Groceries New Food, New Look
The grocery store is getting a makeover.
For decades, traditional supermarkets dominated the $624-billion-a-year food-selling business with predictably stocked midtier stores that sold goods at high prices and teased customers with weekly specials.
THE JOURNAL REPORT
See the full Trends report.But since Wal-Mart Stores Inc. became the nation's largest food seller in 2001 and other retailers began adding food, grocers have started making some of the biggest changes the industry has seen in decades. New stores have fewer packaged products in the center aisles and feature larger spreads of prepared foods. They sell more organic food and allow patrons to pay with the touch of a finger.
It's too soon to tell whether the moves will help pull grocers out of their slump. Sales at the nation's largest grocery chains have been slow and profits inconsistent for most of the past several years.
Here are some of the major trends in the grocery aisle.
1 > LEAVING THE MIDDLE
Supermarkets are moving up and down market to set themselves apart from a wave of nontraditional competition that has stolen the middle.
To reposition itself as an upscale chain, Safeway Inc., the nation's third-largest traditional supermarket company, invested $100 million in a massive advertising campaign this year and millions more in store remodeling over the past several years. The Pleasanton, Calif., company is building so-called lifestyle stores -- sophisticated shops with better-quality produce, softer lighting and classes in skills like flower arranging. New advertising is attempting to brand the experience of shopping at Safeway the same way consumer packaged-goods companies brand their products.
Southern retailer Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. of Jacksonville, Fla., also is nudging its stores toward the higher end as part of a massive turnaround effort. It's starting by stocking chardonnay and bouquets of roses in the produce aisle.
Other grocers are dabbling in new formats that sell cheap goods to capture the low end of the market. Albertson's Inc. of Boise, Idaho, the nation's second-largest traditional grocer, last year created a subsidiary that runs limited-assortment stores with low prices under the Super Saver banner. Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. of Montvale, N.J., has been shedding stores so it can focus on two different formats: upscale fresh stores and discount locations.
2 > FOOD IS EVERYWHERE
Drugstores, big-box discounters and even hardware stores are adding more food, especially fresh groceries, and increasing pressure on traditional grocers to protect their turf. A decade ago, nontraditional grocery formats accounted for 8.9% of total grocery sales, according to Willard Bishop Consulting, a retail-marketing consulting firm in Barrington, Ill. Last year, they accounted for 31.9% of grocery sales.
Food has narrow profit margins, but retailers are adding it because it brings customers into stores more frequently. The hope is that shoppers also pick up bigger-ticket items.
Target Corp. of Minneapolis is more than doubling its food offerings in new and remodeled general-merchandise stores and adding refrigerated coolers. By January, Atlanta-based Home Depot Inc. plans to open convenience stores in parking lots of four of its home-improvement outlets in Nashville; the stores will sell milk and prepared breakfast and lunch foods.
3 > OFF CENTER
Grocery sales have sagged the most in recent years in the so-called center of the store -- those middle aisles filled with laundry detergent, toothpaste, garbage bags and cooking staples. Driving this loss of revenue: the discount stores and changing culinary habits.
"People don't shop the center as much as they used to," says Peter Lynch, chief executive of Winn-Dixie. "It's because the aisles haven't changed for 30 years."
In response, grocers are shrinking the display space in the centers of their stores and fattening the periphery. All around the edges of stores, where prepared foods and fresh produce have traditionally been located, consumers are finding more space devoted to ready-to-eat meals and better produce.
Whole Foods Market Inc. of Austin, Texas, is leading the industry, adding more prepared dishes from wood-burning pizza ovens and stir-fry stations. But other chains are starting to catch up. Winn-Dixie is paring its center and resurrecting sandwich bars.
Packaged-food makers, which traditionally stocked the center of the store, are moving to the periphery as well to make sure they don't miss the sales shift. H.J. Heinz Co. of Pittsburgh, for one, is creating new refrigerated potato and macaroni dishes. "This peripheral area of the store is growing," says William Johnson, chief executive of Heinz. "Consumers have spoken about the need for fresh food."
4 > NOTHING SPECIAL
Kroger Co. of Cincinnati, the nation's largest traditional grocer, has spent the past four years funneling cost savings into lower prices in order to narrow the gap with discount stores. Some grocery chains are also moving away from weekly specials in favor of lower everyday prices, especially on items that consumers buy frequently.
Shoppers used to plan their purchases around the specials advertised in grocery circulars, giving supermarkets incentives to offer new deals several times a month. That strategy has become less effective now that Wal-Mart, Target and Costco Wholesale Corp. have started luring customers with consistently low prices.
The consulting firm A.T. Kearney is advising traditional grocery clients to switch to what it calls a "no insult" pricing and promotions strategy. That means coming close to, but not necessarily lower than, discount-store prices on items that consumers know they can get cheap if they shop around.
