<p>By: John Lezcano, Creative Director, FMI</p><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/sos-blog-image-1350×757.tmb-large-350-.png?Culture=en&sfvrsn=7b65c44_1" style="float:right;margin:10px;" alt="Man in grocery aisle with blue steal face and SOS in the background" class="-align-right" sf-size="100" /><p>Don’t Panic! This is not an emergency — more like a warning that grocery shopping trends today are influenced by everyone, regardless of age or single/partnered status. </p><p>What’s more, now, more than ever before, value is making a splash on grocery store aisles. But "value" these days is not solely based on "cheddar" or "greens" (add your own money slang here) and more on convenience, relevance, quality and/or experience. </p><p>To put it bluntly, grocery shopping is more about what you get out of it and less about how much you have to "fork" over. That’s all according to our <a href="https://www.fmi.org/our-research/research-reports/u-s-grocery-shopper-trends"><em>U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends: Finding Value</em></a> report. </p><h5>How I Connect to The Finding Value Trends</h5><p>I am a single, 60-year-old shopper (SOS) who plans all the meals for the household, which includes Oliver, my 11-year-old Lhasa Apso. Hey, that’s my family! </p><p>In my continuous life goal of having a lower carbon footprint, convenience and relevance play a big part in my grocery shopping. I walk to the nearest food retailer, which happens to be a co-op. They provide environmentally friendly packaging, socially conscious products and no fossil fuels are used to get there. </p><p>When it comes to quality, I focus on items that provide maximum health and well-being for me with minimum prep time. That ranges from packaged goods low in sodium to organic produce high in fiber — I am 60 years old, after all! </p><p>Experience also plays a big part in defining what shoppers find valuable. For me, the checkout process can bring high anxiety levels comparable to waiting in line at the DMV. I prefer a food retailer that offers self-checkouts because the wait times are usually shorter, and I can organize my purchases into reusable bags for better weight distribution, making it easier to walk home from the store — something that’s very important to me because my walk is often a high-wire balancing act and I don’t want my eggs and tomatoes to plummet to their deaths!</p><h5>The Takeaway</h5><p>This is the part when Jerry Maguire yells, "Show me the money!" That’s the thing: Value is not defined as only getting "more bang for my buck" but instead as what that buck can get me when grocery shopping. I am not alone in this as I make up 13% of single male shoppers who have their own style of grocery shopping and definition of value. </p><p>So, as you strut through the aisles, posing your best "Blue Steel," looking for your favorite items, take pride in how you define "value." Value is the new black, and it’s a trend that will only get bigger in this ever-changing world of grocery shopping. You’ve been warned!</p><p><a href="https://www.fmi.org/our-research/research-reports/u-s-grocery-shopper-trends" class="button">Download The Report</a></p>
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