Paying price of store wars in Shropshire

The Shropshire Star's survey of local people's retail habits has revealed that while most people still do most of their shopping in big superstores, the figure is almost matched by the number of people heading through the doors of the upstart discounters.

And local people are having little truck with the idea that smaller, high street metro-type outlets are to dominate their future retail habits.

That's one of the key findings of this week's survey, which reveals that the industry's emphasis on building more small shops instead of extending their network of huge, edge-of-town megastores, is not reflected in local habits.

Of the hundreds of people who took part in the poll, 77.5 per cent said they use a big superstore most often, compared with 10.9 per cent who use smaller shops.

In a county which prides itself on its range of independent retailers, just 11.6 per cent of respondents said they use smaller local shops most often.

We are a traditional lot in Shropshire, and that means there is still an appetite for the weekly "big shop".

There were plenty of trolleys filled to bursting at Asda in Donnington Wood, Telford.

For mother-of-three Kayleigh Fisher, the biggest advantage of the superstore is the variety of goods available.

Kayleigh, 28, a full-time mother from Donnington, said that when shopping with Riley, six, Ethan, two, and Esme, one, having everything under one roof is enormously helpful.

She said: "It's great that I can get everything I need for the family here, from food to nappies.

"Having children changes your shopping habits and as I don't drive, being able to just visit one location is obviously easier – and I try to get everything in one weekly shop.

"The other major advantage of the bigger store is the width of the aisles. Sometimes I bring a double buggy with me and having the wide aisles makes shopping so much easier."

For Margaret and Brian Cooper, who are both retired, the key advantage of a superstore is the variety of items on display on the shelves.

Attraction

The couple, from Tiverton in Newport, said they like to do one weekly shop at a superstore, getting 95 per cent of what they need, with the other five per cent topped up at smaller shops.

But Margaret said: "While the variety of the big store is a major attraction, the way supermarkets move stock around is frustrating – just as you get used to where things are they move them."

For IT worker James Beyer, 36, the convenience of the superstore is the main attraction, the ability to get everything in one shop.

James, from Priorslee, Telford, said that his family's shopping habits have changed over the past year as cost becomes an increasingly important factor.

He said: "A year ago I used to do all of my shopping here at Asda, but now I use other places like Aldi, simply because of the prices."

Doing all your week's shopping in one go is not an option chosen by Lynne Marshall, from St Georges, Telford.

Lynne, 55, shops a couple of times a week and says that her shopping habits have changed now that she and her husband are retired.

She said: "I suppose we shop every three days and I like the choice of goods you get here, the fact you can get everything you need in one location."

It all suggests that the shopping habits which have served the supermarket industry well in the last 10 years remain well entrenched in Shropshire, even if people are choosing to head for a different name than in the past.

Sainsbury's chief executive Mike Coupe said he believes the change in habits is taking effect.

He said: "The world of the one-stop shop, the big shop, and building large shops has changed.

"For 25 years our industry was driven by that dynamic – build larger shops, build more shops, and the customers will come.

"Whether it is driven by the recession or whether it is driven by the rise of technology, what we are seeing is a world where customers have more choices available to them than ever, and they are choosing to shop in a different way.

"They are still shopping in larger shops but they are also choosing to shop in smaller shops, convenient shops. They are tending to shop more frequently and when they shop they buy less.

"Of course, with the rise of the internet, increasingly they have options online."

That perceived change in habits has led to chains cancelling projects and closing some stores.

Morrisons announced plans in January to close its branch in Donnington in Telford. The same store chain has also launched a review into its plans to be part of a £45 million development on Oswestry's Smithfield Market site.

The short-term likelihood of a supermarket being included in the redevelopment Telford town centre has also receded after it was not included in the latest planning application. A plan to build a Sainsbury's in Newport was scrapped last year.

There are similar stories across the Midlands. In Wolverhampton, plans to regenerate the former Royal Hospital and the surrounding area within the city centre have collapsed after Tesco pulled out.

