Roughly 74 percent of consumers share that they add nonessential items to their grocery carts at least some of the time, according to a joint study from news source Pymnts and LendingClub, a banking service. The Paycheck-to-Paycheck Report: The Nonessential Spend Deep Dive Edition surveyed 3,443 U.S. consumers in July.
The findings suggest that consumers not living paycheck to paycheck appear to buy nonessential items with more frequency: 85 percent of this population shares they splurge on grocery compared to 72 percent of those living paycheck to paycheck.
When shoppers purchase non-essentials, desserts, candy, and sodas top the list, with 40.9 percent of shoppers sharing that they are ‘nice-to-have’ items. Premium foods follow at 11.4 percent, a category that includes many specialty foods. Snacks trail slightly with 11.2 percent opting to indulge.
“The data suggests that the categories of nonessential purchases do not vary significantly across different financial lifestyles,” shared Pymnts. “Whether consumers are living paycheck to paycheck or not, their splurges tend to fall within similar categories. However, consumers who are not living paycheck to paycheck are more likely to splurge on premium foods.” Full Story
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