Survey: Frugality making more shoppers turn to Wal-Mart

New York City Consumers are growing increasingly frugal and are becoming more likely to base their retail purchase decisions on price, according to a study from The Gordman Group. The company that stands to benefit most from this trend, according to the consulting firm, is Wal-Mart.

According to The Gordman Group’s most recent Retail Trend Tracker Survey, 90% of respondents say the economy has affected how much they spend, and 80% say the economy has affected where they shop. Forty-five percent of respondents have spent less in the last three months, and 31% expect to spend less in the next three months.

More than half of respondents (54%) in the study plan to spend a larger share of their budget at Wal-Mart in 2009 than they did in 2008. The next-most-popular response to this question, Internet stores, was selected by 27% of respondents as a destination where they will spend more money this year. Only 25% of respondents say they will spend more money in 2009 at chief Wal-Mart rival Target, The Gordman Group found.