Bringing it home

Towards the end of her life, my mother used to visit the supermarket to buy fruit, vegetables and fresh meat and then return home to order the heavy stuff – tins and bottles – online.

This way she avoided the hard work of carrying shopping around and could still inspect perishable items before buying them.

Her idea didn’t really catch on, and people continued with the single weekly shop for all their needs.

Now we’re told that online grocery sales have risen by 75% during the pandemic, and that more than one and a half million people have switched to buying groceries online.This despite a shortage of delivery slots.

The biggest change, it seems, is among older people.

At the same time, we’re told that neighbourhood corner shops have increased their takings by almost two thirds.

I have a variety of corner shops close to my home, and I feel that they vary in the entrepreneurial skills of their owners. Some have undoubtedly seen the pandemic as an opportunity to befriend their new customers, respond to their needs, and establish a role in the community. Many of them are selling at prices that are not too far behind the supermarkets.

Among the supermarkets, Aldi’s sales grew by over 10% in March. They are closing in on Morrissons who are the fourth largest supermarket fir market share.

The location of new stores being opened by the discounters might be important, as they’re concentrating on residential areas, while larger supermarkets are thinly spread.

Research reveals that most shoppers have used a discount store in the last month, despite the fact that they make up less than 15% of the grocery market based on sales. So even now most of their customers are likely to be visiting a larger supermarket as well.

When lockdown began, I preferred the short walk to local shops. Carrying the shopping home was the best exercise that I was getting!