Cost Curtailment and Strong Brand Identity Will Drive Supermarket Sales, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts
Growth in the supermarket industry is expected to be driven by heavy price discounting, intensified marketing activity, wider distribution reach, rising consumer disposable incomes, and increasing consumer awareness.
San Jose, CA (PRWEB) September 4, 2008
Supermarkets are self-service retailing outlets that supply beverages, eatables, fruits and vegetables, and an array of other consumer and household products. Increased popularity and the spread of large supermarkets (http://www. strategyr. com/Supermarkets_Industry_Market_Report. asp) is chiefly attributed to the consumer perception of supermarkets as a one-stop shop for their necessities. Other equally important factors include easy access to a diverse range of products, extended hours of business, and a convenient shopping experience in the form of checkout speed, and arrangement of products by category in a manner that enables faster decision making, among others. Future development in this trade channel will be led by specialized targeting of more specific consumer groups, stronger branding strategies, packaging innovations, and remodeling of supermarkets on western-styled concepts. The level of convenience offered by supermarkets is also expected to significantly influence growth patterns.
The supermarket channel faces stiff competition from alternative retailing formats such as discounters, hypermarkets (http://www. strategyr. com/Supermarkets_Industry_Market_Report. asp), drug stores, club stores, independent food stores, departmental stores and convenience stores. Although these retail channels operate differently, they stand surrogate to conventional channels of food sales, primarily supermarkets. In order to secure their position in the food-retailing arena, supermarkets are bringing about radical changes in business strategies to address market needs. Conventional supermarkets are on an expansion binge to include a broad selection of healthier snacking foods, organic food and service offerings that appeal to customers who value the benefits of up market goods, while several others are presenting assortments designed to appeal to target consumer groups such as kids and teens. To effectively compete with grocery stores in the area of meat products, supermarkets are injecting financial resources into improving their meat departments. Packaging is also being used as a powerful marketing weapon to combat stiff competition from other formats such as c-stores and supercenters. The prevalence of exotic as well as ethnic dishes is the harbinger of growing popularity of takeout foods in supermarkets.
In addition to product diversity, price discounts, promotions and cross merchandising, major supermarkets operating in this aggressively competitive sector are resorting to alternative strategies to stimulate sales growth such as investing in developing a strong brand identity and a strong distribution network. Other noteworthy strategies adopted by supermarkets to fend off competition include developing creative marketing campaigns designed to appeal to a growing consumer base and alert shoppers about latest product offering, promotions and discounts, remodeling of supermarkets with separate spaces for health and beauty products and pharmacies, and optimizing floor space. Busy lifestyles demand a one-stop shopping destination and speed of exit. One-stop shopping is fast to catch up with players contemplating to include different merchandise to beguile time-taxed customer.
Rising disposable incomes, changing lifestyles and eating habits, growing urban nuclear families, and exposure to western food habits have led to a booming fast-food sector, which, has in turn created a major market for refrigerated, frozen and chilled foods. Supermarkets flaunt the potential to emerge into the primary retail distribution channel for refrigerated and frozen take-out foods, thereby giving stiff competition to fast-food restaurants, which are traditionally preferred sources for take-out food.
The report titled "Supermarkets: A Global Outlook" published by Global Industry Analysts Inc, provides a collection of statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. The report provides a rudimentary overview of the Supermarkets industry, recent mergers, acquisitions and other noteworthy corporate developments. Discussion on the US market spans the length and breath of prevailing retailing trends. Leading supermarket operators/chains ranked by sales, and weekly supermarket spending are among the parameters analyzed. Also discussed are key foods products/services that are popular in supermarkets, and threats confronted by supermarkets in the form of alternate food retailing formats. Other briefly discussed regional markets include Canada, Japan, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Spain, the Netherlands, Ukraine, UK, Turkey, China, India, Indonesia, and Brazil, among few others. Also included is an indexed, easy-to-refer, fact-finder directory listing the addresses, and contact details of 427 companies worldwide.
For more details about this research report, please visit http://www. strategyr. com/Supermarkets_Industry_Market_Report. asp (http://www. strategyr. com/Supermarkets_Industry_Market_Report. asp).
About Global Industry Analysts, Inc.:
Global Industry Analysts, Inc., (GIA) (http://www. strategyr. com) is a reputed publisher of off-the-shelf market research. Founded in 1987, the company is globally recognized as one of the world's largest market research publishers. The company employs more than 700 people worldwide and publishes more than 880 full-scale research reports each year. Additionally, the company also offers a range of more than 60,000 smaller research products including company reports, market trend reports and industry reports encompassing all major industries worldwide.
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