Not all shoppers are choosing to buy the cheapest products possible.  A recent survey of 1,000 shoppers by IGD has shown that 30% of under 35’s are prepared to spend more money for quality products while only 16% of over 35’s had a similar opinion. Younger shoppers obviously consider price and they even have higher than average access to technology which compares prices for them.  In spite of this many still identify specific factors which cause them to buy certain higher priced products. Perceived quality is obviously an important reason but in my view the bigger reason is their perception of overall value which includes taking into account a range of other factors as well as perceived quality.
The challenge is to better understand the components of “overall value” plus why and in what circumstances they influence a buying decision to the degree that many shoppers are prepared to pay more. We’ve moved on a long way from the days where just adding the word NEW to a ticket or package increased sales significantly but there is still a lot more knowledge to discover. Just to make things more difficult the answers are going to be more dynamic and frequently changing so being able to test and compare different forms of messaging and benefits quickly and easily is crucial.  The best place to do this is at the point where many decisions are made, at the shelf edge.