Madrid, June 30.

OCU has just published the results of the satisfaction survey which was carried out between nearly 5,000 households. The main conclusion is that price weighs more and more in the purchase decision of the consumer at the expense of other considerations such as quality or variety. The full survey is published in the July edition of OCU Compra Maestra magazine. As the OCU survey points out, the current economic crisis has caused many consumers to reduce their level of requirements so increasing the market share of discounters such as Aldi, Lidl or Dia. Nevertheless, price is not everything and quality and variety are also valued. This conclusion would explain the fact that although 60% of Spanish households shop at Mercadona, one can detect a lower enthusiasm for the Valencian supermarket chain precisely because of the lack of variety of products on its shelves. In contrast, more expensive establishments such as Bon Preu, El Corte Inglés or Hipercor, lead the ranking of retail chains thanks to the high product quality and variety that consumers find there.

The OCU study claims that the factors that attract customers to supermarkets are not always the same. Price, variety, quality, user-friendliness and proximity are elements that consumers have in mind when opting for one or other establishment, Alcampo and Gadis being the ones with the best balance between all these factors.
Among the factors that determine customer satisfaction, the survey shows that the most highly valued are how easy it is to return products, parking or the ability to make all purchases in one place. By contrast, what satisfies the least are long checkout queues, the way prices have gone up recently and the limited choice of brands on offer.

The OCU survey also shows that consumers are increasingly favorable to the possibility of shopping on Sundays and holidays, especially in the case of consumers in Madrid, Baleares and Murcia. However, 47% of respondents still only consider this as an option in an emergency, with Asturias, Galicia and Navarra the autonomous communities where consumers show most reluctance to shop on these days.
Finally, as far as traditional shops are concerned, the results of the OCU study show that although the market share of these establishments has dropped and lost primacy in some areas such as in the case of fish, they remain the preferred choice for buying fresh produce. Thus, 58% of consumers go to the bread shop or bakery to buy bread, 54% go to the greengrocers to buy fruit and vegetables and 52% buy meat in the traditional neighborhood butcher’s shop or market.

For more information (media) Eva Jimenez Tel. 917 226 061
prensa@ocu.org