While affluent consumers appreciate a good value just like lower income shoppers, they can afford to be more selective about product quality, variety, fresh foods and store choice. According to a Nielsen study, households with 100,000+ annual incomes patronize club stores like Costco and Sam's Club and upscale mass merchandisers like Target in search of a deal, as well as national and higher-end grocery chains that meet their need for fresh produce, meat, poultry and seafood, along with a great deli section and alcoholic beverage aisle.
"Affluent shopper DNA is all about product quality and variety, with value as an added bonus," said Todd Hale, Senior Vice President, Consumer & Shopper Insights for Nielsen Homescan & Spectra, an operating unit of The Nielsen Company. "Strong fresh food sections act like a magnet for affluent shoppers who make 56% more trips to purchase fresh produce, but the quality and selection have got to be there."
Analysts for Nielsen found that the typical affluent household trends toward larger white families with a household head working in a white collar job, where the female head of household is between the ages of 35-54, whose income is in excess of 100,000 per year and resides in one of 17 major Nielsen markets. According to U.S. Census estimates, affluent families now comprise 17% of U.S. households and are projected to escalate, reaching 22% by 2010.
While the affluent shop all the mainstream retail channels, they are more than twice as likely to patronize a warehouse club store and nine percent more likely to frequent a mass merchandiser when compared with households who earn 20,000 or less. Conversely, lower income households [<$20,000 per year] are 74% more likely to shop at dollar stores, 42% more likely to patronize a convenience/gas store, and 21% more likely to frequent a supercenter.
Wealthy shoppers have more to spend and willingly do so. The typical affluent warehouse club shopper spends 111 per trip, 46 more than a lower income household. The same high-spending trends holds for other formats as well: the affluent family register ring on a typical grocery trip is 47, on a mass merchandiser trip it's 56, and in both cases, represents 18 more per trip than a low income household.
Affluent shoppers are wired to consume, visiting CNN, ESPN, The Weather Channel, Google and AOL websites on a regular basis. Cable TV is another medium favored by the wealthy who are regular viewers of The Golf Channel, BBC America, CNN Headline News, CNBC and ESPN. They also tune-in to classical radio, news/talk programming, sports shows, jazz and alternative/modern rock offerings. Avid readers, their subscriptions include BusinessWeek, Money, Golf, Newsweek and Consumer Reports magazines.
