Confectionery buyers split their purchases across different retailers, depending on the category, and are open to changing where and what they buy, a new Caddle study finds.

According to Caddle panel insights from September to October with a sample size of approximately 25,000, Walmart is the go-to destination for candy and white chocolate, discount grocers are the retailer of choice for milk chocolate and cookies, and traditional banners are favored for dark chocolate.

Dollar stores are second when it comes to candy purchase preference, while traditional grocers are runners up for white chocolate, milk chocolate and cookies. The survey also found that impulse buys are highest for cookies, followed by chocolate and then candy.

But Caddle data also reveals that consumers are open to change, finding that one in five shoppers have changed where they buy confectionery in the last six months, and around one-third of buyers would brand switch if a preferred one were unavailable.

According to Caddle insights, for the confectionery category overall, ratings and reviews are “moderately” important. Ratings and reviews are most important for white chocolate, topping the category average with 43% of respondents saying they are “very/somewhat important” for purchase decisions, compared with only 35% for the category overall. Candy is the category for which ratings and reviews are the least important, at 32%. The numbers reveal that for both online and in-store purchases, around 4 in 10 consumers “always, often or sometimes” read ratings and reviews.

As Caddle points out, historically, brands and retailers could “stack it high and watch it fly,” but in the confectionary category, online purchase is taking off, with predicted growth of 3.7% between now and 2027. That said, recent Caddle Halloween data reveals a strong preference for in-store shop at 87%.

Buyers most typically frequent regular grocery aisles (47%) followed by free-standing displays (33%), front-of-store displays (32%), end-cap displays (24%), entryway displays (23%), dump bins (14%) and checkout aisle (13%).