Why Do Local Grocery Shops Not 'Get It'
I live in Central London, and as such have no
shortage of grocery shops near me; I have two Tesco Expresses within a ten
minute walk, and a Sainsbury's local the same distance
away.
...But the problem is, the local
shops, in my experience are now often selling products and services that are
inferior in some way to what I can get by walking that extra 8 minutes to Tesco
or Sainsbury's.
...But can't they see that
selling inferior quality goods is not the solution (and is probably why two of
the locals in my area have gone bust in the last 6 months). The answer has to
be - sell good quality goods where the convenience factor is high and charge
more than Tesco's would - but not enough to dis-respect the customers, who is
well aware of what is going on, and normally happy to pay for the convenience
factor. That would work for me, i'm happy to pay a bit more to save that extra
16 minute trek; because if the local guys don't get their act together I won't
have the option for much longer.
I live in Central London, and as such have no
shortage of grocery shops near me; I have two Tesco Expresses within a ten
minute walk, and a Sainsbury's local the same distance away. BUT....., I don't
always want to walk for 10 minutes to get some basics, so often use the local
grocers, a number of which are within a two minute
walk.
That sounds fine you say, a nice
problem to have in some ways. But the problem is, the local shops, in my
experience are now often selling products and services that are inferior in some
way to what I can get by walking that extra 8 minutes to Tesco or Sainsbury's.
By 'inferior', I mean either:
- almost out
of date (e.g. stale bread/ cakes)
- stuff they
have bought in from overseas/ 'off the back of a lorry' (e.g. cans of Coke with
the writing on the side in Greek)
I can
see why these local shops might feel the need to buy cheap, it can't be easy
competing with the Tesco's of this world. But can't they see that selling
inferior quality goods is not the solution (and is probably why two of the
locals in my area have gone bust in the last 6 months). The answer has to be -
sell good quality goods where the convenience factor is high and charge more
than Tesco's would - but not enough to dis-respect the customers, who is well
aware of what is going on, and normally happy to pay for the convenience factor.
That would work for me, i'm happy to pay a bit more to save that extra 16 minute
trek; because if the local guys don't get their act together I won't have the
option for much longer.
Posted: Wed - September 21, 2005 at 12:58 PM
