Consequence of inflation: the Belgian adapts when filling his shopping cart.
Household budgets are heavily impacted by the rise in energy prices, whether for heating or lighting or for travel. How do consumers adapt their behavior for purchases whose price they can more easily control?
1. The consumer buys less and cheaper
The best way to offset rising prices is to buy less. “We observe stability in our customers’ spending (stable receipt), but with slightly less diversified purchases. This means slightly fewer lines on the receipt, but each with a higher amount, result to both of inflation, but also of purchase in volumes”, notes Eva Biltereyst, spokesperson at Colruyt. The Cora chain, for its part, has noticed a shift in purchases towards products with a lower unit value, in particular for soft drinks, where the choice is made of smaller bottles.
