Food price inflation and the development of smaller retail concepts are set to drive considerable change in the supermarket business during 2008 and 2009, according to retail consultants Willard Bishop.
“Consumer shopping behaviour, along with food retailing’s competitive landscape and new supermarket design will all be powerfully affected by these two developments,” said Jim Hertel, managing partner at Willard Bishop, who will be a featured presenter at a “webinar” organised by business information specialists the Food Institute.
The web-based seminar, to be held on 24 June, will look at the state of the food retail industry today and where it is heading over the next five years in terms of market share and real versus inflationary growth.
According to the Food Institute, the arrival of the small store format, notably Tesco’s Fresh & Easy chain, as well as small-store initiatives from Wal-Mart, Giant Eagle and others, does not herald a new era in store design, but it does expect express stores to be a feature of the retail landscape going forward.
Craig Rosenblum, vice president business development for Willard Bishop, continued: “The re-emergence of the small-store format in an era of rising fuel costs and food price inflation is extremely interesting. It is important to determine which retailers are going play in this arena and how it is going to play out with Fresh & Easy and Wal-Mart. The small-store development will more than likely have some long-term implications as it relates to satisfying shopper needs, continued channel blurring, and impact on overall profits.”
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