight into recession territory! consumers are understandably thinking about unforeseen life events more than pre-pandemic times. Google data shows searches for “job vacancy near me” and “personal injury lawyer” have both increased by 100% over the past year.
Searches for “cost without insurance” have also increased by 50% – although this is largely driven by searches related to health insurance in the US – and searches for “whole life insurance” have grown globally by over 40%.
- Searches for “job vacancy near me” have grown globally by over 100%
- Searches for “personal injury lawyer” have grown globally by over 100%
- Searches for “cost without insurance” have grown globally by over 50%
- Searches for “whole life insurance” have grown globally by over 40%
Takeaways
Based on the insights we’ve looked at in this article today! here’s a summary of the key takeaways:
- Consumers are still ready to spend but they want to use their money wisely and prioritise important purchases.
- Quality is still important to consumers and retailers need to work harder to convince shoppers their money is worth parting with.
- Consumers focus on priority purchases – namely food! fuel and energy as prices increase across the board.
- People are still buying non-essentials such as holidays! domestic trips and experiences – a trend that could be boosted by the effects of lockdown measures and other Covid-19 factors.
- Conscious consumerism is still growing as awareness of the links between environmental and economic stresses increases.
- Consumers are more likely to shop around and buy from new brands that meet their changing priorities – an opportunity for companies to win new customers.
- Discounts can make all the difference as consumers pay more attention to budgets.
- Consumer priorities are changing and search data allows companies to keep up with demands in real-time.
- Some companies will thrive during this next economic challenge and! as we saw during the pandemic! it will be the businesses that react fast and smart.
Using search data to navigate difficult times
As we saw during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic! consumers were still spending money but they were spending it in different places. Current search data points to similar trends as we enter a new period of economic challenges. This crisis will affect different company types disproportionately in the same way Covid-19 was disastrous for restaurants but a boon for takeaways.
Search data reveals who the winners and losers of this economic crisis will be because it shows changing consumer demand in real-time. The same data confirmed takeaways and deliveries were the key lockdown opportunity long before this was being discussed in the press.