Further afield, the drawing back of supermarkets from large stores has even led to the collapse of a new football stadium. Bristol Rovers had agreed with Sainsbury's to build a store on its existing ground, funding a 23,000-seater stadium elsewhere. Sainsbury's pulled out despite signing contracts and the issue has led to a long-running legal fight in the courts costing both parties hundreds of thousands of pounds.

There is some movement, but it is restricted. Tesco, for example, is planning to open a new outlet in Shrewsbury – but it will be a small store in Pride Hill in the town centre. And there is certainly no prospect of existing superstores being demolished as shoppers desert them in droves.

In fact, in Shropshire, our survey revealed most people still like to do a big weekly shop.

Around half of respondents said they do a weekly or fortnightly shop, with 35.5 per cent opting to buy little and often.

Around three in 10 Britons buy groceries online, yet only half that proportion in Shropshire – 14.75 per cent of our respondents – do most of their shopping via the web.

It seems clear from our results that the big change in people's shopping habits is in where they choose to spend their money, rather than the regularity with which they hand over their coins.

Express stores advertising a more convenient way to shop are popping up all over the county.

Big chains have decided to downgrade parts of their operation and are targeting anything from derelict shops to disused pubs to open their smaller scale enterprises.

Tesco Express in Bridgnorth High Street is always busy, especially during lunch times and at the end of a day's work as shoppers pop in for a bite to eat or some essentials.

Speaking to people on the streets of Bridgnorth it is clear both the larger supermarkets and the newer, more compact stores which have appeared in recent years have a place for the everyday shopper.

Some feel there are too many express shops popping up but most tend use them as when needed.

Janet Wilson, 79, from Squirrel Court in Bridgnorth, said: "I sometimes go into the larger Sainsbury's shop but mostly I just use the smaller shops now.

"It's more convenient for me and although it can be more expensive sometimes the products are the same price.

"I haven't seen many express shops pop up in Bridgnorth and I think Tesco is the only in one High Town.

"I pop in there for a newspaper most days and then if I need any other bits I'll pick them up too."

Dave Malpass, 60, a landscape gardener from Wordsley, was visiting Bridgnorth for the day with his wife and grandchildren.

He said: "I tend do a bit of shopping in both the larger shops and the express stores.

"The small shops are convenient but if we're going for a bigger shop we'll still pop out to somewhere like Asda.

"What is worrying is how many are taking over the pubs that have closed down.

"I think there are too many and I can't see how all the little stores stay open with the competition that's around now.

"I would rather see the pubs reopening than more little shops popping up."

Amarit Bedi, 58, a driving instructor from Quinton in Birmingham, said he occasionally used express shops but was concerned about the affect they had on independent stores.

He said: "It seems mainly Tesco has gone down the express store route because I see a lot of those popping up.

"There are too many of them and it's true they are replacing pubs but I would be more concerned about their effect on independent shops.

"There are plenty of express shops now and I don't think we need any more," he added.

In business circles, the idea of disrupting the marketplace is common.

In essence, it suggests an upstart competitor bringing new ideas to a well-established area of the economy, and funneling sales away from the established players.

As the recession bit in Britain, and the average household was forced to scrimp and save, to cut every corner to find a way of making ends meet, the grocery sector was confronted by not one but two challengers.

Lidl and Aldi have changed the face of British shopping.

The social embarrassment of being caught shopping in one of the cut-price European mini-markets has waned, and more and more branches are appearing on Britain's streets. Now the "Big Four" – Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco – have responded to this squeeze on their market share by slashing prices in stores.

That in turn has played a role in inflation in the UK dropping to near zero.

Since the beginning of 2013, Tesco's share of the UK grocery market has fallen from 30.4 to 28.6 per cent, second-placed Asda's by one percentage point to 16.5 per cent, and Sainsbury's from 17.1 to 16.5 per cent. Morrisons has 11 per cent of the market, down from 12 per cent two-and-a-half years ago.

