Customers fall into three categories – grocery shoppers, vitamin or health food shoppers and online shoppers. Grocery shoppers are driven by both convenience and advice from their GP – this type of customer shops with minimal guidance and uses the product information on the label to make their choice. Vitamin shoppers are more engaged, using online information to buy a range of supplements. This variety of shopper seeks out the maximum amount of information possible to make their purchase.
Online shoppers tend to be older, with most being over 55 years of age and generally educated to a secondary school level. Motivated by price predominantly, online shoppers aim for price and convenience. However, despite these three groups choosing to purchase vitamins and minerals in different ways, over eighty percent of respondents claimed that they still bought supplements at a grocery store as well. It would appear that the determining factor in the shoppers is the amount of information available to them. The consumer’s growing interest in healthy eating and boosting their diet has led to a vast increase in the numbers for supermarkets’ profits. With more information and advice, these numbers will no doubt rise even further.