Grocery Shopping No Longer Involves Just One Trip to the Supermarket
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Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees, but I don't really need it. Inflation is killing me. But who cares? Big retailers are making record profits. That's why we support the Durbin Marshall credit card bill. See? Banks and credit unions help small businesses make payroll. This bill would cut the vital resources they need. While increasing megastore profits. They deserve it, don't they? Tell Congress, stop the Durbin Marshall money grab for corporate megastores. Paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition.
Here's your Money Briefing for Thursday, May 2nd. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. For many people, the supermarket is no longer the one-stop place to buy groceries. They're checking off items on their shopping list at multiple stores.
They are trying to find the absolute best deal at a time when groceries are more expensive than they've been in decades. And they feel like they're being ripped off all the time. And so this is one way they're able to save a little bit of money and feel like at least something is in their control.
We'll talk to Wall Street Journal reporter Rachel Wolf after the break.
Access to affordable credit helps me pay my employees, but I don't really need it. Inflation is killing me. But who cares? Big retailers are making record profits. That's why we support the Durbin Marshall credit card bill. See? Banks and credit unions help small businesses make payroll. This bill would cut the vital resources they need. While increasing megastore profits. They deserve it, don't they? Tell Congress, stop the Durbin Marshall money grab for corporate megastores. Paid for by the Electronic Payments Coalition.
As food prices continue to rise, grocery shopping no longer involves just a visit to the supermarket. Wall Street Journal reporter Rachel Wolf joins me. Rachel, how many stores are people visiting to buy groceries?
Between March 2023 and February 2024, people were buying their groceries from an average of 20.7 different retailers, and that's up 23% from those months between 2019 and 2020.
20 stores? Why are they going to so many stores?
They are trying to find the absolute best deal at a time when groceries are more expensive than they've been in decades. And they feel like they're being ripped off all the time. And so this is one way they're able to save a little bit of money and feel like at least something is in their control.
Why are shoppers abandoning one-stop supermarket trips?
Yeah, it seems like going grocery shopping tears a hole in your bank account. How much have grocery prices risen?
Grocery prices are up 21% in three years, according to the Labor Department. And that is helping drive the trend toward multi-stop shopping.
How are people planning which stores they'll shop at?
People are sometimes going to really great lengths to find the best deals. They're leaving the city that they live in to go to a cheaper area. They're sometimes coming up with really intense shopping lists, plotting out what they need for each meal and the best place to get it based on the price. I spoke to a flight attendant who is now getting some of his groceries abroad where they're cheaper. There is a lot happening.
That is going to great lengths, it sounds like.
Absolutely.
One of the people Rachel spoke to for this story is Florida resident Lauren Augeri, who often goes to great lengths to find deals on groceries for her and her family. And she joins me. Lauren, as food prices have risen, how high has your weekly grocery bill gotten?
So we are up to a budget of $250 per week now on groceries. Up from pre-COVID, I was $100 to $150.
That's a big jump.
Absolutely. I also have had a new family member join, so that does play into it, but those grocery store prices are higher than I've ever seen.
How have you changed your shopping plan to stay at that budget line of $250?
Planning is essential. Every Sunday, I will sit down and I plan out every single meal. We try to eat five to six meals at home that I myself cook. I also work from home with my husband, and my three-year-old daughter stays at home with us all day for now.
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