Grocer’s struggle so Entering the C-Store Sector is the Rage

Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food continues to be the fuel that is driving consumers into new avenues of distribution, new meal choices, a new fast fresh food service options according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

The undercurrents of consumer shopping behavior have driven Australia’s two largest grocery store groups Coles and Woolworths to move into the convenience sector, taking on smaller corner stores in capital cities around the country.

According to local media reports, “the trigger has been the increase in city-based population and the conversion of office blocks to apartments where space is not available for traditional supermarkets.

In Sydney, for example, it has been reported that Woolworths is trying to find sites of 200-400 square metres. This format would see the smaller format stores in direct competition with convenience businesses 7-Eleven and City Convenience. Woolworths confirmed to Fairfax Media that it had a small number of smaller format supermarkets.

The initial branding for Woolworths’ corner store push is “Woolworths Small Format” and it will start in Sydney and Melbourne. The stores will offer a limited range of products, and will be feeder stores to the medium-line Woolies Metro stores, such as the one in Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station.

It has been reported that Coles is also looking at a business model that would allow it to offer smaller format supermarkets.

Australia’s largest convenience store operator 7-Eleven recently announced the opening of its 600th store at Gumdale in Queensland, continuing what it said was “strong, sustainable growth”.

7-Eleven CEO Warren Wilmot said “this milestone for 7-Eleven comes at an exciting time, only weeks before the Company’s first store opens in Western Australia, our first new market entry in more than 30 years.” The first Western Australia store at 100 High Street in Fremantle is scheduled to open its doors on 30 October 2014.

7-Eleven is the largest convenience retailer in Australia. The company is privately owned by the Withers and Barlow families.  The move by Coles and Woolworths into the convenience sector comes amid increasing concerns about the market power of the two major supermarket groups. However, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Rod Sims told Fairfax Media the regulator did not and should not have the power to push the supermarkets to divest assets.

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Uber Eats: Consumers want Grocery Sector Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat Food

Success does leave clues and Uber Eats understands the undercurrents driving food sales around the globe according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.  Convenience stores and grocery store service deli’s have been garnering incremental customer migration mostly from chain restaurants as they elevate their grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh food offering according to Johnson.

Down under, the partnership between Coles supermarkets and Uber Eats to quickly deliver ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat meals reflects a major shift in the way we shop and in the way supermarkets are trying to attract customers according to Johnson.

Regular readers know that Coles and Uber Eats had been testing meal delivery from one of its stores in Sydney's eastern suburbs for the past few weeks and last week started expanding the offering to more stores and including a handful of essential groceries.

Now Coles consumers can go online and order slow cooked pulled beef with BBQ sauce for $19.00 or a small box containing lumps of an extruded chicken-like substance commonly known as chicken nuggets for $3.50. There are also meals that are ready to go in the oven or the microwave, such chicken enchiladas at $8.50 or butter chicken for $9.50.

Battle for Share of Stomach

To the north of us Canadian food and drug retailer Metro Inc. has partnered with Uber Eats for home delivery of ready-to-eat meals in Quebec. A Metro spokesman stated “that 23 stores now can deliver prepared meals to customers in Montreal, Laval and the South Shore area who place orders via the Uber Eats app. The rollout of the service follows a three-store pilot.

The fact is Uber created its delivery subsidiary in 2016.  Then it reached a landmark deal with McDonald’s and now Uber Eats has generated $1.5 billion in delivery revenue last year.  Think about this of Uber’s 91 million users, 15 million received a meal through Uber Eats. Consumers are dynamic not static is your business on Uber?

Grocerant niche growth continues to disrupt the food sector with companies the ilk of IKEA, Costco, Metro, and Coles all garnering a larger share of stomach as legacy retailers capitulate market share.  Consumers are dynamic not static.  It’s evolve or fade away slowly.  Does your brand look more like yesterday than tomorrow? The shift to grocerant niche ready-to-heat or eat meals reflects changing shopping habits restaurants, convenience stores, and grocery stores can all benefit if they are will to evolve.

Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.