Supermarkets aren't so super anymore

Post-war, post-rationing 1950’s Britain was an era of possibility and growth and the perfect climate to herald a new retail concept—the supermarket.

An American import, the supermarket was a new shopping experience offering groundbreaking self-service, increased size, improved convenience, extended range and better value. It was all-round super and held legitimate ownership of its superlative.

Fast forward 50 years and the term “super” speaks to an overpowering sameness of commoditisation, of formula, of predictability. If we accept the dictionary definition of super as “superior, of the highest power or degree, first-rate, excellent, the crème de la crème … ” the term as applied to this category is grossly misleading.

Pedantic? Maybe. But in what way has that place where you do your grocery shopping delivered a superior, first-rate experience week after week? Truth is, the “super” market has been clinging onto a superlative it has failed to uphold for far too long.

But surely it’s the brand that matters, not the superlative? Yes, but here’s the rub: only as long as its relevance and differentiation are strong and delivered spectacularly across the shopping experience. In today’s homogenised grocery category, supermarket owners would do well to return to the original meaning of super.

In the U.K., Morrisons is an encouraging example. Having for years provided on-site food preparation, Morrisons sought to make a virtue of this service and own this difference outright. Selling through its Market Street concept, it has put heart and soul back into food. That is how it is earning its superlative and, incidentally, the accolade of Britain’s fastest growing supermarket.

Further afield, South Africa’s Pick n Pay is little known in the U.K. The success of its 15.1 million sq. ft. trading space and 350 million transactions a year is founded on a single premise: being inspired by its customers.

Pick n Pay’s mission is to get under the skin of its customers—to dig for insights and constantly readjust the shopping experience. That requires deep understanding of all customer segments—there is no single customer experience, only customer experiences. Goodbye homogenisation, farewell predictability.

Little wonder that Pick n Pay’s shopping experience has earned it a permanent place in the heart of the South African community, with levels of bonding and trust we could only dream of in the U.K.

So there is hope amidst the homogenisation. The supers can earn back their superlative, but it requires commitment. A commitment to customer understanding; to an ownably different experience; to constantly improving that experience and, above all, to an outright rejection of formula and predictability.

Now don’t get me started on “hyper” markets …

© 2008 Emap. All rights reserved.

This article was first published in Retail Week (29 August 2008).