Table 1

Consumer purchases at small retail stores

Store type N (%) of consumers at each store typeTotal consumers N (%)
Lunchbars/delisIndependent grocers association storesNewsagentsOther independent grocers
Main reason for visiting the store
 Hot food470 (69.9)10 (2.4)13 (4.0)1 (1.4)494 (33.2)
 Groceries41 (6.1)243 (57.7)8 (2.5)46 (63.0)338 (22.7)
 Lottery tickets4 (0.6)8 (1.9)208 (64.8)0 (0.0)220 (14.8)
 Cold drinks67 (10.0)47 (11.2)10 (3.1)10 (13.7)134 (9.0)
 Snack food47 (7.0)43 (10.2)6 (1.9)10 (13.7)106 (7.1)
 Newspapers9 (1.3)5 (1.2)38 (11.8)2 (2.7)54 (3.6)
 Tobacco8 (1.0)17 (4.0)12 (3.7)0 (0.0)37 (2.5)
 Milk5 (0.7)20 (4.8)1 (0.3)1 (1.4)27 (1.8)
 Other9 (1.3)9 (2.1)19 (5.9)2 (2.7)39 (2.6)
 Bread3 (0.4)16 (3.8)1 (0.3)0 (0.0)20 (1.3)
 Gifts1 (0.1)3 (0.7)5 (1.6)0 (0.0)9 (0.6)
 Coffee9 (1.3)0 (0.0)0 (0.0)0 (0.0)9 (0.6)
Tobacco purchases
 Did not purchase tobacco641 (95.4)362 (86.0)296 (92.2)67 (91.8)1366 (91.9)
 Purchased tobacco31 (4.6)59 (14.0)25 (7.8)6 (8.2)121 (8.1)
Planned and unplanned purchases of non-tobacco products†
 Planned purchase of non-tobacco product (by consumers who did not purchase tobacco)254 (39.6)48 (13.2)40 (13.5)11 (16.4)353 (25.8)*
 Planned purchase of non-tobacco product (by consumers who purchased tobacco)8 (25.8)2 (3.4)1 (4.0)0 (0.0)11 (9.1)
 Unplanned purchase of non-tobacco product (by consumers who did not purchase tobacco)57 (8.8)57 (15.7)18 (6.1)13 (19.4)145 (10.6)
 Unplanned purchase of non-tobacco product (by consumers who purchased tobacco)5 (16.1)5 (8.5)1 (4.0)0 (0.0)11 (9.1)
Usual purchasing location for tobacco products‡
 Purchased at usual location7 (25.9)39 (66.1)7 (28.0)4 (66.7)57 (48.7)
 Do not have a usual purchasing location16 (59.2)18 (30.5)16 (64.0)0 (0.0)50 (42.7)
 Not purchased at usual location4 (14.8)2 (3.4)2 (8.0)2 (33.3)10 (8.6)
 Supermarket§4 (100.0)2 (100.0)2 (100.0)2 (100.0)10 (100.0)
  • *P<0.001.

  • †After identifying their main reason for visiting the store and corresponding purchase, consumers were asked ‘Did you purchase any other products?’ and, if an additional purchase was identified, ‘Did you plan to purchase this product prior to entering the store?’.

  • ‡Usual purchasing location asked only of consumers’ who purchased tobacco; respondents to usual purchasing question n=117, N and % of respondents reported.

  • §Consumers who did not purchase at their usual location were asked ‘Where do you usually purchase tobacco products?’.