Are you loyal to your favourite supermarket?

The Great Supermarket Wars of ’14 and ’15 have had us torn about which is the best supermarket but until now, one supermarket has hidden their secret weapon: just how loyal its customers are.

What isn’t a secret is how unhappy Woolworths’ customers are, but who came out on top? You might be surprised to find it wasn’t Aldi or Coles, but in fact it was IGA that keeps its customers coming back for more.

The latest findings from Roy Morgan Research reveal that more than three-quarters (77%) of the nation’s grocery-shoppers visit at least two different supermarkets in a month and in any given four-week period, 30 per cent of people who mainly shop at IGA only shop at IGA.

In a win for ol’ Woolies, they have taken out the silver for most loyal customers, with a quarter of their shoppers sticking with them during the month, just ahead of Coles shoppers (24%). Perhaps most surprisingly, despite even our Starts at 60 readers saying that ALDI had converted them, only 7% of ALDI shoppers exclusively shop there.

When asked how many major supermarkets they shopped at over the last four weeks, 37% of Aussie grocery-buyers reported shopping at two, 28% said three and 7% said they shopped at all four.

ALDI shoppers are much more savvy, with a whopping 47% of their shoppers visiting three total supermarkets a month to get a bargain.

Andrew Price, General Manager if Consumer Products at Roy Morgan Research, said, “Australia’s supermarket scene is incredibly competitive – and these latest findings throw another challenge into the mix. While most grocery-buyers have a supermarket they mainly shop at, a relatively low proportion of them shop exclusively at that supermarket. They do not seem to have any great sense of loyalty to their main chain.

“Woolworths/Safeway and Coles customers are quite similar in their shopping habits: they are more likely to shop at two – or even three – of the main chains in an average four weeks than return to their primary supermarket every time. People who mainly shop at IGA are also more likely to visit two supermarkets in any given four weeks, but less likely to visit three.

“These results suggest that customer loyalty programs such as FlyBuys (held by more than half of Coles shoppers) and Everyday Rewards (held by more than 60% of Woolworths/Safeway customers) are not achieving the desired result.

“Meanwhile, the fact that so few ALDI customers shop exclusively at ALDI is not so surprising: while the German chain offers low prices and a popular home-brand range, it does not have such a huge variety of products as the other major supermarkets. As a result, it’s almost inevitable that ALDI shoppers will need to visit other chains during the month to complete their grocery shop”.

We want to know today, where do you shop? Do you go to multiple stores or just one? Why are you loyal or disloyal?