Press Releases

Archives (2005 to 2008)


	2/25/2009 New IRI Research Examines Consumers’ New Lens of Affordability in Transforming Economy IRI Affordability Report Uncovers New Insights about Thrifty Shopper Behavior across CPG Channels and Product Categories CHICAGO, Feb. 25, 2009 - Consumers have been slashing their spending for the last several months, feeding the already painful recession as millions of households are opting to save rather than buy. Within the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, escalating prices and stagnant wages are also causing consumers across all income levels to be extremely price sensitive, so they are turning to private label and lower-tier brands to save money or are deciding not to purchase items at all. To help retailers and manufacturers succeed in this new environment, Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) just released its latest research, "The Affordability Report: Rethinking the Consumer Value Proposition in a Challenging Economy." The analysis provides a comprehensive review of which categories are most important to shoppers and which categories are at risk of shoppers trading down and/or trading out. "Consumers are continuing to feel the pinch, and they are looking at all of their purchases through a new lens of affordability," says IRI Consulting and Innovation President Thom Blischok. "Consumers are no longer asking themselves, 'Do I want this?' They are asking, 'Do I really need this?' Retailers and manufacturers need to truly understand today's shoppers like never before and respond to their affordability-driven needs and attitudes to succeed in this challenging environment." The IRI Affordability Report is a forward-looking, action-oriented analysis that focuses on understanding how consumers are making category-level, trade-off/ trade-out decisions today and how consumer perception of affordability impacts individual categories. The report also includes cross-category analysis that goes beyond narrowly-focused category reviews to provide meaningful implications and recommended action steps. The following are just a few key areas of the study: A robust retailer action plan to help retailers drive differentiation through improved messaging and merchandising strategies that are geared towards affordability-driven consumers. A manufacturer "affordability roadmap" that provides a systematic, disciplined approach to identifying categories that are vulnerable to trade-down and trade-out behavior, stemming losses from private label and lower-tier brands, and winning more than your fair share of affordability-driven spending within key categories. Detailed category-level analyses that focuses on which categories are "safe" in today's economy and which are at risk for trade-down and trade-out shopper behavior. New insights linking shopper attitudes to trend-based category metrics, including private label share, household penetration, trip frequency, etc. A series of 14 case examples taken from best-in-class manufacturers and retailers that are achieving success in serving "affordability-driven" shoppers. "Understanding shopper behavior across all income levels is critical for driving retailer and manufacturer performance, but tapping into these ever-changing behaviors is not easy," says Sean Seitzinger, senior vice president, IRI Consulting and Innovation. "The IRI Affordability Report provides a blue print for helping both retailers and manufacturers thrive in this new environment by adapting to new circumstances one step faster than consumers." IRI Webinar: Leveraging Healthcare as a Platform for Total Store Growth IRI is hosting a free webinar, entitled "The New Lens of Affordability," on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. CST. Consumer trends expert Sean Seitzinger will discuss how consumers are making category-level trade-off and trade-out decisions and how consumer perception of affordability impacts individual CPG categories. To register for the webinar, please click here. About the Report "The Affordability Report: The New Lens of Affordability: Rethinking the Consumer Value Proposition in a Challenging Economy" is a culmination of research that includes an exclusive IRI AttitudeLink survey of shoppers, proprietary IRI InfoScan® and Consumer Network® data, and best-in-class illustrations of manufacturers that are succeeding in re-defining the consumer value proposition in their categories. For more information about the report and to view the executive summary, visit: http://us.infores.com/Insights/Reports/TheAffordabilityReport/tabid/225/Default.aspx For detailed information about the research availablility and pricing, contact Sean Seitzinger at sean.seitzinger@infores.com or Thom Blischok at thom.blischok@infores.com About IRI IRI is the world's leading provider of consumer, shopper, and retail market intelligence and insights supporting 95 percent of the FORTUNE Global 500 consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail and healthcare companies. Only IRI offers the unique combination of integrated market information, automated and predictive analytics, innovative enabling technologies, and domain expertise. With IRI, leading retailers and manufacturers are able to quickly discover breakthrough insights driving smarter decisions and actions across the enterprise for breakthrough results. Companies around the world depend on IRI for improved productivity, stronger brands, and dramatic revenue growth. For more information, visit http://us.infores.com. # # # IRI CONTACTS: John McIndoe E-mail: john.mcindoe@infores.com Phone: (312) 474-3862 Fax: (312) 474-2512 Shelley Hughes E-mail: shelley.hughes@infores.com Phone: (312) 474-3675 Fax: (312) 474-2512

Archives (2005 to 2008)

New IRI Research Examines Consumers’ New Lens of Affordability in Transforming Economy