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Diving overview:
- A survey released this month by management consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal found that consumers with household incomes of more than $100,000 are increasingly likely to buy private-brand groceries, even though they are increasingly confident about their financial security.
- A greater percentage of people with higher incomes said they shop at lower-cost grocery stores more often than shoppers with lower incomes.
- Of the 12 categories tracked in the survey, grocery was the only one where shoppers said they expected to increase their spending over the next three months.
Dive Insights:
The Fall 2025 Consumer Sentiment Survey from Alvarez & Marsal’s Consumer and Retail Group found that higher-income households are becoming increasingly secure with their finances and are showing a greater willingness to spend and save. Meanwhile, people with lower-middle incomes are showing signs of “cautious optimism” about their economic situation, according to the study.
But while higher-income people expect to spend and earn more over the next six months at the fastest pace since 2023, they are becoming more cautious about what they buy, Alvarez & Marsal reports.
Reflecting this trend, more than 82% of shoppers with incomes of $100,000 or more have increased the frequency with which they purchase private label products, the report found.
More than half of survey respondents with household incomes of at least $100,000 said they buy private-brand products at grocery stores “very often,” compared with 42% of participants with incomes below that level. The percentage of survey participants who said they buy store brand products “somewhat often” or “sometimes” also increased with higher incomes.
“(W)e are becoming increasingly cautious and responsible about how they spend, striking a more careful balance in where they shop, what brands they buy, and how often they indulge in response to this challenging economic environment,” Chad Lusk, managing director of Alvarez & Marsal’s consumer and retail group, said in a statement.
Across income groups, 68% of survey respondents said they believed private-brand groceries “offer as good or better quality” than national brands, and slightly more said they believed store-brand foods were more consistently available on store shelves.
The report also found that discount grocers appeal to shoppers across all income groups. More than two-thirds of respondents said they believed the quality and variety found in budget grocery stores was similar to what they could buy at traditional food retailers. About the same percentage said they believed low-cost grocery stores offered as good a selection as traditional grocery stores.
Shoppers are turning to private label products and discount stores to save money on groceries, but more than a quarter of survey respondents said they will spend more on groceries over the next three months, the survey found.
Tariffs are a major cause of stress for shoppers, with a majority of respondents saying they believe levies on imported goods have driven up costs. This sentiment is more prevalent among higher-income shoppers surveyed.
Alvarez & Marsal’s findings are based on a survey conducted in August. About 2,200 people responded to this poll.
