Trone, Inc. recently (October 2009) conducted a nationwide study of over 900 mothers with children aged 18 or under.  Given the state of the economy, one topic the study examined was changes in their shopping behavior across seven key product categories: children’s clothes, their own clothes, household cleaning products, food and drinks for the children, soaps and shampoos, detergents and paper products such as napkins and paper towels.

While it wasn’t much of a surprise to learn that 88% of the mothers surveyed had switched to less expensive brands in at least one of the seven product categories to save money, the broader extent to which mothers have been switching brands to save money may come as a surprise to some.  The data showed that nearly two-thirds (66%) had switched to less expensive brands in all seven product categories.

What was even more interesting is that, on average, 59% of mothers who’d switched brands to save money in a given product category indicated they’d be likely to stay with their newly adopted, less expensive brands.  Mothers were most likely to return to their former brands where food and drinks for the children were concerned (45% likelihood) while only 38% were likely to do so when purchasing clothes for themselves or paper products.

Given these findings, brands need to be on the alert.  The times are ripe with both challenges and opportunities.  The fact that 59% of mothers, on average, expressed intent to stay with their newly adopted brands represents a recent increase in opportunity for relatively lower-tiered, lower-priced brands.  However, these challenger brands will need to develop a strategy for “staying in the game” down the road and keeping these newer customers in the event they later become open to increasing their spend.  On the other hand, incumbent brands had best develop a strategy for maintaining market share and minimizing customer attrition.  Now, more than ever, brands need to be strategically planning for their future.