YouGov: why the South is more exposed to the disruption of goods transport

YouGov has identified some distinctive features of the purchasing behaviour of families living in the South, among those hardest hit by the interruption of the supply chain caused by the recent hauliers' strike.

Spending fragmentation

First of all, spending fragmentation, by now a traditional refuge from the rising cost of living, appears to be an even more evident phenomenon in the South, where 42,7% of families declare themselves to be experiencing financial difficulties (compared with a national average of 38,9%) and, unsurprisingly, mainly seek out promotional products (72%) and reduce both consumption outside the home (60%) and purchases of fast-moving consumer goods (57%).

Purchase frequency reaches 222,3 transactions per year (215,2 for the Italian aggregate), the average basket value has fallen to 17,04 euros (compared with 21,18 for the country as a whole), and there are fewer than 9,6 items in the basket. The watchword “fewer products but more often”, with more targeted purchases to reduce waste and protect purchasing power, is also underpinned by the continued importance of self-service, which is far greater than in the rest of the country.

The channels

51,5% of South-based residents shop at butchers' shops (compared with 34,7% for Italy as a whole), 45,6% at bakeries (versus 30,4%), 45,4% at fruit and vegetable shops (30,6%), and the figure for fishmongers' shops is almost twice the national figure (31,8% versus 16,2%). The findings from YouGov's Shopper Panel, which monitors a sample of over 18.000 households representative of the 26.5 million households living in Italy, therefore present a scenario in which saving and traditional shops carry considerable weight.

The basket value

Higher purchase frequency usually drives products with a shorter shelf life. If a product sold by variable weight appears on 60% of all receipts, representing 1.300 euros per household per year, fixed-weight fruit and vegetables, packaged fresh products and variable-weight fresh products recorded the strongest growth in frequency over the past year (respectively 6,1%, 3,7% and 2,7%), unsurprisingly proving to be the categories with the highest increase in value (5,8%, 3,7% and 3,8%).

The categories

When analysing the above-average categories by value in the South, the importance of home care (+31% compared with Italy as a whole) and personal care (+21%), as well as food household products (+10%), is clear. More specifically, the most popular food & beverage products are durum wheat pasta (+55%), fresh snack cakes (+48%), seed oil (+47%) and tinned tomatoes (+47%). Proportionally higher still are the figures for home and personal care products, with bleach (+72%), large-format detergents (+70%) and hand dishwashing detergent (+57%) leading the segment.

The commentary

“The analysis of the purchasing behaviour of the population living in the South highlights how packaged fresh products and fixed-weight fruit and vegetables are among the least successful categories in the South, precisely because of the still-strong habit of shopping at traditional stores. It is therefore possible to hypothesise that self-service retailers were the ones most affected by the disruption to goods transport. The empty shelves in large-scale retail, on the other hand, are probably attributable to the particular circumstances, which led to shortages of essential goods due to the lack of supplies and the simultaneous decision by families who felt obliged to build up stocks, contrary to what normally happens,” commented Marco Pellizzoni, Commercial Director of YouGov Shopper.

This article was translated from the original Italian version with the assistance of artificial intelligence. In case of discrepancies, please refer to the original Italian version.