Print media has been a mainstay for the marketing departments of supermarkets and grocery stores almost since they first opened their doors, and new data reveals that won’t be changing in 2012, reports eMarketer, citing Valassis’ Supermarket Media Usage Study.

Three-quarters (75 percent) of U.S. grocery retail executives said they would use print media for marketing purposes in 2012, with just 12 percent planning to use social media. However, five years from now those numbers will almost reverse, with 65 percent of grocery stores planning to use social tools such as Facebook and Twitter as part of their marketing arsenal, and just 17 percent said they expect to still be using print media.

Broadcast media is also expected to decline, from 7 percent this year to 3 percent by 2017.

Social media was not the only marketing tool expected to benefit from the decline in print media use, with general online investments (22 percent), shared or merged mail (19 percent) and solo or direct mail (14 percent) also likely to rise.

(Source: eMarketer. Shopping cart image via Shutterstock.)