Rising grocery prices are forcing consumers to rethink spending habits, with 61% reporting they have changed the amount of food they buy and many cutting back on discretionary items like snacks, alcohol, and beef.
Shoppers are becoming more selective rather than simply spending less, continuing to prioritize fresh groceries and household essentials while closely monitoring prices and looking for greater value.
The survey found consumers are increasingly adapting to higher costs by cooking more meals at home, reducing food waste, and making deliberate purchasing decisions as they brace for continued inflation and economic uncertainty.
Consumers are rethinking what goes into their shopping carts as persistent food inflation and economic uncertainty continue to strain household budgets. How they are changing may offer some money-saving tips.
A new survey by supply chain technology company RELEX Solutions found that 61% of consumers in the United States and the United Kingdom have changed how much food they buy because of higher grocery prices, signaling that inflation is still having a significant impact on everyday purchasing decisions.
Rather than cutting spending evenly across all categories, shoppers are making targeted tradeoffs. The survey found that 46% of consumers have reduced purchases of snacks and junk food, while 39% have cut back on beef and 34% have reduced alcohol purchases.
Some things are worth paying extra
At the same time, consumers continue to prioritize certain essentials. Nearly seven in 10 respondents (68%) said fresh groceries are still worth paying more for, while 49% said the same about household necessities.
The findings suggest that shoppers are becoming more selective rather than simply spending less overall. They also highlight several ways consumers are saving money.
49% are closely monitoring beef prices as an indicator of their overall cost of living
39% say efforts to reduce food waste are influencing how much food they purchase
37% say healthier eating habits are influencing purchasing decisions
10% say GLP-1s or other appetite-affecting medications have influenced how much food they purchase
71% are cooking at home more often than they were a year ago
"For retailers and manufacturers, the biggest risk is assuming consumers are responding to rising costs in the same way," said Laurence Brenig-Jones, vice president of Product, Platform, RELEX Solutions.
"Consumers are making highly individualized decisions based on price, health goals, value and household priorities. What's interesting is that while shoppers are pulling back in some categories, they continue to prioritize fresh groceries. That creates a very different planning challenge than broad-based demand declines because retailers need to be able to respond to shifting demand at the category level. As those preferences continue to evolve, understanding category-level demand shifts is becoming increasingly important for managing supply chain, pricing, promotions and assortment."
Price is top of mind
Price remains the dominant concern. More than half of respondents (54%) said lower prices are the single most important action retailers can take to help consumers manage rising costs. Meanwhile, 49% said they closely monitor beef prices as a barometer of the broader cost of living.
Other factors are also influencing shopping decisions. Nearly four in 10 consumers said efforts to reduce food waste affect how much food they purchase, while 37% cited healthier eating habits. A smaller but growing segment — 10% — said appetite-suppressing medications such as GLP-1 drugs have affected how much food they buy.
Consumers are also changing how they prepare meals. The survey found that consumers are cooking at home more often, finding that cuts spending on food.
The RELEX findings are consistent with a growing body of research showing shoppers are becoming increasingly price-sensitive. Recent surveys have found consumers are switching to store brands, using more coupons, shopping multiple stores, and reducing impulse purchases in response to higher food costs.
According to the survey, many consumers expect the food price pressure to continue. More than 70% of respondents expressed concern that tariffs, geopolitical tensions, supply-chain disruptions and other global events will continue pushing up the cost of everyday goods over the next six months.