Out of Stock: Maintaining Food Brand Loyalty During COVID-19

Grocery shopping is quite the experience these days.

We line up 6 feet apart outside our local grocers to be ushered in like it’s Club Pandemic. We wake up at 6 am to snag a delivery window from Whole Foods or Instacart. We stock up on flour to make homemade sourdough, despite never baking bread before in our lives.

We were creatures of habit, buying the same foods each week in a mindless trip to the grocery store. Our grocery list was made up of brand loyalty purchases that were instilled in us through family recipes, advertising, or more recently, food influencers.

Then came COVID-19 and our mindless shopping trips became an exercise in stocking up on groceries as much as possible each week “just in case.” All of our established brand loyalty around food has been replaced by availability, comfort, and nostalgia.

Grocery shopping is quite the experience these days.

We line up 6 feet apart outside our local grocers to be ushered in like it’s Club Pandemic. We wake up at 6 am to snag a delivery window from Whole Foods or Instacart. We stock up on flour to make homemade sourdough, despite never baking bread before in our lives.

We were creatures of habit, buying the same foods each week in a mindless trip to the grocery store. Our grocery list was made up of brand loyalty purchases that were instilled in us through family recipes, advertising, or more recently, food influencers.

Then came COVID-19 and our mindless shopping trips became an exercise in stocking up on groceries as much as possible each week “just in case.” All of our established brand loyalty around food has been replaced by availability, comfort, and nostalgia.

Grocery shopping is quite the experience these days.

We line up 6 feet apart outside our local grocers to be ushered in like it’s Club Pandemic. We wake up at 6 am to snag a delivery window from Whole Foods or Instacart. We stock up on flour to make homemade sourdough, despite never baking bread before in our lives.

We were creatures of habit, buying the same foods each week in a mindless trip to the grocery store. Our grocery list was made up of brand loyalty purchases that were instilled in us through family recipes, advertising, or more recently, food influencers.

Then came COVID-19 and our mindless shopping trips became an exercise in stocking up on groceries as much as possible each week “just in case.” All of our established brand loyalty around food has been replaced by availability, comfort, and nostalgia.

Grocery shopping is quite the experience these days.

We line up 6 feet apart outside our local grocers to be ushered in like it’s Club Pandemic. We wake up at 6 am to snag a delivery window from Whole Foods or Instacart. We stock up on flour to make homemade sourdough, despite never baking bread before in our lives.

We were creatures of habit, buying the same foods each week in a mindless trip to the grocery store. Our grocery list was made up of brand loyalty purchases that were instilled in us through family recipes, advertising, or more recently, food influencers.

Then came COVID-19 and our mindless shopping trips became an exercise in stocking up on groceries as much as possible each week “just in case.” All of our established brand loyalty around food has been replaced by availability, comfort, and nostalgia.

Grocery shopping is quite the experience these days.

We line up 6 feet apart outside our local grocers to be ushered in like it’s Club Pandemic. We wake up at 6 am to snag a delivery window from Whole Foods or Instacart. We stock up on flour to make homemade sourdough, despite never baking bread before in our lives.

We were creatures of habit, buying the same foods each week in a mindless trip to the grocery store. Our grocery list was made up of brand loyalty purchases that were instilled in us through family recipes, advertising, or more recently, food influencers.

Then came COVID-19 and our mindless shopping trips became an exercise in stocking up on groceries as much as possible each week “just in case.” All of our established brand loyalty around food has been replaced by availability, comfort, and nostalgia.

"This shift in food buying behavior is temporary, but brands need to change their behavior as well to either regain or maintain brand loyalty once consumer choice in the grocery world is a reality again."

With many items out of stock, we pick the next best thing —often selecting a different brand than we typically prefer. Shoppers were unable to find 40% of the grocery items on their shopping list, according to a March 23 survey of 3,000 consumers by meal planning service eMeals.

We’re buying more comfort food due to stress, meaning the healthier snack brands we used to pay a little extra for are competing with a craving for Lay’s potato chips. We’re feeling nostalgic for our carefree childhood so we buy Froot Loops for the first time in 15 years, simply because it reminds us of the good old days.

This shift in food buying behavior is temporary, but brands need to change their behavior as well to either regain or maintain brand loyalty once consumer choice in the grocery world is a reality again.

Here are 3 ways to maintain brand building efforts during this unique time: