More Men are Grocery Shopping but Consider it a Chore: NPD

Although research shows that more men are taking an active role in their households when it comes to grocery shopping, many of them don't enjoy the experience, according to new findings from The NPD Group.

Men now represent 41 percent of all primary grocery shoppers, and many of them – especially those who are single and ages 18-34 – consider it a chore.

These younger male consumers are more likely to have increased their responsibility over the past 5 years due to being on their own for the first time or having money to spend on items they want.  And they are less likely to say that they do all or most of the grocery shopping when compared to older consumers.

Men who say shopping is a chore, however, are conscientious and take their responsibility seriously by preparing a list most of the time and buying on sale. They don’t impulse buy and spend about 56 minutes shopping -- four minutes short of those female and male shoppers who are food enthusiasts and enjoy shopping. 

Additionally, there exists a discrepancy between what males and females think about their shared grocery shopping responsibility. In fact, more than half of males feel that the shared responsibility is evenly split, while more than 60 percent of females feel they do most of the grocery shopping when responsibilities are shared. 

Based on NPD's "The New Grocery Shopper" report findings, females are more likely to be primary grocery shoppers, and males are more likely to say that they are doing more of the grocery shopping than they were 5 years prior.  This shift is likely due to the decrease in female grocery shopping and males more often sharing the responsibility.

“With more men taking on the role as the primary grocery shopper, manufacturers and retailers need to come together and develop strategies intended to transform the shopping experience to meet men’s unique needs and make it a more enjoyable experience,” said Darren Seifer, food and beverage industry analyst.  “They also need to keep in mind that women, contrary to what male shoppers may think, still do the bulk of the grocery shopping.”