Perception Research Services’ second annual shopper research survey released this week shows that grocery purchases are being seen in alternative channels more frequently than ever.

It’s a trend that PRS Executive Vice President Jonathan Asher discusses in detail in the upcoming November edition of PLBuyer, in a guest commentary piece.

The data shows that 91 percent of shoppers bought groceries from a supermarket in the past three months, with 73 percent groceries from mass merchandisers – both in line with 2011 results.

But dollar stores in particular are gaining rapidly. The channel saw a 3 percent gain to 35 percent of shoppers buying groceries from dollar stores in the past three months. Drug channels saw 47 percent of shoppers while convenience stores were at 24 percent, both similar to 2011.

“Our latest findings on grocery shopping indicate how very discerning today’s shoppers are – about their venue preferences as well as brand choices,” Asher said in a news release announcing the results. “Retailers must understand their competitive strengths and capitalize on them, while also making the necessary adjustments to their offerings to seize opportunities for a larger slice of the pie as shoppers are more open to new shopping possibilities than they have been since the 1950s with the advent of large, supermarket chains.”