Challenges in Today's U.S. Supermarket Industry
Thom Imlay
Supermarkets Will Continue to Redefine the Ways They Do Business with Their Customers
Competition has raised the bar for supermarket retailers. Perhaps some have simply lost sight of what the customers needed and wanted. Regardless, today's customers have less time, and are more intelligent, than ever before. Supermarket retailers will continue to face increasing survival pressures. Consolidation in the market space will continue to affect existing supermarket chains, both large and small. The top-tier supermarket chains that have increased the size of their store base through recent acquisitions are struggling to absorb what they have bought while trying to defend market share against the low-cost operators. Those chains that remain standing will be the ones that learn how to reinvent themselves. Successful supermarket chains will become experts at targeting specific consumer segments. Some are proving that being willing to target and settle for a smaller piece of the pie can be a winning formula. This becomes an iterative process that takes time, effort, resources, and—perhaps most the most difficult thing of all—a change in culture. Each retailer must search for its own winning formula to compete. To succeed, supermarket retailers must take advantage of new innovations, to create customer experiences that deliver true differentiation. Technology will play a major role in enabling these new innovations.
Existing Store Systems Technology
