Welcome. Thank everybody for attending this presentation on U.S trends in Grocery Retail What I will be presenting to you all is current trends in the grocery retail space that have been affected by consumer behavior and the solutions retailers are implementing to leverage these trends.
As a response to consumer behavior, grocery retailers have evolved their retail stores from once resembling a sterile type environment…
To turning their stores into colorful markets.
As consumer lifestyles have changed to wanting more healthier and fresher foods, grocery retailers have started to satisfy their needs in the retail space by offering up Organic, natural, international and specialty selections and products. Now with an evolution in the grocery environment, retailers have started to compete with take out and restaurants for consumers share of wallet.
With this change in consumer behavior, consumers are now starting to drive the trends in grocery retail. Here we see the five macro trends in grocery retail, and the sub trends that fall within them.
The first and largest macro trend identified is convenience and the five sub-trends that follow.
As American’s personal and professional lives have become increasingly busier, they have begun to expect a selection of ready-made meals or “Do it for Me” meals from grocery retailers to accommodate their lifestyles. This challenge for retailers has resulted in fighting for share of meal dollars from restaurants and restaurants. In which retailers have responded by introducing ready-made meals and sides to accommodate consumers lifestyles. The example seen here is one of the many DIY food bars you can see at Whole Foods.
Consumers looking for products that fulfill specific solutions want a retailer that allows them the ability to quickly locate everything they need. Retailers have responded by offering solution displays. This example was executed by Fresh Express RTE salads in which they launched a promotion with retailers and 30 other brands that addressed the need for meal solutions. Products were bundled together and offered at a discounted rate when buying multiple products. Over a nine month period, Fresh Express product sales captured more than a 50% volume life and other participating brand sales jumped an average of 40%.
Female head of households typically have always wanted to control what their family eats, but sometimes lack of time and know-how make it difficult for her. This behavior has resulted in a challenge for consumers looking to make fresh and prepared homemade meals in a short amount of time. The retail solution has been the creation of dinner assemble sessions. An example of this is the Publix Apron’s Make-Ahead Meals programs, which allows customers to build up to 12 meals to use within days or take home to freeze.
Looking beyond traditional in-store marketing, retailers look to emerging technologies to interact and provide a better shopping experience for time crunched customers. This has resulted in the proliferation of in-store technologies such as in-store TV networks, digital signage, touch screens and text message coupons. The example you are looking at is ShopRites Microsoft MediaCart which navigate customers around the store and check them out when they are done. RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology tracks customers movement around the store to pinpoint advertisement and other useful information.
Consumers low on time and unable to make large grocery trips often are just mission shopping for HH essentials. This creates a challenge for retailers as they have been competing with convenience stores grocery sections. Retailers solutions has been offering shopping essentials typically found at the back of the store, and placing them in the front.
The second macro trend identified is that of Variety Desired.
As consumers needs and expectations evolve, they are seeking both traditional and specialty grocery retailers to fulfill their needs state and are not always looking for the one stop shopping experience. As traditional grocers see consumers shop by their individual needs states and increasing visits to niche grocery retailers, many are offering more specialty food items. The Retailer solution is increasing the breadth of offerings retailers provide to satisfy consumer needs. As to date: 66.7% offer gourmet foods 50% offer natural/organic foods 25% offer ethnic foods.
As consumers continue to multi-shop for their needs at more niche retailers, it creates less of a need to default to traditional grocers. This creates the challenge for retailers to be the destination of choice for consumers. The solution has been the creation of “lifestyle” store that can compete with higher end stores and discount retailers. Example: A picture of Safeway’s lifestyles stores which offer more prepared foods, locally sourced, natural and organic products, and other niche products and offerings.
Consumers have always expressed frustration with in-store advertising. But for the retailer, they need to find a balance of satisfying their customer and the merchandiser. The retailer solution has been an increased effort of creating a greater shopping experience by implementing clean store policies, as less ads in-store create a cleaner shopping environment for consumers to navigate through.
The third macro trend identified is the increased health conscious behaviors consumers have taken on.
As consumers become more health conscious about the foods the eat, they seek clarity of healthier food products from retailers and manufacturers. Retailers have responded by offering a streamline process making it easier for consumers to find healthier products. Hannaford supermarkets has their own team of nutritionists that rates the nutritional value of their items on a scale of zero to three stars. Of the 27,000 products Hannaford had rated, 77% received no stars. Example: Odwalla natural juice lines receives one star based off Hannafords rating scale.
The fourth macro trend is consumers desire to be environmentally aware and retailers response
Consumers increased concerns and education about greener and sustainable products have started to turn them into environmental advocates. This has caused companies to create environmentally conscious retail spaces and products and start adopt green practices. Example: Wal-Mart has started opening high-efficiency stores that use 20% less energy than typical Super centers. Wal-Mart also offers “A Better Bag” made from 80% post consumer waste for 99 cents.
And the last macro trend identified is that of economic pressure
Consumers seeking high quality but demanding low prices have turned to private label as a viable option. The challenge for retailers is changing the stigma private label carries and losing the perception of low priced, low quality products. The solution for retailers has been the private label has re-emerged with innovations in quality, merchandising, and packaging making them comparable to their brand counterparts.
With more unique flavors offering and organic products, consumers taste profiles has started to expand. This demand has created a challenge for consumers to find these products at a variety of retailers, across multiple product offerings. Retailers have now started to evolve their own private labels to brand status, by offering better packaging design, unique flavor profiles, and more organic offerings.
As a response to consumer behavior, grocery retailers have evolved their retail stores from once resembling a sterile type environment…