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Times & Trends Special Report: The Ripple Effect: High Gas Prices Bring
Pain Beyond the Pump
Special Report: May/June 2011
Executive Overview
SymphonyIRI's Times & Trends highlights new developments and critical events across all major CPG
categories and channels, providing powerful benchmarking data to help guide your strategic decisions. This
issue of Times & Trends explores current and emerging tactics being embraced by CPG marketers as they
seek to re-energize and re-align their marketing strategies as shoppers react to high gas prices in the postrecession era of CPG.
Introduction
It has been more than two years now since SymphonyIRI published the first report in its Competing in a
Transforming Economy Series. It was a powerful research series that closely monitored the progression of the
impending recession, and consumers’ response to the economic slide.
The Great Recession is no more. Officially, the recession ended nearly one year ago. Undoubtedly, though, the
aftershocks from the recession are still being felt.
And, just as the CPG industry was beginning to show signs of new growth, a new hurdle emerged: rising gas
prices. The repercussions of this gas price spike are rippling through the U.S. economy, and through the CPG
industry. With higher gas prices come higher costs of doing business. This, in turn, brings higher prices all along
the CPG supply chain and into the retail environment.
Consumers and CPG marketers are quite resilient in the face of this adversity. Both groups are evolving to not
only survive, but also to thrive.
Select Findings
 A slow and unsteady economic recovery has left many consumers struggling, and very apprehensive about
the near-term prospects for their financial health and security
 Despite high levels of promotional activity in recent months, CPG prices remain very close to recessiondriven highs, and CPG unit sales growth is quite low
© Copyright 2011 SymphonyIRI Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Times & Trends Special Report: The Ripple Effect: High Gas Prices Bring
Pain Beyond the Pump
Special Report: May/June 2011
Executive Overview
Select Findings
 At a macro level, trip frequency and average spend are declining, but shifting shopping patterns are driving
mixed trend changes at the channel level
 Across CPG channels, trip missions are evolving as consumers turn to value channels for pantry stocking
and closer-to-home drug channel outlets for fill-in trips
 Private label trends are showing signs of change, with dollar share growth slowing and unit share growth
turning negative during the past several quarters
© Copyright 2011 SymphonyIRI Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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