According to a study released by Centromarca, and reported by ECO, around three out of four consumers admitted to choosing cheaper brands when shopping and more than half included promotional products in their baskets.

The results are from an analysis carried out by Kantar and Centromarca – Associação Portuguesa de Empresas de Produtos de Marca, with a sample of 4,000 participating families, representing mainland Portugal, spread across more than 1,000 survey points, who declared purchases between January 2 and October 8, 2023.

“The Portuguese continue to look for promotions and compare prices”, pointed out Centromarca, highlighting that “between January and September 2023, 51.3 percent of national consumers purchases included products on sale” and that “77 percent of consumers surveyed also stated they compare prices and choose the most economical brands”.

Additionally, the data allows us to conclude that in 2023, consumers in Portugal continued to increase the frequency in which they go shopping and decrease the value purchased each time, but both trends slowed compared to last year.

In the third quarter of the year, consumers reduced the number of times they wet shopping, compared to 2022. While the frequency of purchases increased by 3.3 percent in the case of food, 2 percent in fresh products and 3.3 percent in beverages, there was a 0.9 percent decrease in the purchase of animal food.

The value per purchase decreased in all categories, being the most evident in animal food (-8.2 percent), in food (-7.3 percent), in fresh produce (-7.7 percent) and in beverages (-6 percent).

The data also reveals a significant year-om-year increase in the value of products outside the 0 VAT basket, during the second and third quarters of the year. “The reversal of 0 VAT, may also counteract the increase in the size of the basket in products outside the basket covered by the measure, which has been observed in recent months”, shared the director of Kantar’s customer area, Marta Santos.

Distribution brands continued to gain relevance in Portuguese homes, with the frequency in those purchases registering an increase of 4.4 percent between 2022 and 2023, and an even more significant increase of 19.4 percent in the amount spent by consumers.

“The progressive contraction of inflation and the expected salary update may allow a slight recovery in purchasing power for many families, which have been heavily massacred in the last two years. However, it is necessary to take into account the unfavourable impact of the reversal of 0 VAT at the beginning of January”, said the general director of Centromarca, Pedro Pimentel. For the person responsible, “this would be, if political conditions allow, the appropriate time to discuss the proposals for harmonising VAT in the food sector”.