As the holiday season kicks into high gear, November grocery shopping data reveals a fascinating picture of evolving shopping behavior. While consumers undoubtedly had their festive feasts and went dashing for deals, a closer look at the numbers suggests a cautious approach to spending across several categories.
View full November data
Identify over-indexing categories and track seasonal buying behavior by month with the Category Pacesetters web tool.
Check it outOverall grocery shopping trends
November saw significant year-over-year decreases in store trips, dollars spent, and units moved across all essential grocery categories. Percentage dips varied between 23.9% and 31.5% for food, beverage, and household needs. All of these categories shifted toward private label too. But, their shifts were slight, varying between 1.2% and 2.8%. Our November 2024 pacesetter tool shows pots and pans, hot cocoa, pie filling, and canned milk as the top 4 highest indexing categories. As a whole, this data indicates that reduced spending is likely being influenced by ongoing economic concerns and inflationary pressures, but consumers are still prioritizing fun items for the holidays.
Discretionary categories saw the most significant changes for November. General merchandise experienced a dramatic downturn, with a 36.2% drop in store trips and a 44.6% plunge in dollars spent year-over-year. Although, there is a 21.7% increase in general merchandise spend from October to November. This suggests consumers are being more selective this year when it comes to non-essential items, possibly prioritizing holiday gift purchases instead. This is evident from the data in our pacesetter tool. The puzzles and games category is the fifth-highest indexed category for November. But, there is not a lot of other activity from discretionary categories, as home decor and candles are shown further down the list. Further underscoring price sensitivity for general merchandise, we saw a big jump in private label purchases in November, up from 12.3% of all GM purchases in 2023 to 23.6% in 2024 — a 91% shift year over year. It’s also notable that health and beauty, another category that is perceived to be more discretionary, also saw a significant 11.1% shift toward private label.
This November data provides a glimpse into the complex dynamics of consumer spending during the holiday season. By understanding these trends and adapting their strategies accordingly, brands and retailers can put their best foot forward to navigate the challenges.
November 2024 grocery shopping statistics
General Food
-27.2% store trips vs. 1 year ago
-31.5% dollar spend vs. 1 year ago
-27.5% units moved vs. 1 year ago
+2.8% share of purchases shifted to private label
Beverage
-25.1% store trips vs. 1 year ago
-28% dollar spend vs. 1 year ago
-23.9% units moved vs. 1 year ago
+1.2% share of purchases shifted to private label
Household Needs
-23.8% store trips vs. 1 year ago
-26.1% dollar spend vs. 1 year ago
-24.5% units moved vs. 1 year ago
+2.7% share of purchases shifted to private label
Health & Beauty
-18.1% store trips vs. 1 year ago
-16.8% dollar spend vs. 1 year ago
-19.2% units moved vs. 1 year ago
+11.1% share of purchases shifted to private label
General Merchandise
-36.2% store trips vs. 1 year ago
-44.6% dollar spend vs. 1 year ago
-29.2% units moved vs. 1 year ago
+91.1% share of purchases shifted to private label
How can the IPN help?
What do these statistics mean for marketers? With drops in grocery trips and spend overall, marketers need to work even harder to get shoppers in the door. Enter: the Ibotta Performance Network (IPN).
The IPN allows marketers to stay up to date on category trends for incentivized and organic purchases both in store and online across major U.S. retailers with first-party, SKU-level data. This provides insights into shopper behavior that can be used to inform and power high-performing marketing campaigns.
