To address the downturn in footfall, food and beverage retailers need to bridge the gap between in-store and online experiences by taking note of shopper trends, according to findings from retail tech app, Ubamarket.

A trend worth noting is the role of social media influencers, who are beginning to shape eating and cooking patterns. Consumers are increasingly buying into lifestyles that are portrayed online, rather than purely buying into products and services.

Exclusive Ubamarket research has found that:
>13.3 million of Brits have said that temporary diet changes will influence their food purchase patterns more than ever in 2019
>13% of home cooks say social media has revolutionised how they cook daily and made them more explorative chefs
>10% say social media is even more inspiration to their home cooking than TV and magazines
>6% find the majority of their recipes on Instagram
>6 million British home cooks manage their weekly shop based on the recipes they want to try, rather than buying the same ingredients every week
>22% of home cook try new recipes every week
>Over a fifth - 22% - of shoppers have difficult locating the more diverse products their recipes require on supermarket shelves
>21% report that the food they eat at home is nearly entirely based on recipes they want to try
>5 million - 17% - of Brits are more daily recipe-based shoppers, rather than weekly food shoppers
>15% of British home cooks used to be weekly shoppers, but are now recipe-based shoppers

As a nation, we are obsessed with famous chefs and cookery shows and a new study has revealed that we spend over 5 hours a week searching for new recipes online, with an increasing number of consumers shopping via recipe. There is an appetite for change as 56% of people wish that they cooked the recipes that they see on Instagram more often.

Supermarkets need to galvanise these new trends as end of aisle promotions are no longer an effective in-store marketing tactics. People are solely sticking to their shopping lists as consumers are fixed to their pre-prepared lists that incorporate recipes which they see on different social media platforms and want to emulate.

Retailers need to adapt to the demands of shoppers to avoid a continued downturn by creating hyper-personalised experiences and making shopping in-store for specific ingredients as simple as possible. This includes adapting store layouts according to the fact that consumers are now shopping via shopping lists and are on the hunt for specific ingredients now more than ever.

In response, in-store promotional offers can capitalise by monitoring these trends to make it quicker and easier for shoppers in bricks and mortar stores.

Will Broome, CEO and Founder of Ubamarket, said, 'These figures are intensely worrying, and the mounting store closures are indicative of an industry-wide requirement to innovate and advance their in-store offering.

'Our Ubamarket findings are reflective of the diverse palate of UK consumers who are on the hunt for more exciting recipes as they shop in stores. As a result, supermarket retailers need to adapt their store layouts to make in store shopping experiences as easy as possible for consumers on the hunt for new ingredients.

'By eliminating frustration for consumers who are seeking new ingredients presented by their favourite celebrity chefs online, supermarket retailers will enrich the shopping experience and will be able to broaden their in-store offering. I am looking forward to seeing the British appetite change, diversify and widen as supermarkets widen the variety on their shelves for adventurous chefs.”

(source: Ubamarket, image: pexels))