Customer expectations and perceptions of food product quality in the UK discount grocery sector

Value for money and improved quality when making food purchase decisions has become increasingly important. Grocery food retailers have in recent times, invested heavily into improving the quality of their provision in the struggle for market share and with evidence of a trading down in consumer shopping habits, the discounters are no exception this trend. The aims of this research are to explore consumer expectations and perceptions of food product quality within a grocery discount context and to establish whether consumers are prepared to accept a lesser quality in product quality, in return for the lower pricing strategies. A questionnaire was administered to 50 discount food shoppers, followed by two in-depth consumer interviews for a leading discount food chain in the North West region of the country. The sample is small and should be interpreted tentatively, but provides a good starting point for larger studies. The findings provide interesting new insights for this sector.