Game on: Fall shopper behaviors and tailgating trends

As fall football approaches, so does stocking up on game day essentials. Football fans will gather to celebrate their teams, and for many brands, football season kicks off new marketing strategies. Football and food have long been a perfect pairing, bringing people together to enjoy exciting games and tasty food and drinks. This fall, help your customers gear up for game days and win the football season by reminding them that you offer everything needed for their tailgating experience or the perfect at-home spread – all while staying budget-friendly.

This season brings the unique opportunity to enhance the shopping experience and simplify shoppers’ efforts to go all out for football season. Inspire them with fall football and tailgating solutions, and use these moments as a catalyst to add more items in the basket throughout the season, driving conversion in key categories.

Sunday shopper behavior

Whether they’re gathering at home or in parking lots, shoppers show up for football, making it a great opportunity to take advantage of the fall football Sunday sales spike. Sales surge on weekends compared to other days of the week throughout the year, with college football games typically taking place on Fridays and Saturdays, and Sundays dominated by the NFL. Our data shows that a September Sunday brings in 1.32x sales compared to an average day in the month.

Scoring through search

Party dip ingredients, snacks, and meats emerge as key seasonal terms when shoppers are planning to purchase products for their fall football celebrations. Key seasonal search terms include diced tomato, ground turkey, hamburger meat, cookies, rotisserie chicken, candy, buns, shredded lettuce, chicken thigh, chuck roast, BBQ sauce and pretzel/snacks.

Other key commodities and focus areas include:

• Meat, produce, and frozen pizza

• Snacks and appetizers like chips and dips (hummus, guacamole, salsa, etc.), pretzels, nuts, popcorn, party trays, frozen apps

• Treats including cookies, brownies, and bakery items

• Game day beverages

• Tailgating must-haves such as party supplies, plates, and utensils

Category gains and losses

As expected, households surged in condiments and some meat commodities during September 2024. However, snacks, frozen pizza, and certain meats saw declines. Categories with household increases from the previous year include natural chicken (+88%), natural turkey (+78%), natural food condiments (+46%), and nuts (+13%). Categories with household declines include beef rib (-17%), pork grinds (-9%), hot dogs (-7%), crackers and miscellaneous baked foods (-9%), and cookies (-7.3%).

Winning activation strategies

Activation considerations to utilize these purchasing behavior insights include inspiring some team spirit and simplifying shoppers’ efforts to go all out for football season while staying on budget.

• Message the moment: Lean into the opportunity and broader national messaging with upper-funnel tactics like Pinterest, offsite display, Meta, and OLV to inspire shoppers.

• Turn up the tailgate: Drive conversion by promoting products as relevant complements to further fill their baskets for Sunday celebrations. Using portfolio-driven solutions like Promoted Product Carousels to highlight the perfect fall football spread.

• Convert at Kroger: Establish your brand as the preferred option for these occasions by leveraging strategic, lower-funnel channels to complete the purchase. Targeted onsite ads, promoted product carousels, and targeted digital coupons engage shoppers as they are actively shopping, ensuring your items are top-of-mind to make their way into the basket.

• Elevate Brand Visibility: Drive attention where it matters most this football season with Kroger's newly launched homepage inventory. Premium Placement HOME Carousels help your brand stand out as game day baskets are being built.

Kick off your game plan 

As shoppers gear up for the season, the brands and retailers that lean into the excitement of fall football can enhance consumer relationships, increase visibility and drive growth that carries on throughout the year. For more retail strategy and actionable insights, visit our Knowledge Hub.