According to the latest findings from Roy Morgan Research, 6.5 million Australians over the age of 14 buy at least one chocolate bar in an average four weeks, with more than three quarters making the purchase at a supermarket.
Convenience stores/petrol stations come a very distant second, accounting for just eight per cent of all chocolate bar buyers, but still well ahead of vending machines and milk bars/corner stores (each a fraction over one per cent).
Curiously, 13 per cent of people who bought chocolate bars can’t say where they made their purchase.
Given that a higher proportion of women than men are their household’s main grocery buyer, it makes sense that women are slightly more likely than men to buy chocolate bars at the supermarket: 78 per cent of total female chocolate bar buyers make their purchase at the supermarket, compared with 74 per cent of their male counterparts.
However, men outnumber women when it comes to buying chocolate bars just about everywhere else: from milk bars/corner stores and newsagents to cafés/takeaways/sandwich bars, vending machines and sporting grounds.
Cadbury 50mg bars (eg, Dairy Milk, Top Deck, etc) are the most popular brands bought at supermarkets and milk bars/corner stores, but are practically deadlocked with Kit Kats for top spot at convenience stores. Meanwhile, Snickers is the hands-down number-one chocolate bar purchased from vending machines.
Roy Morgan Research General Manager – Consumer Products Andrew Price says while it is impractical for other retailers to compete with supermarkets in terms of price, they might benefit from considering how else to entice shoppers to buy chocolate bars from them.
“Gaining an in-depth understanding of who buys which brand of chocolate bar – their demographics, attitudes, consumption habits and more – would be a logical starting point,” he said.