It may not sound like much of a decline, but given the total value of the UK grocery market last year was £177.5 billion, and is expected to grow to more than £200 billion in the next four years, a one per cent fall in market share reflects £1.8 billion of sales that have eluded the country's established grocery giants.

Over the same period, Aldi has seen its market share grow from 3.2 per cent to 5.5 per cent, and Lidl from 2.7 per cent to 3.9 per cent – increases which meant their sales were worth an additional £4 billion and £2.13 billion respectively last year.

The other factor in all this is at the other end of the grocery market. Sainsbury's has broadened its appeal and is no longer considered to be the sole preserve of the wealthy shopper.

Now, Waitrose fills that niche, and has seen its sales increase accordingly, at once filling a gap in the market and squeezing the Big Four from the top.

It has seen its sales grow at a slower rate than the market upstarts, from 4.7 to 5.1 per cent, but has nonetheless added to the pressure on the established retailers to find new ways of appealing to customers.

So how does our survey of Shropshire shoppers' habits correspond to the national sales picture?

When asked about which single store they would use if they could only choose one, most of our respondents plumped for the third-placed British supermarket, with 23.19 per cent backing the chain with the orange branding.

Tesco, the long-time market leader, clocked up 16.43 per cent of respondents, pushing it into third place behind Asda, which is second both in our poll and in national sales figures.

However, that doesn't necessarily mean that it only has that proportion of the county's supermarket spend, as the specific question leaves open the possibility that people could shop in one store, but would rather visit another if it was more convenient.

Aldi outperformed fourth-placed Morrisons locally, and by no narrow margin – its 15.46 per cent share of the vote was nearly four percentage points ahead of the Bradford-based brand.

Lidl's 4.1 per cent share of the vote is similar to the national market share, and Waitrose has a far greater share of the Shropshire public's affections than it does the nation's cash, with 10.14 per cent voting for the upmarket brand.

The fifth-placed supermarket in the country is actually the Co-op, which enjoys a 6.2 per cent share of sales – a figure unchanged from early 2013 – but only 1.9 per cent of readers consider it their favourite.

Shopping habits in Shropshire are, of course, affected by the availability of different stores.

The biggest towns, Shrewsbury and Telford, are both served by all the Big Four, with Shrewsbury also enjoying a town centre Waitrose outlet, with an out-of-town supermarket version on its way.

But other relatively large Shropshire towns have a smaller selection of options. Oswestry, the county's third biggest town, has no Tesco or Asda, and Bridgnorth is chiefly served by a Sainsbury's, with Tesco offering a smaller metro branch.

As such, people's habits are likely to be influenced by what is available on their doorstep. The people of Newport, for example, may feel more inclined towards Waitrose than others in Telford & Wrekin thanks to the presence of a large supermarket in the town centre.

The habits of Shropshire people could also be to do with the county's demographic make-up – 28 per cent of the population is aged over 60, according to the 2011 census, compared with 22.6 per cent nationally.

Mr Coupe acknowledged the changing habits of different generations. "My youngest daughter shops almost exclusively online," he added.

"The challenge for us is to both get our offer to work for my mother, but also to accept and continue to enhance the experience for people like my daughter, who are the next generation coming through.

"I have said on a number of occasions that the death of the superstore is grossly exaggerated. Our challenge is to reinvent the superstore for the next generation."

To that end, Sainsbury's is about to trial a new format of larger stores that it hopes could tempt people back to the habits they have laid down in the last quarter of a century. While details are under wraps, it is expected to see fast-moving goods for use today or tomorrow at the front of stores, with longer-term purchases such as toilet roll and cleaning products further back.

Whether it will bring back customers remains to be seen, still less whether similar projects can halt the slump in sales that has impacted on the industry's biggest players.

Mr Coupe's claim that the decline of out-of-town superstores is exaggerated seems to be borne out in Shropshire. The next big question is which retailer will be the next to successfully shake up the market.