Hypermarkets get ready for a change!
While attending a French Chamber of Commerce event discussing the crisis I took note of what a global hypermarket senior official had to say about 2009. Food related sales would slightly increase in 2009 vs. 2008 and non-food would drop by 20%. More importantly customers will seek the following in 2009:
1) Promotional prices for brand names
2) A shift to price before quality
3) Desire to buy large quantities for extra savings
4) An improved loyalty program ( i.e. points, loyalty card)
5) Less expensive variants of the same food product
6) Focus on Romanian suppliers over other brands since it is felt that Romanians will opt for local vs. international brands.
Message. Nothing “earth shattering’ here except that an industry that is virtually recession-proof has to change its product mix. How are you changing your product or service mix to cater to existing and new customers in 2009?
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