Supermarket Built Right Next To My Store
- Thread starter Chanel West
- Start date
Many years ago I supplied a small chain of butchers shops in Kent with all their refrigeration needs. They asked me to meet them at a local shopping centre to look at a new site. It was 2 doors away from a large (for those times) Sainsbury superstore. I asked why there? The answer was although they have a meat and deli counter, we can beat them on price and quality, and in this mall, they get 40,000 people a week coming in. Most of whom will pass our open shop front. Within 8 weeks of opening their shop was the busiest in their chain of 9 shops. So do not be worried about the supermarket, concentrate on how you can best offer the hordes of new potential customers items that they need. Seize the opportunity don't shy away from it!
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D
Darren_Ssc
Sorry for the flippancy.
I think it may be a good idea to visit a few places in a similar situation and see what your peers are already doing. They will have already tested out a few ideas and it may save you having to do the same.
Of course, Frosty Jacks is the obvious one but I'm sure there will be more. The one I'm thinking of also does stuff like warm sausage rolls and pasties, take out coffee and such. I know supermarkets also do this but a smaller shop can offer local produce, guaranteed freshness, etc,
The last time I bought pre-heated food from a supermarket it tasted like it had been warmed up 3 days in a row.
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The Byre
Everything depends on which store this is - but the usual suspects (Tesco, etc.) sell dreadful mass-produced bread, they don't sell proper sauces and spices and everything they do sell seems to contain 1001 chemical additives.
So my first step would be to find out which store it is and have a shoofti at what they are selling. It will be the usual bog-standard gunk, so you can really use this opportunity to start selling funky spices in half-kilo bags and not those idiotic pepper-pot things! Arabic and African spices, plus half-liter bottles of Maggi and other European spices. Then Polish bread suggests itself and things that are on every European shelf and UK stores don't seem to have heard of them like sauerkraut.
The more I think about it, the more this seems like a golden opportunity for you!
So my first step would be to find out which store it is and have a shoofti at what they are selling. It will be the usual bog-standard gunk, so you can really use this opportunity to start selling funky spices in half-kilo bags and not those idiotic pepper-pot things! Arabic and African spices, plus half-liter bottles of Maggi and other European spices. Then Polish bread suggests itself and things that are on every European shelf and UK stores don't seem to have heard of them like sauerkraut.
The more I think about it, the more this seems like a golden opportunity for you!
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To be fair the mass produced sauces and spices are good enough to get started with. Make far superior at home however not everyone has the time or equipment.
Tends to be smaller operations that can produce better quality stuff, the kind the supermarkets will never stock as it doesn't sell quickly enough.
Food & Drink expo (when its on again) has some of the smaller suppliers producing better stuff.
OP worth looking at previous trade shows to get exhibitor list and start going through it. Figure out who has what and whether its any good - hunting down other shops stocking the product.
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You are in an extremely good position.
Adapt and change your products, as your current inventory and cashflow allows.
Look at your shop as a brand new empty shop next to a supermarket that will generate much more footfall than what you had.
That's your starting point.
Now make a list of all the product categories that you can sell, which are either better than what the supermarket is selling, or products they do not sell. it doesn't have to be in your current product range. Diversify if need be.
It's a challenge, but you should welcome it.
Are other retailers near you trembling in their boots, or are they adapting?
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Shopping malls often make it a priority to get an anchor tenant - a large outlet for a big name to draw people in. Then they have the footfall to make the location attractive to other tenants.
What do you sell? The best bet is to do something to differentiate yourself from the supermarket and take advantage of the added passing trade as people have suggested.
What do you sell? The best bet is to do something to differentiate yourself from the supermarket and take advantage of the added passing trade as people have suggested.
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Insufficient demand for shelf space in a supermarket can still be a bestselling item for a small shop. Must be millions of items the supermarket cannot stock but some other shops do.
The cafe I sometimes go to does various brands of goods to buy to take home - jams, cheeses, chutney, sauce, bottled drinks - none of which you see in the supermarket 50 metres away.
And people come in to buy the goods besides using the cafe.
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It would be worth doing some local customer and market research too, as well as trying to learn from other local businesses in a similar position. Although supermarkets are great on range and often price, they lack flexibility. Usually because most of the decision making and processes are run centrally, albeit with local management ranging inputs.
As an example, your size potentially gives you flexibility they don't have; e.g. ranging unusual products for local demand. Potentially you could carry out local home deliveries, very popular in some areas since COVID-19, or talk to other local businesses about what they need, or offering joint services in conjunction with them.
As an example, your size potentially gives you flexibility they don't have; e.g. ranging unusual products for local demand. Potentially you could carry out local home deliveries, very popular in some areas since COVID-19, or talk to other local businesses about what they need, or offering joint services in conjunction with them.
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but it doesn't mean that product has worse quality. If the supermarket sells some particular bakery brands, so small local shop might sell the same product but from a different brand, but what is most important is the quality of this product. So very important to find good distributors.
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Yes of course, but often not in a way a lot of local customers want or need. Their process is centrally driven with a basket size above £25/£30 and currently you often have to wait a minimum of 7-14 days for a delivery slot, even longer in some areas...
Many small local businesses near me have jumped into the COVID-19 induced gap; e.g.
- the local butcher delivers same day/next day on quality produce within 10 miles
- the local distillery company is doing likewise on orders over £20 within 2 days
- some of the restaurants are shut, but many others are doing a great trade on collection slots/home delivery orders
- the local Co-Ops are doing small basket order home deliveries via Starship robots within 30-60 minutes (admittedly that's a bit niche, but there may be options like this by collaborating with other local businesses)
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Have a think about what you can offer beyond what’s on the shelves.
Supermarkets are painfully slow to shop in at the moment - emphasise the fact that people can get in, get what they need and get gone quickly.
As mentioned above look at a delivery service - slots for supermarkets are hard to come by so if you can deliver the essentials quickly you’ll have takers.
Our local high street farm shop has been doing a roaring trade as they are very active in the local Facebook groups - people see pictures of their products and want them and people see pictures of the the number of delivery boxes they have going out and think of ‘I should be shopping there too’.
Supermarkets are painfully slow to shop in at the moment - emphasise the fact that people can get in, get what they need and get gone quickly.
As mentioned above look at a delivery service - slots for supermarkets are hard to come by so if you can deliver the essentials quickly you’ll have takers.
Our local high street farm shop has been doing a roaring trade as they are very active in the local Facebook groups - people see pictures of their products and want them and people see pictures of the the number of delivery boxes they have going out and think of ‘I should be shopping there too’.
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