A
supermarket or grocery store is a
store that sells a wide variety of food. A
supermarket is larger than and more than a
grocery store. Most supermarkets also sell a
variety of other household products that are
consumed regularly, such as alcohol (where
permitted), household cleaning products,
medicine, clothes, and some sell a much wider
range of non-food products. Supermarkets are
often part of a chain that owns or controls
(sometimes by franchise) other supermarkets
located in the same or other towns; this
increases the opportunities for economies of
scale. In the United States, supermarket chains
are often supplied from the distribution centers
of a larger business.
Supermarkets
usually offer products at low prices and they do
this by reducing margins. Certain products
(typically staples such as bread, milk and
sugar) are often sold as loss leaders, that is,
with negative margins. To maintain a profit,
supermarkets attempt to make up for the low
margins with a high overall volume of sales, and
with sales of higher-margin items.
It
could be argued that those families on a small
budget are being subsidised by those buying
luxury items, provided they buy only the staple
or basic foods, which would otherwise be much
higher.
Customers
usually shop by putting their products into
shopping carts (trolleys) or baskets
(self-service) and pay for the products at the
check-out. At present, many supermarket chains
are trying to reduce labour costs further by
shifting to self-service check-out machines,
where a group of four or five machines is
supervised by a single assistant.
A
larger full-service supermarket combined with a
department store is sometimes known as a
hypermarket. Other services that supermarkets
may have include cafés, creches, photo
development, pharmacies, and/or gas stations.
History
Early
retailers did not trust their customers. In many
stores, all products had to be fetched by an
assistant from high shelves on one side of a
counter while the customers stood on the other
side and pointed to what they wanted. Also, many
foods did not come in the individually wrapped
consumer-size packages taken for granted today,
so a clerk had to measure out the precise amount
desired by the consumer. These practices were
obviously labor-intensive and therefore quite
expensive.
Supermarket
check out
The
concept of a self-service grocery store was
developed by Clarence Saunders and his Piggly
Wiggly stores. A&P was the most successful
of the early chains in the United States, having
become common in American cities in the 1920s.
The general trend in retail since then has been
to stack shelves at night and let the customers
get their own goods and bring them to the front
of the store to pay for them. Although there is
a higher risk of shoplifting, the costs of
appropriate security measures will be ideally
outweighed by the economies of scale and reduced
labor costs.
According
to the Smithsonian Institution, the first true
supermarket in the United States was opened by
ex-Kroger employee Michael J. Cullen, on August
4, 1930, in a 6,000 square foot (560 m˛)
former garage in Jamaica, Queens, New York. The
store, King Kullen, following King Kong,
operated under the slogan "Pile it high.
Sell it low." When Cullen died in 1936,
there were seventeen stores in operation.
Supermarkets
proliferated in the United States along with
suburban areas after World War II. Supermarkets
in the USA are now often co-located with
department stores in strip malls and are
generally regional rather than national. Kroger
is probably the closest thing in the U.S. to a
national chain but has preserved most of its
regional brands like Ralphs.
It
was formerly common for supermarkets to give
trading stamps. Today, most supermarkets issue
store-specific "members cards,"
"club cards," or "loyalty
cards" which are scanned at the register
when the customer goes to check-out. Typically,
several items are given special discounts if the
credit card-like devices are used.
Typical
American supermarket (Safeway)
In
Britain, France and other European countries,
the proliferation of out-of-town supermarkets
has been blamed for the disappearance of
smaller, local grocery stores and for increased
dependency on the motor car (and the consequent
traffic). In particular, some critics consider
the practice of selling loss leaders to be
anti-competitive, and are also wary of the
negotiating power large retailers have with
suppliers.
Today
supermarkets face price competition from
discount retailers such as Wal-Mart (non-union
labor and greater buying power) and warehouse
stores such as Costco (savings in bulk
quantities).
Typical
supermarket merchandise
Larger
supermarkets in the United States typically sell
many different types of items, such as:
Alcoholic
products (where state and/or local laws
allow; individual state control as to beer,
wine, hard liquor, etc.)
Electrical
items
Personal
financial products (mortgages, credit cards,
savings accounts, etc.)
Pet
foods and products
Car
care products
Baby
foods and products
Beauty
products (cosmetics)
Newspapers,
books and magazines, including supermarket
tabloids
In
other countries, the range of products is
sometimes more narrowly focused on food
products, although the ranges sold are
broadening in many countries as average store
sizes increase.
A
number of supermarket chains produce their own
cola drinks which they display with some
prominence. They also stock the leading
brands. However, do they stock smaller
label brands in the spirit of fair
competition? Do they have a fair trade
policy?
If
you fancy trying a different cola, a cola with
more in it, more healthy ingredients, a cola
company that cares about the environment - that
actually supports environmental projects, you're
in luck. But does your supermarket stock
Solar Cola yet? The finder table below
tells you if these supermarkets have ordered
Solar Cola and when delivery is due.
Aldi
(discount supermarket chain) This
site has links to the Aldi web sites in each
country where they operate.
Aldi
(UK) (discount supermarket chain) This
UK site includes details of current weekly
special offers (with an option to subscribe to a
free email newsletter), store locations and new
additions to the range of regular products. It
also has links to Aldi web sites in Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland,
Luxembourg, Netherlands and the USA.
Asda
(UK supermarket chain) This UK supermarket
chain was originally established by Associated
Dairies (hence the name) but recently taken over
by Wal-Mart.
This
hypermarket chain based in France but also has a
few stores in other countries, including the
USA.
Big
W (UK hypermarket chain) This chain,
part of Woolworths, has a store layout and range
of good similar to the US chains KMart, Pamida,
ShopKo, Wal-Mart, etc.
Boots
or Boots
(UK retail chain) Originally
a chemists, Boots now also sell a wide range of
goods. Both URL's lead to the same
content.
Burger
King (UK)
- Includes a
restaurant locator current special offers.
Carrefour
(supermarket chain) This supermarket chain
is based in France but also has a large number
of stores in several other European countries
and other parts of the world.
Co-Op
Stores (UK) (UK retail chain) This
site covers the UK Co-op's supermarkets and
other shops. There are separate Co-op
organisations in some other European countries.
CostCo
(UK division of the US membership warehouse
retail chain)
Kwik
Save (UK supermarket chain) A few
years ago the Kwik Save chain was purchased by
Somerfield.
Lidl
(Germany) (European deep discount
supermarket chain)
Lidl
(UK) (European deep discount supermarket
chain) Includes details of store
locations, weekly specials, price reductions and
a facility to subscribe to a weekly specials
email newsletter.
Makro
(UK hypermarket chain) This chain is part
of the German Metro group, a "cash and
carry" for trade customers only. However,
in practice it is very nearly a normal shop at
normal proces.
Netto
(UK) (discount supermarket chain)
Includes details of locations and current
special offers, and links to Netto sites in
other countries featuring 'Smart Shopping'. By
taking a no frills approach and cutting out all
those unnecessary extras, we can offer you
premium quality at the lowest prices in Britain.
By only paying for what you want and nothing
else we can give today’s busy customer a
different and fresh alternative to grocery
shopping. And most importantly of all, save you
time and money, every day of every week.
Poundland
(UK discount retail chain) All items in
Poundland shops cost Ł1.
