Supermarket using old marketing techniques

Shopping habits have changed over the years, and it is not because of this much accused Credit Crunch. It is because of the way society has evolved. Generally we know what we want to, and are going to, buy before we leave home. There is no room for substitute buying because you had rejected the substitute for some reason before you left home.

We don’t have the time to stroll around supermarkets deciding what we want and buying stuff at random. We have a mental or written list and if we cannot find what we want straight away we go to another store.

Will the people who are determined to ruin the “pleasure” of supermarket shopping by regularly reorganizing the layout of their stores please note, your customers don’t like it.

The staff at the local supermarket have told me that they have had nothing apart from complaints about the re-arrangement of the store, well apart from one who thought it was great, but they do think that she was drunk at the time. In-store I have seen people just dump their shopping baskets and trolleys and walk out. An elderly lady, when asked if she needed any help to find anything said quite firmly “No thank you dear, I think I will go somewhere else to do my shopping” and left.

Personally if I cannot find what I want in the first pass through the supermarket, I pay for what I have found and then go somewhere else if necessary. The manager of the discount food store nearby has told me that his turnover has increased by 15% since their rivals disorganized, sorry reorganized, their floor layout.

So please remember all you supermarket bosses, the marketing ploys you used in the nineties to get your customers to buy more no longer work. We have not got the time or the patience for your silly games. If you want to win customers provide a layout that is logical and shelves that are well stocked and well signposted. And a cashier waiting for you when you have finished shopping.