Supermarket the Urban Trend - Literature review Example

SUPERMARKET THE URBAN TREND This is a brief report that discusses the impact of Supermarkets on the s' trends and practices. The report provides facts and necessary details regarding the present customer trends and retailing practices. INTRODUCTION A supermarket's formula for success is simple - it operates efficiently, provides a one-stop shop and eventually enjoys consumer confidence. Today supermarket chains like WALMART wield immense influence over the way we grow, buy and eat our food. They are shaping our landscape, our health and the way we interact socially, and these changes are going unchallenged because of our fast food lifestyles; consumers want instant access to a wide choice of goods at low prices. But, as this report will illustrate, such 'choice' has in the long run, come at a price. Supermarkets today, are proving to be a disaster rather than a boon for the society. The modus operandi of the supermarkets both in procuring and selling goods has had a telling effect on all sections of the society. The present essay is written so as to describe the manner in which supermarkets influence the consumers. The report aims to critically analyze the following line- "Supermarkets wield immense power over the way we grow, buy and eat our food. They are shaping our environment, our health and the way we interact socially. These changes have gone unchallenged because consumers have been sucked into superstore lifestyles, persuaded that the opportunity to select from six different brands of cut-price oven chips at three in the morning represents choice and value" In the essay, we initially assess the extent to which the supermarket industry controls the economy and also analyze the amount of power that supermarkets wield over the government or other smaller players like grocery stores etc. The essay critically analyses the present consumer trends as well as their current mindset. It is also important to determine their main influencing factors that ultimately work in favor of the supermarkets. Finally, the essay discusses the core issue of how a supermarket adopts different strategies in order to woo customers in addition to discussing the various ways in which the consumers are heavily dependent on the consumers for most of their daily needs. Overview of the Supermarket Industry A supermarket is a self-service grocery outlet that sells food, beverages and other goods. They are located on urban high streets or in shopping malls, covering an area of around 4,000-25,000 square ft. According to the M+M Planet Retail (2001), over the last 10-15 years, many have developed branches in out-of-town or edge-of-town locations. According to the IGD in 2001, the major supermarket constitute around 60% of the total market, retailers around 20%, while other smaller vendors and shops fill up the gap which is a mere 13%, In addition to the Co-operatives & hard discounters shares of 5% & 2% respectively. Market analysts, Taylor Nelson Sofres, who calculated the market share after studying shopping habits in 15,000 households, puts the figure at 75% for UK's major supermarket chains. The supermarkets have also set their foot in the convenience sector, which is valued at around 21bn by the Fortune Magazine (2003). This is part of a strategy of the supermarkets, which aims the so-called 'cash-rich, time-poor' consumers who are on the rise. The Competition Commission report on Supermarkets has made a clear distinction between the two sectors giving the green light to potential takeovers. For example, as cited by just-food.com & Grocertoday.com (2001), Supermarket giant Tesco has acquired hundreds of stores after it took over the reins of TNS and Administore (cited by Reuters, 2001). The simple message sent out here is that the market is not a place for weaklings. Overview of Consumer trends "Trend cycles seem to be emerging more rapidly as a result of technology, accelerated social diffusion, instantaneous communication and more willingness to accept - or inability to escape - new ideas," says Hallmark trends expert Marita Wesley-Clough. "When everything is accessible instantaneously, the ability to assimilate, to differentiate and to choose becomes more difficult." She further adds that- "Under those circumstances, a culture can suffer from a feeling of mental and emotional paralysis, a kind of frozen framework - like kids in the candy store of the world. It becomes increasingly difficult to discern the truth - to sort out what's best." When such a condition exists, according to Wesley-Clough, counter trends swirl like undertow beneath the surface of society. He further adds that, sometimes trends and counter trends become cyclical as they reverse positions on generations' priority scales. For example, the desire to work hard, and the motivation to achieve and the urge to acquire may be replaced by a kind of emotional exhaustion, a desire for respite, which may be supplanted by a feeling of need to keep up with the Joneses, which can give way to a longing for leisure. There are various factors and drivers that are necessary to consider in order to study the trends among consumers. As told in an ASDA press review (2001), some of them are as mentioned under: 1) DESIRE & QUEST FOR LEISURE 2) POWER IN EVERYONE'S HANDS 3) ADDICTION (TO SHOPPING) 4) THE THRILL OF TECHNOLOGY How Supermarkets are influencing Consumers As the previously mentioned quote points out- Supermarkets today, have immense control upon consumer trends. They wield immense influence over what we buy and eat. A supermarket's prime motive is profit, and supermarkets resort to any covert malpractices in order to achieve that. The Keynote Report on Supermarket s and Superstores (2003) explains that today, Supermarkets