Traditional Grocery Stores Continue to Stumble

The grocerant niche has been discounted, dismissed, and dished by legacy foodservice sector media outlets since 1991. The simple fact is the consumer migration from legacy grocerant stores to new non- traditional avenues of distribution is in no way slowing down according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru®, Steven Johnson.

Recently even legacy food industry research giants the ilk of Inmar Willard Bishop Analytics stated that “The food retail landscape is poised to shift dramatically as shoppers gravitate from traditional grocery stores to formats that more closely meet their needs”. Welcome to the grocerant niche Willard Bishop (WB)!

In a new study titled “Future of Food Retailing” Willard Bishop found “By 2021, dollar share for the traditional grocery channel will reach 44.4 percent, an increase of 0.2 percent… “Shares for nontraditional grocery will drop 0.7 percent to 39.1 percent. The convenience store channel will have a slight increase in shares, reaching 16.5 percent.

Here is the shocking from such a conventional foodservice research house  as the stated: “However, modest changes are often masked by large fluctuations occurring within the channel. For example, the number of traditional supermarkets will decrease by 24.6 percent. This decline is offset by double-digit growth in store counts for fresh-format, limited-assortment, and super warehouse formats.”

Most regular readers of this blog know grocery ecommerce trial is on the rise but the team at Foodservice Solutions® has predicted that it will top out at 11.75% of regular shoppers in 2021 and hold steady for several years before raising once again

The grocerant niche is expanding the reach of fresh food including meals, meal components, both Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat across all channels.  It is that rapid expansion that will slow ecommerce sales. Foodservice Solutions® team is not as pessimistic about legacy grocery retailers as we have firsthand knowledge some are trying very hard to adapt to the fast evolving retail landscape.

Invite Foodservice Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant Guru®.  Since 1991  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us  of Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or 253-759-7869