A supermarket is a large retailing business unit selling mainly food and grocery items on the basis of flow self-service and heavy emphasis on merchandising appeal.
Benefits and Features of Supermarkets
Supermarkets have some distinctive features or characteristics described below:
1. Self Service
The most distinctive feature of the supermarket is the absence of salesmen and shop assistants to help the customers.
These stores are operated on a self-service basis. Customers themselves choose and carry the products.
They solve their own buying problems. They wheel the trolley to make payment.
2. Low Price Appeal
Self-service combined with the large buying power and the low percentage of profit margins means that supermarkets can sell at low prices.
This low price appeal is an important feature of supermarkets.
Related: 21 Essential Characteristics of Departmental Stores (With Example).
3. Pricing Policy
Most supermarkets emphasize price.
Some use price offensively, featuring low prices to attract customers.
Others use price defensively, relying on leader pricing to avoid a price disadvantage.
4. Thin Gross Margin
Having very thin gross margins, supermarkets need high levels of inventory turnover to achieve satisfactory returns on invested capital.
Related: Top 7 Powerful Techniques of Inventory Control for Stock Management.
5. Variety of Merchandise
Supermarkets usually is an institution in the grocery retailing field.
But supermarkets sell various kinds of merchandise, including building materials, office products, and of course groceries.
6. One-Stop Shopping
In recent decades supermarkets added various non-food lines to provide customers with one-stop shopping convenience and it improve the store’s gross margins.
7. Offer Services
Supermarkets usually offer services such as laundry, dry cleaning, shoe repair, check cashing and bill paying video rentals, restaurants, delicatessens, financial institutions, and pharmacies.
Related: 18 Key Success Factors in Retail Business (With Examples).
8. Giant Especially Stores
In recent years, supermarkets have been seen to appear as giant specialty stores and so-called “category killers“.
9. Parking Space
They are located in a place where consumers are given facilities like parking.
Some supermarkets are successful without providing space.
The trend, however, is to provide more parking space.
10. Advertisement
They use heavy advertisements and mass displays of merchandise.
11. Credit
No credit facilities are offered by these supermarkets.
Bonus: 13 Main Types of Retailers in Marketing (With Examples).
12. Departmental Type
These are organized on the basis of the departmental type of organization like catering to the needs of customer under one roof.
They aim at meeting consumers’ total needs for routinely purchased food and non-food items at a single place.
13. Low Operational Expenses
The operational expense in the case of a supermarket is less as compared to other similar retail trade organizations.
14. Attractive Packaging
Packaging of goods is given more attention in the supermarket because the customer is not guided by the salesmen in buying goods.
As a help. packages contain information with regard to the price and weight of the product on the outer wrapper.
15. Central Location
It must have a central location and expert management to secure a very high turnover.
Related: 18 Major Advantages and Disadvantages of Supermarkets.
16. Company Form
All supermarkets at present are usually run by limited companies.
17. Discount
Selling At present, discount selling in food articles is also undertaken by the supermarkets.
18. Novel Form
A supermarket is a novel form of retail organization specializing in necessaries and convenience goods.
19. Centralized Payment System
The supermarkets have developed a centralized payment system.
When the customer has completed his shopping he brings the trolly to a fixed place, generally near the exit door.
The payment is made to the cashier who sits at this gate. 21 Advantages and Disadvantages of Chain or Multiple Stores.
20. Study of Consumers Psychology
Consumers’ psychological behavior is specially studied in supermarkets.
Due to the absence of salesmen, it is not possible to gather information with regard to consumer’s buying behavior, attitude, interest, or reactions.
Hence, secret cameras are fixed to capture behavioral postures, facial reactions, and body language.
This helps in studying the consumers’ feelings and attitudes.
Thus, now you know the top benefits or features of supermarkets.
Related:
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- 16 Best Ways to Find Potential Customers for Your Business (Complete List).
- 21 Benefits and Limitations of E-Commerce Businesses.
- 9 Advanced Strategies for Building Maximum Customer Satisfaction.
Great independent grocery store with a wide variety of gourmet items and hard-to-find foodstuffs. A great butcher offering local seafood and grass-fed meats. There is a good variety of organic fruits and vegetables but not always the freshest (but I’ll admit I’m comparing to local farmer’s markets).
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