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CONFECTIONERY CONVERSATION Sugar vs chocolate: Consumer purchasing behaviour
In the seventh edition of this year’s Confectionery Conversation – a monthly column that shines the spotlight on the confectionery category, sponsored by Mars Wrigley International Travel Retail – Charlotte Turner explores the difference in purchasing behaviour between sugar/non-chocolate and chocolate shoppers in duty free & travel retail, powered by exclusive m1nd-set data.
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n the June issue of TRBusiness, we featured our unrivalled sugar/non-chocolate confectionery report. Within this, we
heard from some of the veterans of the industry about how the role of this sector has changed since the duty free channel was first conceptualised, and what new driving forces are behind purchase decisions. Building on the insight shared by those
interviewees, we can provide exclusive data here on the key differences in purchasing behaviour between chocolate and sugar confectionery shoppers. The confectionery category as a whole benefited from strong footfall levels and an impressive conversion rate in 2019, as confirmed by m1nd-set. According to the Swiss research agency, a sample of 3,000 visitors to the confectionery category revealed that every one ended up making a purchase.
Sugar adverts ‘more effective’ Sugar or non-chocolate products were purchased more for personal consumption, which was especially true for millennials since they consumed as much as they offered to others, says m1nd-set. Interestingly, sugar confectionery adverts
seemed to be more effective than those from chocolate companies since shoppers said they noticed them more often. This was true for all touchpoints except for those
online, where both chocolate and sugar/ non-choc advertising was noticed equally. While it is true that both chocolate and
sugar categories attracted a lot of visitors into stores, travellers tended to spend $3 more on chocolate products than they did on sugar confectionery items. Interestingly, m1nd-set did not identify
any differences in the motivation of passengers to visit sugar and chocolate confectionery areas of duty free stores.
“They’re more tempted to try something new, something they did not know. Millennials are even more
tempted to buy products for the first time; especially in sugar (35% vs 31%).”
Anna Marchesini, m1nd-set
Anna Marchesini, Project and Business Development Manager for m1nd-set insists: “We cannot see the difference between sugar and chocolate in the reasons to visit.”
Confectionery Consumer Insight
Advertising was noticed more from sugar and non-chocolate brands than those promoting chocolate brands in 2019.
She continues: “In both cases, they are more offered than consumed. Chocolate is clearly most often offered as a gift in comparison to sugar, which is more self-consumed than chocolate (31% vs 25%). Sharing is slightly higher for sugar.” Concerning millennials, they bought
sugar for gifting and their own consumption (37% self and 37% gift). Millennials gifted or shared fewer chocolate and sugar items than the average across all other age groups or demographics. However, they tended to consume more than other demographics. Interestingly, men bought more from
both categories to gift than women did and offered more chocolate than women. Millennial chocolate shoppers purchased slightly more on impulse than sugar confectionery buyers (29% vs 26%), but there were no significant differences between men and women. The majority (63%) bought at least one sugar confectionery product for the first time/never bought before, which was higher than chocolate (59%). “They’re more tempted to try something
new, something they did not know,” adds Marchesini. “Millennials are even more tempted to buy products for the first time; especially in sugar (35% vs 31%).” «
JULY 2020
TRBUSINESS 15
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