Sixty per cent of European shoppers said product range is the reason for store choice when it comes to supermarkets and hypermarkets. Other reasons for choosing this type of store included products being in one place ( 40%) and customer loyalty cards ( 27%).

IRI’s report surveyed 2,600 European consumers across seven countries – Italy, Greece, Spain, Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands.

The report found that at a time when many retailers are reviewing their ranges, and in some cases reducing them to cut costs, ‘range’ – which includes wide assortment, choice of brands, and good selection of healthy products in line with the growing trend for health and wellbeing – is still a key driver for consumers.

However, having a wide range of products was least important when selecting discounters and also when shopping online, where shoppers were driven primarily by price ( 68% and 50% respectively).

Laura Fusi, shopper insight senior manager, IRI, said: “Our survey has shown quite clearly that European shoppers increasingly prefer to visit online stores, with a third saying they do so regularly, so bricks and mortar stores are having to work much harder at getting people in-store.

“Retailers will have to manage their assortment, in collaboration with manufacturers, by understanding in-depth what each shopper in each store is expecting to find, if possible in a supermarket format, as hypermarkets have become too large.”