play an influential role in the process of urbanization as also our social needs. This can be ascertained from the extent to which we depend upon supermarkets for the majority of our needs. Supermarkets had introduced the concept of junk food a long time back. Superstores attract us by using advertisements and lucrative offers like discounts, festive offers and lucky prizes. This was a topic of serious discussion in the BBC2 The Money Programme (2003), which has caused a stir among many health groups. We today relish eating a pizza or a hamburger at a food court at any large store rather than making the same at our homes. Many reasons can be attributed to this effect. The prime reason among them being that we have over the last few decades, been drawing ourselves into a mechanistic way of life. We today, do not have enough time for devoting to essential activities like cooking or cleaning the house etc. Another thing that is forgotten by many of us is that we do not care about hygiene nowadays. Petra Kjell (2003, pg.255-256) has pointed that we are now more interested in the taste rather than on knowing the way the food is made. We do not care if the vegetables were washed properly or whether the meat was hygienic enough and not contaminated with any kind of virus. This sort of negligence on our part has led the Supermarkets in particular to flout rules and norms laid out by the health department. The only people to blame for such a callous attitude of the Supermarkets is US. An important point to note is that Supermarkets also play with the quality. Supermarkets attract customers by offering numerous varieties of even the simplest and cheapest of products. The customer is mesmerized when he finds himself in the midst of so many attractive brands. He ignores the actual quality of the material and blindly buys the product without pondering too much upon the quality of what he is willing to buy. Supermarkets also cash in on the addictive instincts of the consumers. The notion that all things are available to the customer at the same place drive him/her to considering a superstore over any other smaller shops when it comes to buying even the simplest of cheapest of things. Supermarkets are hot places where products are incorporated with the most sophisticated technologies are available at attractive prices. One can get any modern items like an LCD television, DVD Players, Electronic equipment etc. in a Supermarket. The Verdict Research reports on Non-Food Grocers (2001) explains that it is this availability of fascinating gadgets that propels a consumer to consider buying the product from a supermarket as the first instant thought over such product hovers around how sophisticated the product is and also as to how cheap it is. Supermarkets are able to meet both these requirements and as such displace other smaller market players in this regard. Supermarkets, right from their inception, have failed to exhibit even the smallest examples of fair competition; in fact they have exploited whomever they could. They are also proving a hindrance to the development of the economy, both locally as well as globally. Robert Winnett (2003, pg.102) blames this on the Government and says that the public has failed to recognize that Supermarkets could have been in the control of local communities and producers, and no initiatives have taken place in this regard. Thus, it can be concluded that Supermarkets are more a curse than a boon to society as they have hit hard at all sections of society much more than they have benefited anybody. CONCLUSION The sections above clearly depict the current market situation and have aimed to highlight the magnitude of influence that the supermarkets wield over the consumer in the present day. The essay aims to highlight the gravity of the situation by projecting the current market practices that are being followed by supermarkets in the domains of procuring, selling & marketing. We have also shown the various determinants that force the customers to opt for supermarkets in place of other smaller shops. Finally, the essay points out the various ways, in which the supermarkets try to woo customers thereby reaping huge profits, which eventually leads to the degradation of smaller stores. In short, the report aims to educate the customer on the harms of relying on a supermarket for most of their needs, and tries to motivate them into consider other options for their needs, especially in matters concerning food. Finally, I would like to conclude with a quote by Tony Sullivan of Sainbury's- "When people ask why there are no old English apple varieties, its because our customers don't want to buy them. Their tastes move on". REFERENCES BOOKS 1) Petra Kjell (2003)'The Retail Giants: Global Expansion and Local Concerns'. Westport: Praeger Books, Vol. 2, Pg. 255-56. 2) Robert Winnett (2003),'Supermarkets take cut of Fair-trade cash for poor farmers'. London: McGrawHill, Pg.102. WEBPAGES 3) Www.grocertoday.com, 'Tesco well ahead of the online retailing pack (14/12/2005)'. 4) Www.just-food.com (16/12/2005). ARTICLES 5) M+M Planet Retail (2001) '30 Retailers now account for 10% of global retail sales.' 6) IGD Global Retailing Index (2002). 7) Wesley-Clough (1999), Impact of technology on trend Cycles, USA Today. REPORTS 8) Keynote Report on Supermarket s and Superstores January 2003 9) Grocery Retailing (2003), The Market Report. IGD. 10) Fortune Magazine: Global 500 figures for 2002/2003. 11) BBC2 The Money Programme. 'Store Wars: Supermarket Showdown'. 2003. 12) Verdict Research reports on Non-Food Grocers (2001). 13) Reuters (2001), 'Tesco shocked at losing Levi case' Reuters 14) 'A man walks into a Supermarket...' Asda press release, 2001. 15) The Competition Commission Report (1999). Read More