Food Retail; The Best Solution To Hunger Pangs

A place with literally every food related need of life under one roof, from fruits and vegetables to meat to dairy products to frozen snacks. Just what the food retail industry aims to provide the consumer with. Not only should there be ease of shopping, but also the availability of a multitude of choices.

However, the recent scenario poses several problems for the food retail industry. People are becoming more cost conscious, but they are also not ready to compromise their health. Organic and low fat foods are also getting quite popular these days. An immediate result of this mix of cost consciousness and preference for healthier foods is a drastic drop in the sales of food retail chains offering mediocre priced, undifferentiated foodstuff. Another notable trend is the increased consumer preference for ready-to-eat and frozen meals, as they are great for saving precious time in today’s highly competitive world. Over the years spending patterns of consumers have also changed considerably, mostly due to rising unemployment, inflammation, and decrease in consumer confidence. Matters are made worse when grocers try to counteract these problems by increasing private label and natural/ organic foodstuff.

Food retail is a dominant industry in almost every country. On average, the global food retail sales generate over 4 trillion dollars annually, out of which about one third is accounted for by the top 15 biggest global supermarket companies. It should also be noted that major food manufacturers normally have their own specialized product lines to remain ahead of the competition and maintain diversity among the products that they offer to their customers. Developments in technology have quite a big role to play in the growing success of food retail industry. New methods of advertisement have turned out to be extremely successful in attracting customers to food retail outlets. Billing and payment methods have also become easier so that customers now don’t have to wait their turn in long lines. 

Several food retail chains have sprung up in recent years like df stock, but several of these are the undisputed leaders. Kroger, Whole Foods, Wegmans, The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company and Save Mart are just a few of the best food retail chains operating around the world. It is important to consider that pricing of products is not the only basis of competition among different food retail outlets. A range of factors are considered by customers while choosing a particular food retail outlet, and these include store location, product range and quality, queuing time, opening hours and access to car parking. Some customers are even usually ready to pay more for hassle free, convenient shopping. However, some food retailers also use marketing ploys such as daily specials, discounts or promotional offers to attract customers. Prices of products in food retail outlets are determined by several factors such as supply dynamics, product attributes, customer demand and availability of produce.