• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, 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.