NAVIGATING CONSUMER BEHAVIOR IN THE GROCERY STORE LANDSCAPE: EVIDENCE FROM TIRANA.

Abstract

This article attempts to analyze the shopping behaviors of customers in Tirana, focusing on their choice of retailers among Spar, Big Market, Conad, and others. The research explores different aspects of consumer choice like the effect of discounts, promotional brochures, and reasons for selecting particular stores. It also looks at the income-grocery spending and the income – household structure relationship in as it relates to shopping patterns and spending. Additionally, it seeks information on customer willingness to pay for various types of products including premium priced, regular priced, and bargain priced goods. The study which was conducted by the use of questionnaire on 162 residents and shoppers in Tirana has quite useful information on the factors that influence one's decision in grocery shopping in the region. This study concludes that the predominant type of store from where people prefer to do their grocery shopping is supermarkets, particularly Big Markets. The main reasons cited for choosing these stores were the proximity to the outlets and frequent discounts. Also, a preference was noted for low priced items rather than regular or high- priced items. Most respondents also noted that they do spend a substantial proportion of their income.