Philip Lempert, an expert analyst on consumer and marketing trends, says the results of his SupermarketGuru.com consumer panel suggest that although shoppers believe they can obtain a better deal at a warehouse club store, it is not translating into a vast consumer movement into the warehouse club store. Nonetheless, as consumer shopping habits change, the warehouse club trip may become a more routine part of consumers' shopping places in the future.
"Consumers are shopping differently in 2002 than in the past. They are willing to shop in more types of stores and are willing to take the time to seek out value. Supermarket operators cannot assume a weekly stock-up market basket from every shopper as they did years ago," says FMI Director of Research Janice Jones. According to the poll, only 39 percent of shoppers say they do a stock up trip at least every week. The majority of shoppers (60 percent) are making fill-in trips of 10 or fewer items at least weekly.
Moderator Comment: Do you agree with Phil Lempert "that supermarkets are missing an opportunity to capture more consumer dollars by delivering and communicating a greater selection and value to their shoppers?"
Based on this release, it appears as though consumers want supermarkets to carry a greater selection of products while lowering prices at the same time. If most stores combined these elements you would see a lot more "going out of business" signs. [George Anderson - Moderator]