5 > FAST PAY
Grocery chains are adding high-tech payment systems that allow shoppers to check out with an identification number and the touch of a finger. Albertson's stores in Oregon, some stores of Cub Foods, Stillwater, Minn., and other chains have installed a system by San Francisco-based Pay by Touch Solutions that identifies customers with a scan of their finger. The scan picks up a series of data points from the physical shape of the finger, not a fingerprint.
Customers sign up for the program by scanning their finger and registering their credit or debit card. Then they choose an ID number, usually their phone number. The next time they come back, their finger and ID number will log them in to the payment system.
Rival BioPay of Herndon, Va., has a similar system in use at Lowes Foods of Winston-Salem, N.C. The two payment companies have traded lawsuits, most recently in February, when Pay by Touch filed suit against BioPay in federal district court in Wilmington, Del., alleging that BioPay had infringed on its payment-technology patent. A BioPay spokeswoman said the suit does not have merit.
6 > SLOTTING FEES SLIPPING?
Grocers are slowly moving away from a practice that has long been standard in the industry: charging product makers for shelf space and levying other promotional payments. Wal-Mart set the example by not charging so-called slotting fees for shelf space. Now Safeway has stopped taking vendor allowances from some manufacturers.
"It takes a lot of cost out of the system," Steve Burd, chief executive of Safeway, told an investor conference in March. "There would be somewhere between 50 and 100 accountants in Arizona that we wouldn't need," he said, if the company simplified its payments system. Food makers, however, say that grocers are still a long way from eliminating the fees.
7 > PRIVATE PUSH
Store-branded products continue to take up more shelf space and gain cachet. Over the seven years ended in 2004, sales of private-label goods grew at more than twice the rate of branded goods, according to ACNielsen, and now account for 15% of supermarkets' packaged-goods revenue. Grocers like to stock private-label products because they have wider profit margins. Milk, cheese, paper products and eggs are among the largest private-label categories.
Now that private labels have gained customer acceptance, grocers have started making upscale store labels. Safeway has rolled out its own line of premium beef, under the name Rancher's Reserve, and its own brand of fresh soups.
8 > TARGETING LABOR
Traditional grocers have been paring labor costs to compete with the growing number of nonunion retailers that sell food. During the past three years, Safeway has restructured all of its major labor contracts with its largest union so workers take more time to climb the wage ladder and pay a greater share of their health-care costs.
The push has been costly for grocers, who have struggled to regain market share in Southern California since a massive labor dispute two years ago that had thousands of workers at Kroger, Albertson's and Safeway on strike or locked out for more than four months. And future labor negotiations may be no smoother. The United Food and Commercial Workers, the main union representing grocery workers, hopes it will become more powerful with a new parent, Change to Win Coalition, a group of unions that broke ranks with the AFL-CIO in July.
Grocers also are trying to depend more on self-checkout lanes that reduce the need for grocery clerks. As of this year, 56% of food retailers had installed self-checkout lanes, up from 15% in 2001, according to the Food Marketing Institute, the grocery industry's Washington-based trade group.
9 > YOURS FOR A DOLLAR
The popularity of dollar stores is prompting grocers to add more dollar merchandise. More than 27% of new grocery stores had aisles designated for dollar merchandise in 2004, up from just 6% in 2002, according to the Food Marketing Institute. Experts say that shoppers like the treasure-hunt feel that comes from picking up unexpected items on the cheap.
Save-A-Lot, a chain of small discount grocery stores owned by Supervalu Inc., Eden Prairie, Minn., bought a dollar-store chain in 2002 to get more dollar merchandise into its fresh-food stores, such as videos, jewelry and household goods. Adding more $1 goods also is part of Winn-Dixie's strategy to revive sales.
10 > ORGANIC OFFERINGS
The mainstreaming of organic foods has prompted traditional grocers to sell more fresh and packaged natural and organic goods. Sales of organic and natural food in the U.S. and Europe totaled $35 billion in 2004 and are expected to hit $59.2 billion by 2009, according to research firm Datamonitor. That's partly why Whole Foods, which specializes in organics, has become one of the most successful grocery chains in the industry.
