How Can Grocers Lock In Loyalty As Nearly Half of Americans Show a Lack of Preference?

A new survey result issued by Algolia suggests that more Americans define themselves as “stressed” about the current price of groceries (75% versus 73% in 2025), and that value-seeking dominates shopper behavior in the grocery segment.

“That value-seeking mindset extends to where and how consumers shop. Forty-four percent (44%) don’t necessarily have a go-to grocery store,” wrote Algolia exec Piyush Patel.

“Instead: Twenty-eight percent (28%) compare prices across multiple retailers to maximize value. Sixteen percent (16%) compare prices across multiple retailers before picking one grocer with the best prices overall. Twenty-eight percent (28%) have a preferred grocer but still compare prices across brands and products before deciding what to buy. Just 6% say they’ll stick with their favorite brands even when they cost more,” he added.

Other notable pieces of survey data pulled from the report:

• Nearly half (42%) of U.S. grocery shoppers have opted for private label replacements in order to save their budgets, up from 40% in 2025.

• Nearly the same percentage (41%) of those polled indicated they’d reduced their spend on premium cuts of meat or seafood, and 39% said the same regarding non-essential grocery items such as treats or snacks.

• Health is also of importance, with 29% saying they’d slashed their booze spending for health reasons, and 28% saying they’d cut back on “unnecessary” beverage purchases altogether.

America's next grocery shock is brewing https://t.co/HLwDIeimDl

— Axios (@axios) August 30, 2026

Households With Children Are a Key Demographic For Grocers To Consider

According to Patel, parents are a key demographic that U.S. grocers should be considering in terms of their spending power.

“Married-couple families with children spend more than $9,000 annually on groceries, 48% more than the U.S. average, and, with over 23 million married-couple families with children in the U.S., collectively represent more than $200 billion in annual grocery spending,” Patel wrote.

“That makes understanding parents’ needs especially important for retailers. Parents often manage larger grocery budgets while juggling busy schedules and competing priorities, putting added pressure on them to control costs and shop efficiently. In Algolia’s survey, parents, defined as respondents with children aged 25 or younger living at home, were more likely than non-parents to seek deals, switch brands, cut back on premium items and report frustrations with the grocery shopping experience,” he added.

Naturally, given Algolia’s role as an AI-driven data platform, the subject of artificial intelligence tools and their interaction in the grocery market was also discussed. Patel underscored that parents are far more likely (71%) to consider using an AI shopping agent than non-parents (53%), based on the survey data — and that nearly half of shoppers (48%) would be more likely to patronize grocers that have successfully implemented AI functionalities.

Further, grocers were perceived — according to survey data — to be lagging behind other retail sectors in terms of modernization. Over half of respondents stated that the information provided on grocers’ apps was unreliable, and 39% said that grocery websites were prone to inaccuracies and irrelevant search results (and the same percentage saying the websites themselves were clunky or outdated). Finally, 43% of those surveyed said “grocers are significantly behind other retail categories in online shopping experience.”