Good Value, Low Prices Top Factors for Determining Shopping Venues: IDDBA

The leading factor that determines where consumers buy their food is "good value" or "low prices," according to "What's In Store 2009," an aggregate trend report from the International Dairy Deli Bakery Association (IDDBA).

Indeed, as consumers cut down on the number of shopping trips to save gas money, supermarkets face stiff competition from supercenters that allow people to do multiple types of shopping -- food, clothing and household -- all in one trip.

Here are some of the venue trends discussed in IDDBA's "What's In Store 2009":

Supermarkets
Total sales in 2007 for supermarkets doing $2 million or more in annual sales reached $535 billion, according to Progressive Grocer's 75th Annual Report of the Grocery Industry. Willard Bishop's "The Future of Food Retailing" predicts that, by 2012, traditional supermarket sales will grow 1.8 percent, but their market share will drop to 36 percent.

Supercenters

According to Willard Bishop, grocery and consumables sales at supercenters are in second place for all food store formats. Supercenter sales in 2007 reached nearly $136 billion and own a 15 percent dollar share of retail food sales, projected to increase to 21.7 percent in 2012. But some observers are noting a slow shift of consumers away from supercenters. The move is attributed to the Internet and specialized efforts by other retail segments to attract customers. Focusing on products and services not available at a supercenter is the key to winning customers.

Convenience Stores
Convenience store overall sales reached $577 billion in 2007, but had a $1.4 billion decrease in profits, mostly due to increased credit card fees, according to the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS). There were 146,294 convenience stores in the United States in 2006.

C-stores have gone all out to expand their foodservice operations. Some operators share space with national quick-service restaurant chains, while others are increasing their offerings of fresh grab-and-go and made-on-site items.

Dollar Stores

Sales of grocery and consumables from dollar stores reached $15.5 billion in 2007, a market share of 1.7 percent.

Online Shopping

According to the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau, all retail food and beverage stores brought in $752 million from e-commerce sales in 2006. This represents a 53.2 percent increase over e-commerce sales the previous year.

However, sales still are just 0.1 percent of total retail food and beverage sales of $534 billion. While some online grocery shopping services have fallen by the wayside, many stores are finding success with their own online shopping and delivery services.

"What's In Store 2009" details consumer and industry trends affecting the dairy case, cheese case, bakery and deli/foodservice departments. Its 156 tables, developed in cooperation with leading industry firms and associations, include department sales, per capita consumption, consumer preferences, and random-weight, UPC and private label sales data.

For more information call 608-310-5000 or visit www.iddba.org.
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