MISSION VIEJO, CA – Marketers and retailers can create strategies that build loyalty, drive traffic and grow sales of Hass avocados by better understanding the avocado shopper. The Hass Avocado Board’s newly released Shopper Segmentation Study, based on data from The IRI Consumer NetworkTM, analyzes the households that are buying avocados and reveals the underlying purchase behaviors that are driving this vibrant category.
“Retailers can build avocado category sales by leveraging the shopper insights in this study,” explains Emiliano Escobedo, executive director of the Hass Avocado Board. “This study identifies the most important avocado shopper groups and pin-points actionable, high-value growth opportunities for continued category growth.”
Fresh avocados are one of the most successful categories in fresh produce. Nearly 60 percent of U.S. households purchase avocados each year and spend $23.91 on average, driving annual household purchases of over $1.6 billion. To gain a deeper understanding of these avocado shoppers, the study developed a shopper segmentation based on actual avocado purchase levels.
The segmentation was conducted by ranking avocado purchasing households by each household’s total annual avocado spend (high to low), and then dividing this ranked list into four equal segments. The top-spending quartile (25 percent) is designated Super Heavy households, while the remaining three segments are referred to as Heavy, Medium and Light households. Discerning the differences in purchasing behaviors between these households is one of the keys to unlocking the potential of the avocado category.
This segmentation found that a very large proportion of avocado purchases are made by one shopper segment, the Super Heavy segment. While comprising only one out of every four households, Super Heavy shoppers account for nearly three out of every four avocado purchases. Additionally, Super Heavy households purchase avocados twice as often as Heavy households, and spend twice as much per avocado shopping occasion. This means that the Super Heavy segment is a particularly influential and important part of the avocado category.
The remaining three segments each account for a smaller share of avocado dollars than their respective share of households would suggest. As the second-highest spending quartile (25 percent), Heavy households account for 18 percent of avocado purchases. Combined, Super Heavy and Heavy households account for 91 percent of all avocado purchases at retail. Based on their high level of engagement in the category, Super Heavy and Heavy households are more apt to respond positively to marketing efforts to increase their purchases even further.
These purchase trends are key to understanding how these shoppers impact the category and can help identify opportunities for future growth. For example, a +1 percent increase in the number of annual purchase trips, or in the spend per trip, represents a potential $16.5 million opportunity for the category.
This study also provides information on how shopper purchase behaviors change throughout the year, and how these differences impact quarterly avocado sales at retail. Additionally, the study provides demographic detail for each of the segments and for avocado households in total.
To gain more insight into shopper segmentation and each buying group’s shopping behavior, visit hassavocadoboard.com/retail to read the full report and drive sales of Hass avocados.
About The Hass Avocado Board
The Hass Avocado Board (HAB) was established in 2002 to promote the consumption of Hass avocados in the United States. A 12-member board representing domestic producers and importers of Hass avocados directs HAB’s promotion, research and information programs under supervision of the United States Department of Agriculture. Hass avocados are grown in California and imported into the U.S. from Mexico, Chile, Peru, Dominican Republic and New Zealand.
Source: The Hass Avocado Board