The Hidden Signs of the Fragmented Basket: Your Customers Aren’t Leaving. Their Baskets Are.
Grocery shoppers haven't stopped visiting their favorite stores, but they're increasingly spreading their purchases across multiple retailers. So what does loyalty really mean when a customer shops with you every week but buys fewer items? In this episode of The Retail Perch , host Courtney Adams sits down with Linda Wakim, VP of Client Success at Birdzi, to explore the fragmented grocery basket and what changing shopping habits reveal about customer behavior. Drawing on her experience in grocery merchandising, loyalty, and shopper analytics, Linda discusses why basket fragmentation isn't new, how value and convenience influence shopping decisions, and why traditional measures of loyalty may not tell the whole story. They also explore the early warning signs retailers should watch for, from declining category engagement to changes in basket size and spending, and how understanding these shifts can help grocers respond before shoppers disengage. In this episode: Why shoppers are dividing their grocery purchases across more retailers How value, convenience, and shopping occasions influence purchasing decisions Why a loyal shopper may still be spending less with your store What changes in shopping frequency, basket size, and category participation can reveal Which shopper metrics grocery executives should be monitoring The takeaway: A customer doesn't have to stop shopping with you for you to start losing their business. Understanding what's changing inside the basket is an important first step toward influencing what happens next. Tune in for a practical conversation about grocery loyalty, changing shopper behavior, and the insights retailers can use to make more informed decisions.
