by webSaver
June 3, 2024
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Canadian consumers have been grappling with rampant food inflation since 2021, peaking at over 9% in May 2023. Combined with fast rising interest rates that were implemented to attempt to tamp down overall inflation, many Canadian consumers are in the difficult financial position of having to make hard choices when feeding their families.
Over 50% of Canadians now prioritize the cost of food over its nutritional content and 86% now identify themselves as more price conscious. Just over half of Canadians (55%) have adopted multiple money saving strategies with 79% using a grocery store’s loyalty program, followed by 75% using grocery coupons. Canadian consumers have never been more open to promotional offers from their favourite grocery brands.
Now there finally seems to be some good news on the grocery inflation front and overall. According to Statistics Canada the general inflation rate was 2.7% in April 2024, down from 2.9% in March and trending in the right direction. The 1.4% increase in food purchased from stores is the lowest since July 2021. And this is the first time since November 2021 where the food inflation rate, at 2.3% has fallen below the overall inflation rate of 2.7%. One would think this is good news.
Interestingly Canadian consumers believe that inflation at the grocery store is actually getting worse, even though the official numbers reflect the opposite. A recent survey by Leger indicates that two thirds of Canadians (64%) believe food inflation is worse now than a year or two ago.
About 30% of Canadians blame the major grocery store chains for the inflation and believe the grocers have been gouging consumers to boost their profits. This dissatisfaction has even led to a boycott of Loblaws grocery stores, a boycott that is supported by over 58% of Canadians, even though only about 18% claim to have participated or know someone that has.
It is possible that Canadians have these perceptions because even though food inflation is slowing, prices are in fact still increasing, and more importantly when taken as whole food prices are 21% higher than they were three years ago.
These are challenging times for CPG Brands as well because some of this negative consumer sentiment is also being associated with them. At times like these with rattled and somewhat confused consumers it is important for CPG Brands to maintain a high level of visibility with their core consumers and to remind them of their brand attributes and value proposition.
An effective online grocery coupons and cashback offers strategy is a great way for Brands to attract, engage and retain their best customers and build loyalty. Canadian consumers are actively seeking ways to save money with coupons. Keep your customers for the long term and put the power of coupons to work for your Brand with help from the coupon experts at webSaver.
With over 10 years leading the Canadian online coupons marketplace and 150 Million coupon issued we know coupons. We’ve worked with 90% of Canada’s leading consumer packaged goods brands providing them with the online coupons and cashback offer solutions that generate real value for their business. Whether your strategic objective is customer acquisition, customer lift (Increased transaction size and frequency) or customer retention webSaver can help.
