Just over half of customers who shop at Australia’s supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths say their supermarket stocks the brands they want, and these numbers have been in decline since a peak in 2011, according to findings from market research organisation Roy Morgan Research.

According to Roy Morgan Research, 56 per cent of Woolworths shoppers said the supermarket carried the brands they want, 7 per cent below the supermarket group’s peak in October 2011. Coles had fallen even further over the period, according to the findings, down 9 per cent since June 2011 to 52 per cent.

Less than half of IGA’s customers (48 per cent) said they could find the brands they want, while only 29 per cent of ALDI shoppers said their preferred brands were being stocked by ALDI supermarkets.

“Over the last few years, an increasing number of well-known brands have been replaced on supermarket shelves with store’s own home brands – and it appears shoppers are noticing the absence of the brands they want in Coles, Woolworths and IGA,” said Geoffrey Smith, General Manager Consumer Products, Roy Morgan Research. “With packaging and quality of in-house products now increasingly on par with traditional brands, the line between retailer and marketer is blurring,” he said.

Roy Morgan Research said ALDI shoppers have “always been more likely to seek out their favourite brands in addition to their ALDI purchases”.

“The surprise is that Coles, Woolworths and IGA stores, with their much larger product range, are not perceived by more of their customers as having the brands they want,” said Mr Smith. “As retailer and marketers continue to review and justify each brand’s shelf space, the need to understand customer preferences and potential opportunities has never been greater,” he said.

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