ACNielsen says that large retailers in the region have increased retail space by 40 per cent at the expense of small stores

These are part of the findings on Shopper Marketing Solutions and Shopper Trends, its industry-leading retailer equity measurement service in the region.

Shopper Trends is a global study which was conducted in 5 countries in the region including Saudi Arabia. It enables comparison with other retail markets around the globe and provides local insights. The study aims at understanding shopping behaviour and determines factors that drive store equity.

Regional retailers are becoming larger and more sophisticated. They are innovatively managing price perception, ensuring consumer loyalty and varying the means to influence purchasing habits of shoppers.

"While the selling area of small groceries in Saudi Arabia declined 18 per cent over the last 5 years, in the UAE they have maintained their selling space. This is due to the fast paced lifestyle of the UAE shopper which makes them seek convenience," commented Piyush Mathur, Managing Director, ACNielsen Gulf.

Shopper Trends allows major grocery and supermarket retailers to accurately assess the impact of shopper attitudes on their brand equity, on the loyalty of their shoppers and on actual sales.

It sheds light on issues like store loyalty, brand and store equity management and store relationship with customers. It also provides shopper comparisons by store chain, consumer shopping dynamics and behaviour and direct mail recall.

Shopper Profile trends point to the importance of focussing equally on males and females during the purchase process. Three-quarters of shoppers can be labelled as loyal modern shoppers while another 16 per cent are mixed shoppers. Shoppers are increasingly willing to try new products and constantly compare store offers. Brand substitution is a particular threat for manufacturers in the categories of snacks and confectionery.

9 in 10 shoppers claim to bulk shop on average once every three weeks. Additionally, 85% of shoppers state that they engage in minor shopping twice a week. Retailers need to consider that top-up shopping is still a frequent happening among modern shoppers.
"Shopper Marketing is a global trend making inroads in the Middle East," added Piyush. "This is driven by a number of market trends emerging in the Middle East such as growth/launch of private label, fragmentation of media, especially TV, and an increase in supermarket sales. Manufacturers are actively reaching the shopper in-store, with their 'first impact'. The phenomenon has begun in the Middle East and is likely to strengthen going by the growth of the top end retailers. Manufacturers wish to evaluate how their trade spending benefits them and are keenly interested in understanding their return on investment - that is where we come in."

Some of studies conducted by ACNielsen in the Western World with developed Retail trade found that two thirds of all buying decisions are made in-store and shoppers decide on what to buy within a minute.
ACNielsen Shopper Marketing Solutions are aimed at the rapidly growing retail business in the region and helps retailers, supermarkets/ hypermarkets, brand manufacturers and retail managers to effectively increase sales.
Insights from Shopper Trends can help retailers and manufacturers in a number of actionable areas. For a retailer, understanding the components of their equity can reveal what truly drives shoppers to their stores and what weaknesses may be exposed by competitive actions. For a manufacturer, Shopper Trends can help identify key brands for retailer equity, and can differentiate attitudes among category and brand shoppers.