Executive summary

Grocery shopping. Most of us do it. Some of us reluctantly, some of us with a sense of anticipation and pleasure. Some of us want it to be social, and some want it over and done with as soon as possible. Some approach it with military precision and others can be heard wailing 'argh, I forgot the milk!' on the way home (ok, that's me).

Grocery retailers need to take into account myriad attitudes and approaches and make the experience satisfying for customers and profitable for the company. Like all marketers, to get that balance right, they need to know how people feel, their habits and what they like. Synovate asked more than 6,700 people across 10 markets to spill the beans on their grocery shopping approach. Even seemingly simple questions like 'how often do you shop?' and 'where?' inspire vastly different answers from market to market, culture to culture.