<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published May 26, 2009
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Average household expenditure up
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</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>THE latest ShopperTrends report by The Nielsen Company shows average monthly household expenditure in Singapore rose 14 per cent from a year earlier because of higher food costs and changing spending patterns.
Spending on fresh food registered the greatest jump - 15 per cent across all households - as consumers switched from dining out to eating at home. The survey results - compiled from 1,300 interviews between September and November last year - also show 74 per cent of the respondents now 'buy only the essentials' and 37 per cent 'buy the same product but in lesser quantity'.
High food prices have also prompted people to cut back on impulse buys - so sales of chocolates, carbonated soft drinks and salty snacks have fallen.
The Nielsen Homescan - a continuous measure of purchases by 1,000 participating households - shows fresh food spending fell 9 per cent at wet markets in 2008, but rose 53 per cent at hypermarkets and 8 per cent at supermarkets.
Nielsen reckons this is because hypermarkets and supermarkets allow people to buy all their food and household needs at the same location, and at a time convenient for them. House brand products are also gaining popularity. 'Providing their own brands as good alternative' climbed six positions to 11th position in the latest survey as a factor that influences shoppers in their choice of grocery store.
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</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Average household expenditure up
<TABLE class=storyLinks border=0 cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=1 width=136 align=right><TBODY><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Email this article</TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Print article </TD></TR><TR class=font10><TD width=20 align=right>
</TD><TD>Feedback</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>THE latest ShopperTrends report by The Nielsen Company shows average monthly household expenditure in Singapore rose 14 per cent from a year earlier because of higher food costs and changing spending patterns.Spending on fresh food registered the greatest jump - 15 per cent across all households - as consumers switched from dining out to eating at home. The survey results - compiled from 1,300 interviews between September and November last year - also show 74 per cent of the respondents now 'buy only the essentials' and 37 per cent 'buy the same product but in lesser quantity'.
High food prices have also prompted people to cut back on impulse buys - so sales of chocolates, carbonated soft drinks and salty snacks have fallen.
The Nielsen Homescan - a continuous measure of purchases by 1,000 participating households - shows fresh food spending fell 9 per cent at wet markets in 2008, but rose 53 per cent at hypermarkets and 8 per cent at supermarkets.
Nielsen reckons this is because hypermarkets and supermarkets allow people to buy all their food and household needs at the same location, and at a time convenient for them. House brand products are also gaining popularity. 'Providing their own brands as good alternative' climbed six positions to 11th position in the latest survey as a factor that influences shoppers in their choice of grocery store.
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