Progressive Grocer - October 2009 - (Page 130)

Hispanic Retail 360 Summit Selling to Latinos in today’s economy Hispanic Lessons Retailers and marketers shared insights on serving the needs of the growing Latino market. By Mehgan Belanger and Don Longo ith more than $1 trillion in spending power up for grabs, retailers and marketers didn’t let the current poor economy dissuade them from attending this year’s Hispanic Retail Summit, which took place from Aug. 9 to Aug. 11 in Las Vegas. On the first day of the conference, attendees viewed four leading Hispanic-focused retailers in the Las Vegas market — grocer La Bonita, Mariana’s Supermarket, electronics retailer Best Buy and value grocer Food 4 Less, a Kroger chain. Led by the summit’s master of ceremonies, Armando Martín, managing partner of XLEdge; his partner, Manny Fields; and Barbara Soto of api plus, the tour-goers saw two authentic Latino grocers, an example of a major grocery chain (Kroger) that does a great job of matching its footprint to the local community, and a giant superstore chain (Best Buy) staffed with young, bright and enthusiastic young people steeped in the language and culture of their community. Hispanics and the Economy W have lower incomes than non-Hispanic customers, they could be impacted to a greater degree than the general market, he noted. However, the picture is not that simple, Aversano explained, because the consumer is in the middle of the picture, and is influenced by the media, which has painted a gloomy Lessons in consumer shopping habits, successful retail formats and innovation were central at the summit. An examination of the effects of the recession on Hispanic consumers and their shopping habits was in focus as Daniel Aversano, product leadership, Nielsen Consumer Panel Services for The Nielsen Company, discussed the debt ratio of Hispanics. Because Hispanic consumers tend to carry less debt and pay for items with cash, one theory is Hispanics may actually be less affected by the downturn in the economy. Conversely, because Latino customers also are being impacted by high unemployment and the downturn in the construction industry, and generally• Progressive Grocer • October 2009 picture of the economy. What really matters is consumer perceptions of the economy and their resulting actions, he said, noting purchasing power is increasing for some consumer groups, while July retail sales grew and fewer jobs were lost in July than in previous months. “It’s starting to look like recovery,” he said. While Hispanic unemployment is higher than the general market, at 12.3 percent, it has shown a leveling off in the past two months. Meanwhile, consumers were de-leveraging — during the economic boom, total consumers spent money they didn’t have, and now are saving their dollars or lowering debt, A H E A D O F W H AT ’ S N E X T which is expected to continue once recovery occurs. However, since Hispanic consumers don’t hold as much debt compared with the total consumer group, they are a better consumer to target during the recovery, since they aren’t de-leveraging or chaining their purchasing habits to the extent of the total consumer group, Aversano said. Looking at the impact of the economy on a granular level, 41 percent of Hispanic consumers said they’re eating at home more often for the breakfast daypart, while 60 percent said they are eating dinner at home more often, he said, noting the emphasis is now on what consumers need, not what they want. “Value is king,” Aversano said. “When push comes to shove, you have to cut.” When asked what they would cut spending on if they had to, Hispanic consumers said they would reduce money spent on energy, food, clothes, transportation, entertainment and travel. “True economic recovery will not begin until Hispanics are convinced it is here,” he concluded. Supplier Diversity A general session on supplier diversity, presented by Michael Byron, VP of supplier diversity for growww.progressivegrocer.com http://www.progressivegrocer.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Progressive Grocer - October 2009

Progressive Grocer - October 2009