• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer, May 13, 2008

According to the April Retail Ratings Report from BIGresearch, higher gas and grocery prices coupled with an uncertain economic environment are driving more consumers to Wal-Mart for electronics, home improvement and groceries.

In the Electronics category, Wal-Mart had the highest year over year growth in share of consumers that shop there most often for electronics, with 16% vs. 15%. This growth gives Wal-Mart a Consumer Equity Index of 107.15  (7.15% growth in retail share) in the April Ratings. Best Buy saw a slight decrease in share from 28.6% in April 07 to 27.7% in April 2008 making their CEI 96.88.

Home Depot continues to lead in the Home Improvement sector, but share of preference declined from 28.6% in April 2007 to 27.6% in 08. Second place Lowe's remains flat, while third place Wal-Mart experienced relatively substantial share growth year over year.?

Wal-Mart maintains a strong lead in the Groceries category as consumer share increased to 15.3% from 13.6% in 2007. Kroger marginally weakens, while Publix experienced a steeper decline (83.98).  ??

Wal-Mart is also picking up grocery shoppers with higher incomes. Among households who report an income greater than $50K, Wal-Mart's share of preference as a grocer increased from 12.3% in 2007 to 13.5% in 2008. ??

For more information from BIGresearch, please go here.