2026 Annual Proprietary Shopper Study No. 3: Win the Mission. Grow the Basket.

With grocery loyalty at an eight-year low, we reveal how retailers and CPG brands can win more trips in this fragmented market.

The problem retailers and brands are both facing:

Loyalty isn’t disappearing. It’s splitting. Two-thirds of shoppers now rotate between a couple of preferred stores, and single-store loyalty just hit an eight-year low at 23%. That leaves retailers and brands asking the same question from different sides: if shoppers won’t commit to us for everything, what should we actually be fighting to win?

If you’re a retailer, this data answers:

Which trips are actually yours to win, and which ones you’re fighting for no reason
What’s pulling shoppers to competitors on the missions you’re losing
Where to put investment: price, assortment, loyalty, delivery, or something else entirely
How your claim strategy needs to shift based on who actually shops your banner

If you’re a brand, this data answers:

Which retailers and channels are the right home for your portfolio, and why
How to align activation to the mission each retailer is built to serve, instead of running the same playbook everywhere
When promotions actually move product: pre-trip digital versus in-aisle loyalty and circulars
Which product claims carry weight with your shoppers, and which ones you’re overinvesting in

What’s inside:

The eight-year loyalty low, and what’s replacing single-store loyalty
A breakdown of what each channel (Mass, Food, Club, Natural/Specialty, Discount) is actually built to win
Retailer-by-retailer drivers: why shoppers choose one over another
The exact point in the shopper journey where digital coupons stop working and loyalty offers take over
Why claim sensitivity swings 2.6x between retailers, and what that means for a one-size-fits-all claims strategy

The bottom line:

Winning doesn’t mean capturing every trip. It means knowing which ones you’re positioned to win, what matters most when you do, and how to capture more of the basket once you’re chosen.