Organic offerings help capture younger consumers, who are more likely to choose stores based on whether they offer organic foods, according to research by the Food Marketing Institute. The organic movement is spreading beyond produce and packaged food as apparel makers roll out new organic clothing. The Organic Trade Association held a fashion show at its annual food exhibit in May in Chicago
食品业－新食品 新面貌
食品零售店纷纷旧貌换新颜。
几十年来，年销售额高达6,240亿美元的食品销售业一直由传统的超级市场占领，他们主营中端商品的店铺往往售价偏高，但常常用每周特价来吸引顾客光临。
但是，自从沃尔玛(Wal-Mart Stores Inc.)在2001年登上美国第一大食品销售商的宝座，其他零售商也纷纷新增食品柜台以来，食品零售业出现了几十年来前所未有的改观。占据新店堂中心货架的包装食品少了，取而代之的是大量方便食品。零售店还出售更多有机食品，允许老顾客轻按手指就能结帐。
现在还很难说这些做法能否提振食品零售业走出低谷。这几年，美国大型连锁食品零售企业的销售额一直低迷不振，利润表现也时好时坏。
现在，我们就来谈谈食品零售业的主要发展趋势吧。
1> 放弃中端市场
超级市场有些瞄准高端，有些放低身段，目的都是将自己与那些尽力争取中层顾客的同行区分开来。
作为全国第三大传统超级市场营运公司，Safeway Inc.把自己重新定位成一家高端连锁店，今年就投入1亿美元发动了一场规模浩大的广告攻势，这几年重新装修店面的投入也有数百万美元。Safeway正在将自己塑造成一家生活方式店──精致细腻的装修、品质出众的商品、柔和温馨的灯光，还有精心摆放的鲜花，等等。新一轮广告的重点是突出在Safeway购物的美好体验，就像那些包装食品公司力捧自己产品的做法一样。
南部零售商Winn-Dixie Stores Inc.也在尽力占据高端市场，这也是该公司大规模转型计划的一部分。第一项举措就是在货架上摆放夏敦埃酒和大捧玫瑰。
其他的食品零售店也纷纷推陈出新，售卖廉价商品以便占据低端市场。美国第二大传统食品零售企业Albertson's Inc.去年举起Super Saver大旗，成立了一家出售商品种类不多但以低价取胜的子公司。Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co.一直在压缩店铺数量，主要瞄准两块市场：高端的生鲜商品零售店和折扣店。
2> 食品随处可见
药店、批发折扣店，甚至五金店都先后增加了食品柜台，尤其是生鲜食品。传统的食品零售企业保住自己领地的压力与日俱增。零售营销咨询机构Willard Bishop Consulting的数据显示，十年前，非传统的食品零售渠道获得的收入只占总收入的8.9%，去年则高达31.9%。
食品的利润率较低，但零售商们都喜欢增添食品种类，因为这会吸引顾客更频繁地光顾。公司希望他们能顺带买些高价格的商品。
Target Corp.新开业或者新装开业的日用品店铺售卖的食品增加了一倍还多，店内还新增了冷藏食品柜。Home Depot Inc.则计划，明年1月份之前在纳什维尔4个家装店址所在的停车场新开几家便利店，出售牛奶和调配好的早餐和午餐食品。
3> 离开中心货架
近几年来，零售食品的销售额一直是店铺中心货架商品中表现最差的一类。这些货架上往往堆满了洗涤剂、牙膏、垃圾袋和烹调用品。导致食品销售下降的主要原因：折扣店的兴起和烹饪习惯的改变。
“人们在中心货架买的东西不像以前那么多了，”Winn-Dixie首席执行长林奇(Peter Lynch)说，“因为这些货架的样子整整30年都没变过了。”
对此，食品零售店开始压缩店铺中心的货物陈列面积，加宽四周货台的面积。方便食品和生鲜食品一般总是放在货场四周，现在消费者们发现这里不但更宽大了，方便食品种类更多了，品质也更好了。
业内领先公司Whole Foods Market Inc.还新增了不少可以用比萨炉和炒菜锅等工具加工的半成品食物。但是，其他连锁零售店也正在迎头赶上。Winn-Dixie就取消了中心货架，重新装修成三文治卖场。
包装食品的生产商们以前总把自己的产品堆放在店铺的中心位置，现在也开始向周边转移，以确保销售业绩。比如说，匹兹堡的H.J. Heinz Co.就开发了新的冷藏马铃薯和通心粉。“店堂四周的货台面积不断加大，”公司首席执行长威廉姆?约翰逊(William Johnson)说，“消费者已经表明了他们对新鲜食品的需求”。
4> 不做特价
