Supermarkets - the end of choice (1)

I visited an ironmongers shop today and whilst there managed to buy everything I wanted and paid a good price for it too. Also in our town we have a cheese shop which sells the cheese you want!

Have I been shopping and had a good morning or is there more to it that that and if so is what's the point of this post (I hear you ask)?

It is this . . . In our town we have supermarkets which supply whatever they want us to buy. There are many positives broadcast regarding supermarkets in that they are cheaper than the local (ie. high street) shops and because they are bigger (in outlet size and buying power) they have a greater selection of products and more brands to choose from. Well, I happen to think that some of this is more marketing than reality for the following reasons:

CHOICE
I am constantly being told that supermarkets provide me with more choice but the reality is that they provide me with more opportunity to choose the things they might want to sell me rather than the things that I might actually want. Let's consider, as an example Grommit, the subject of cheese! Now, I go to the supermarket and ask if I can buy some Red Windsor and am told that they don't stock it. I move along the counter and look for some Derby and the answer is the same.
BUT then I am told that Bowland (a mature Lancashire cheese with apples, raisins and a dash of cinnamon) is available (yippee thinks I, for this is one of my favourites anyway) and the upshot is that I walk away happy that I have purchased what I wasn't looking for.

This time I visit the local cheese vendor (Truckles in Tamworth - a delight) and I for some Red Windsor and am served with exactly that. I also ask for some Derby and yahoo the stuff is wrapped and ready to go. I have been served with the things I wanted, not the the things they wanted to serve me with.

I go back to the supermarket and ask why they don't stock Red Windsor and the relevant person tells me that they don't stock it as there is no demand for it. I tell them that they create the demand by stocking the stuff and in return am told that they choose what they want to sell on the basis of what they think they can sell and so, as a result, some brands will inevitably fall to the side and eventually (outside of specialist shops) vanish from view.

"But that means that you are shaping the buying habits of the customers to suit you," says I. "Of course it does. We decide what we will sell and these are the staple dietary requirements, with our own brands competing with the 'named brands', and the things we think we can persuade customers to buy."

Taking this a step further we discuss some of the brands we no longer see and it transpires that some vanish because the supermarkets sell 'white label' goods (never heard of this before - means stuff made by one manufacturer and then labelled for many different outlets, hence the 'we only make nnn for ourselves' advertising). Apparently by clever placement and marketing strategies customers can be moved from a named brand to a generic, store-label, brand. As this happens the named brand loses market share and as a result it eventually withers and dies.

Just think of some of the chocolate stuff that used to be out there: Old Jamaica, Five boys, five centres and that's from just a quick conversation! Products we used to think of when we thought of a foodstuff, chemical cleaner or even an electrical appliance have all gone because of replacement strategies of other manufacturers or shelf-stocking characteristics of supermarkets.

Today I went into a toolshop and bought one of what I needed, the shop met my needs and sold me what I wanted, not what they wanted to sell me. The things I purchased were in the quantity I wanted (one) and offered me the variety that made the experience good. I didn't need to buy things in packs with stuff I didn't want and the price, from a high street shop, was better than the local DIY outlets (and conveniently sited too).

So, perhaps when you shop in the place you live rather than travelling out to the shopping malls, precincts, whatever you call them you save fuel and get to buy what you want rather than what they want you to want?

An interesting concept ;)