Large retail commercial properties are keeping a close eye on a small but growing type of shopper, who may prove to be the stumbling block in their global domination. Today, Movehut asks: can a certain type of shopper really be such a threat to multi-million pound supermarkets?
The aim of a so-called ‘professional shopper’ is to save as much money as possible.
The main concern for retail commercial properties is that once a professional shopper has found the best bargains, they will share them on social networking sites. This will enable other shoppers cut out step one and instead reap the benefits of steps two and three – a major worry for retailers.
But is it really as black and white as this? One professional shopper, Sarah Beesley, told The Times how she conducts her weekly shop: “I apply the same principles to shopping as I do to project managing. I look for quotes, browse the kind of products available, and work out what is the best value.
“I know how to cook. So if I’m making a beef casserole, I know that whether I buy a piece of meat for £20 from the butcher or £5 from the supermarket, it won’t make a blind bit of difference.”
Sarah also went to say that she buys frozen vegetables, thus making them last longer, and shops at local Asian shops for spices and condiments. But are supermarkets right to be worried?
Morrisons Chief Executive, Dalton Philips, thinks so. He believes the shoppers were spawned because of the recession, as people now keep a tighter leash on their disposable incomes.
“They are customers who are spending to a specific budget – they are spending more time cooking at home, so cooking from scratch.
“They are shouting about the bargains that they see out there, going on to social media checking for them and communicating them.”
Are you a professional shopper in the making? Do you search for bargains before you even get to the retail commercial property, or are you happy to browse the aisles and be greeted with a huge shock at the checkout?