美国最大的传统食品零售企业Kroger Co.四年来一直努力削减成本，以期降低价格，缩小与折扣店之间的差距。一些连锁零售店也慢慢取消了每周特价，代之以下调日常售价，那些消费者经常购买的商品就更是如此。
以前，消费者总是照著零售商派发的特价广告来计划购物清单，这就促使超级市场每个月都组织几次新活动。但沃尔玛、Target和Costco Wholesale Corp.等公司以持续低价吸引了不少顾客，超市的这一招越来越不灵了。
咨询机构A.T. Kearney向传统食品零售客户提出的建议是：把价格降到“不冒犯”的水平，并采取各种促销策略提振业务。所谓“不冒犯”，指的就是定价水平接近，但并不一定要低于折扣店的水平，让消费者心里明白如果到这儿购物，就能买到便宜货。
5> 快速结帐
高科技支付系统在食品零售连锁店里日益普及，消费者用一个身份号码并按一下指印就可以轻松结账。Albertson's旗下店铺、Cub Foods的某些店铺，还有其他一些连锁店都安装了Pay by Touch Solutions的结账系统，只要扫描顾客的手指就可以辨认身份了。扫描仪从手指的外形读取一系列数据，与指纹辨认不同。
愿意使用的顾客签名扫描手指，并注册信用卡或借记卡，然后选择一个身份号码（往往是自己的电话号码），即可。下次购物时，用手指和身份号码就能登陆这套支付系统。
竞争对手BioPay也有一套类似的支付系统，安装在Lowes Foods旗下店铺。两家支付技术公司之间屡屡发生法律纠纷，最近一次是在今年2月份，Pay by Touch将BioPay告上特拉华州威尔明顿的一家联邦地方法庭，指控后者侵犯了自己的支付技术专利。BioPay发言人表示指控毫无依据。
6> 货架占用费下降？
食品零售商正在慢慢放弃以前常用的业内通行做法：向生产商收取货架占用空间的费用，还征收其他促销性费用。沃尔玛率先砍掉了货架费，现在Safeway也不再像有些生产商收取经销补贴了。
“这样可以削减很多成本，”Safeway首席执行长史蒂夫?伯德(Steve Burd)在今年3月份的投资者大会说。如果公司简化支付系统，“我们亚利桑那州就可以少用50-100名会计了。”但是，生产商们表示，零售商完全取消这些费用还任重道远。
7> 自有品牌日益受宠
自有品牌的产品继续占据更多的货架面积，也日益受到消费者欢迎。ACNielsen数据显示，截至2004年的7年内，自有品牌商品的销售额增幅是品牌商品销售额的增幅的两倍还多，目前已经占到超市包装食品销售收入的15%。食品零售商乐于摆放自有品牌的商品，因为它们的利润率更高。牛奶、奶酪、纸制品和鸡蛋是最畅销的几类自有品牌商品。
随著自由品牌商品日益获得消费者的青睐，食品零售商开始竞相推出自己的高端品牌。Safeway已经用Rancher's Reserve为名推出了自己的高档牛肉系列产品，还有一系列自己品牌的汤。
8> 著重降低劳动力成本
传统食品零售商一直在努力削减劳动力成本，以便与越来越多没有工会之累的同行展开竞争。Safeway历时三年，与公司最大的工会组织重新签署了所有的重要劳工合同。现在，员工加薪需要更长时间，自付医疗成本的比例也提高了。
两年前南加州爆发了一场大规模劳资纠纷，Kroger、Albertson's和Safeway的数千名工人举行罢工，时间超过4个月。此后，这些公司一直在竭尽全力赢回市场份额，而劳资合同的协商也越发不容易。食品零售业工人的主要组织The United Food and Commercial Workers投身到Change to Win Coalition门下，希望能就此壮大自己的力量。
食品零售商还设法增加顾客自助结账通道，减少所需的收银员人数。贸易团体Food Marketing Institute提供的数据显示，到今年为止，共有56%的食品零售点安装了自助结账通道，比2001年的15%高出许多。
9> 一元商品
1元店的兴盛促使零售商们增加更多1元商品。Food Marketing Institute数据显示，2004年新张开业的零售店中，超过27%的店铺都设有1元商品专用货架，2002年时只有6%。专家们说，喜欢寻宝的顾客觉得这样就像意外拣到大便宜一样。
Supervalu Inc.旗下的小型折扣连锁食品店Save-A-Lot在2002收购了一家1元连锁店，为自己的生鲜食品连锁店增添了不少1元商品，例如录影带、首饰和家用品等等。Winn-Dixie提振销售额的战略规划中也包括增加1元商品数量。
10> 有机食品
有机食品大行其道，促使传统零售商们出售更多新鲜食品以及包装的天然和有机食品。研究机构Datamonitor的数据显示，2004年美欧两地有机和天然食品的销售额达到350亿美元，预计2009年前增至592亿。专营有机食品的Whole Foods之所以成为业内最成功的食品连锁企业也就不足为奇了。
Food Marketing Institute认为，提供有机食品有助于赢得年轻顾客，他们更容易根据是否供应有机食品来决定去哪里购买。有机浪潮甚至波及到其他行业，服装生产商也推出了全新的有机服装系列。今年5月，Organic Trade Association就在芝加哥的年度食品展览会期间主办了一台时装表演。
