Morrisons has shaken up its promotional activity to tie in with the new shopper habits emerging in the tough economic climate.

The grocer carried out research that found that the big weekly shop has been replaced by a large shop at the end of the month to coincide with payday. It found shoppers spent an average 37% more at the end of the month compared with other weeks.

Morrisons has responded to the findings by running promotions on the most common bulk buys at the end of the month.

Products most likely to be bought in bulk buys around payday include household essentials. It found uplifts of 80% on toilet paper, 70% on toiletries, 62% on cleaning products, 47% on frozen items, and 35% on alcohol.

The move echoes chief executive Dalton Philips’ pledge last month to keep its promotional activity in line with the consumer mindset.

At its first-quarter results, when the grocer reported like-for-like sales up 2.5% in the period to May 1, Philips said Morrisons had “caught the mood of the nation” with its price promotions and offers.

He cited its Price Crunch at the start of the year and its Fuel Britannia petrol promotion as examples.

Morrisons said shoppers carry out top-up shops but fully stock up at the end of the month. It will continue to tie in its promotions with shopper trends on an ongoing basis, a spokeswoman said, and keep its end-of-month promotions if that’s what consumers want.

She said: “All year we have been reflecting the mood of the nation and we continue to track what people are thinking, and try to tap into their concerns. If we can get the right thing at the right time then we’ll be helping out our customers while also seeing strong sales.”

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