Akciós-Újság.hu, the online leaflets’ platform, has published a survey of nearly 5,000 people, revealing that price sensitivity remains the most dominant attitude in household spending, and online versions of leaflets advertising discounts are gaining ground. Ádám Kovács, Head of Digital Brand, will be responsible for managing Akciós-Újság.hu.
In the summer of 2023, Central Médiacsoport announced the acquisition of the Akciós-Újság.hu platform. The publication provides information about price changes in stores, current promotions and collects flyers of the largest department stores on its online platform, which has increased the number of unique users by more than 67% in the past year.
In order to meet user needs and map consumer trends, Akciós-Újság.hu launched a research on shopping habits. The non-representative survey was based on an online sample of more than 3,700 respondents and a face-to-face sample of nearly 1,000 respondents. “The aim of our research was to get to know the users of Akciós-Újság.hu, the largest Hungarian catalogue of discount newspapers, better. We conducted our research on two samples, both with a large number of items: we interviewed nearly 5,000 people at ten different department stores in seven cities and in the online space,” said Sándor Fábián, Head of the Analysis Group at Central Médiacsoport, summarising the research objective.
According to the results, consumers are most likely to visit Penny, Lidl, Spar and Interspar, as well as Aldi, to follow their promotions and to visit their stores most often. Just over half of respondents said that they choose a particular grocery store because of its proximity: 61% shop there because of the prices, 69% because of the current promotions.
Based on the responses received, it can be said that although Hungarian consumers remain highly price-sensitive, it is primarily personal experience that influences their purchasing decisions. 78% of respondents trust a product if they have had a positive experience with it before, but the discount price is also a major factor: 69% of respondents put discounted products in their shopping basket. Slightly more than half of respondents, 53%, like a product because it is the cheapest in its category. Only 13% of respondents said they live without financial worries, while 43% said they get by if they manage their salary and 23% just manage to balance their income and expenditure.
In the face-to-face sample, only 50% of those interviewed in shops said that promotions influence their choice of shop. For them, the proximity of the location is the deciding factor and they visit fewer places for a shopping trip, while online respondents are much more aware. On average, they explore 3.5 shops, motivated primarily by the search for the best deals. For both groups, it is the special offers on fruit, vegetables, meat and dairy products that are the most important.
Although the use of in-store mobile apps is on the rise, the discount newspaper is still the main source of information for shoppers, with 47% of respondents still purchasing a printed copy. However, a digitalisation process is underway and more and more people are keeping up: 23% of those surveyed in person know of an online special offers newspaper aggregator, and 48% use such a platform on a weekly basis.
From 1 June, Ádám Kovács will take over the product management of Akciós-Újság.hu, the market leader in its segment.
