Grocery Supermarkets are evolving. This is primarily due to the onslaught and impact of the e-commerce channel which is eating up the share gradually of typical brick and mortar stores. Coupled and fuelled by the impact of Covid – eCommerce has more than doubled its speed for growth and the recurrent lockdowns and closures add only woes to the grocery supermarkets. Customers have shifted their focus towards online, value for money, and lifestyle agendas.

Even before Covid hit grocery supermarkets were under a lot of stress. Some of them had understood and started to modify the stores to become premium in nature. With premium it does not mean just giving premium assortments of grocery categories, it is also about being premium in décor, being classy in imagery, having state of the art technology, and the entire store is driven by technology to uplift the customer perception about grocery shopping. And that is how grocery shopping is going to be shaped for the future.

Some of the key aspects around a premium grocery store are

Experience: it’s all about the experience. The regularly required stuff the customer can easily purchase from the eCommerce channel ( https://www.yourretailcoach.ae/services/e-commerce-online-stores/ ). It’s an experience that they cannot buy. The grocery stores need to be an experience destination for the customer. Something which they cannot find in an online channel

Assortment

With premium grocery stores – we also definitely mean and include a premium array of gourmet assortment that you traditionally do not get on an online channel platform. People like to explore the gourmet grocery which has an edge in taste and make compared to the traditional grocery.

Using Technology:

Using analytics you could and studying the individual customer buying patterns through loyalty programs to predict what and when the customer might want to give them personalized experiences

Stores like Kroger in the US have made the app in such a way that the customers fill up their requirements in the app – and when they are near an item aisle to be purchased it gives a pop-up.

Kroger has also made advancements in making the shelves as digital displays which give call-outs when a product is about to exhaust on a shelf so that the staff can refill it and minimize the opportunity loss.

Using data analytics – stores will have better demand forecasting and thus predicting sales – therefore minimizing overburdening of inventory and sharpening of inventory models thus saving in the long run.

Apps and Micro Fulfilment Centres

Since the consumers are hooked onto eCommerce, most premium supermarkets are rolling out their apps which not only provide “value” but also services like

Home delivery

Pick up by Customer from the store. (the store acting as an MFC). The more exciting option for them, as it brings the customer to the store and can result in increased sales.

In-Store Pop-Ups, Events, and Classes

The new age is about engaging the customer with activities that interest them. Having a tasting booth of a new product or a wine pop-up that also explains the craft around winemaking are simple yet engaging activities that would draw customer interest. Due to this you also increase the time spent by the customer in the store thus increasing the purchase time.

Hybrid – Shop and Eat Concept

To up the level of experience and provide a more holistic grocery shopping experience to the customer – in-store dining ( via a restaurant or a café) – where customers can sit post-shopping their grocery needs and enjoy a dining experience.
Retailers have branched out from the confines of typical retail and branch out into hospitality and events.

Inspirations and Product discoverability:

Customers are looking for a specific food. If you inspire them regarding the category they are intending to buy- there is nothing more delightful for the customer. Customers may be looking for vegan food, party food, healthy foods, a particular cuisine – having designated colour-coded areas, exciting displays, and bringing the relevant food assortments together aids customers to discover new products.

In this modern-day having detailed information digitally on each shelf also gives a lot of information and aids the customer in buying products.

Customer Health

Premium grocery stores are going to be the pathbreakers in redefining customer's health. Since they have the might and muscle promoting more healthy foods (which is also something that customers step out specifically to find and discover) they are going to go sought after for that – know that people have become so conscious about the food they eat.

Sustainability

Many surveys have shown that customers are also becoming gradually more educated about sustainability and using environment-friendly products and purchases. Thus aspects like promoting plastic-free and naturally grown holistic produce are being looked at by customers as an option.

In a nutshell, the 3 key paradigm shifts that that customer has made are – focus on online purchasing, looking for value, and change in lifestyle agendas. These 3 shifts are the learning experiences for supermarkets to turn into premium supermarkets and thus shape the future of grocery supermarket retailing ( https://www.yourretailcoach.ae/fmcg-e-grocery ). Aspects like focus on gourmet food, healthy foods, aiding customers in product discoverability, use of technology, promoting environment-friendly products, and last but not the least providing an enriching shopping experience is the key to the future.

YRC is a retail business consultant ( https://www.yourretailcoach.ae/ ). With a proven successful track record in catering to various businesses, YRC can assist you in making a premium grocery store and help you attract new customers and keep your business flourishing.

Get advise for E-commerce retail business :
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YRC is a Management Consulting Firm with its presence across India & Dubai.
We help our clients build robust management systems which shall help to reduce their involvement in daily operations. We act as "Growth Partners" to our clients and help our clients grow in an organised manner. We have served more than 100 brands till date and are associated with 85% of them.

Source from: https://www.openpr.com/news/2389329/premium-grocery-supermarkets-sh...

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