|
Saving Time and Money at the Grocery Store... in
the Electronic Age
by Paul Davis
Most experts
agree that customer loyalty in the grocery
sector is virtually dead. Ten years ago it was
somewhat unusual for a consumer to drive past
the closest grocery store to shop at a competing
store. Today, within a few mile radius, eight
supercenters and chains can be fighting it out,
in a market, which the experts might say can
only support three or four. So while the chains
struggle to find their niche and battle on
price, the price conscious shopper benefits.
It’s a
critical juncture for the grocers. Food price
inflation has softened and along with flat
demand, has caused profit margins to decrease in
the supermarket channel. Many industry observers
believe that the supermarket industry has failed
to believe that the so-called “time-crunched”
shopper will, in fact, travel to a number of
stores to find the deals and products they are
looking for. And gas prices be damned, they
will do so even if it means extending the
overall duration of their shopping trip. Today,
the fragmentation of the grocery-shopping trip
is an undeniable trend in the industry. So,
today’s grocery shopper is prepared to use their
feet and cars to save money but more than ever
they are using their fingers, their laptops and
even their handhelds to save significant
dollars, every week.
In general,
today’s consumer has turned into the
“pre-shopper extraordinaire”. Whether it’s
clothing, electronics, automotive or computer,
the consumer will do her homework first,
on-line. Comparison shopping sites rule the
internet allowing shoppers to learn more about
the products they wish to purchase and then find
the best price. With the growth of e-commerce,
price comparison has become the dominant theme
for on-line shoppers. So the comparison-
shopping world has become the focus of a new
breed of buyer,” the prosumer”, the proactive
consumer. |
