With non-traditional grocery channels ramping up their food and beverage selections, traditional formats such as supermarkets are turning their attention to price gaps and promotions to help level the playing field, analysts report. The traditional grocery channel experienced nearly 3 percent growth in 2010 with about $480 billion in sales, but saw its market share decrease just shy of one point to 46.8 percent, according to Barrington, Ill.-based Willard Bishop’s June 2011 report, “The Future of Food Retailing.”
Supermarkets also experienced an increase in sales at 1.5 percent for more than $412 billion in 2010; however, the channel’s market share decreased 1.1 percent to just more than 40 percent, the report states.