GfK: Romanians want to be treated better by retailers

IOANA POPA

Most city-dwelling Romanians (77%) feel that the most important thing when shopping is to be well treatment by store employees, according to a study by GfK. Another important criteria for Romanians is the efficiency of their shopping: 67% plan their purchases ahead and 63% buy all the things they need at the same store.

Shopping is influenced to a far lesser degree by social and emotional social criteria, as only 20% of shoppers socialize with other shoppers, only 19% buy products to pamper themselves, and only 12% go shopping to keep up with the latest fashion. 21% of city-dwelling Romanians are bargain hunters

When studying shoppers according to their buying motivations, the study showed that 21% or urban shoppers are mainly interested in price, always on the look-out for discounts or promotions. When choosing a store, these buyers don"t care too much about the facilities of the store or the variety of products on offer, but they are interested in buying quality and fresh products. Shoppers are more inclined to buy according to promotions found in retailers" catalogs and they don"t usually make large purchases. These buyers are usually female, aged 55 or older and with an average education level.

Planned purchases Just 25% of Romanians decide on their purchases while in the store. Most of them (75%) either have a shopping list that they fully stick to, or they know what they want to buy, but still they are interested in buying other products than the ones they were looking for in the first place.

Impact of promotional catalogs Promotional flyers have an 82% penetration rate in cities, whereas 18% of city-dwellers say that they do not get this kind of promotional material in their mailbox. 44% of city residents said they read advertising brochures and they make purchases based on them, whereas 33% said they read them but don"t make their purchases based on them. Promotion catalogs have a higher impact among women and elderly persons.

"We find that romanians are rather focused on the efficiency of their purchases. not only do they usually plan and research before buying, but the also try to spend little time in making their purchases, preferring to make their purchases in a single store", Andi Dumitrescu, general manager of GFK Romania.