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Grocery shopping is no longer a one-stop experience

Zlati Meyer

Upmarket offering: Gourmet goods from Harris Farm Markets.
Upmarket offering: Gourmet goods from Harris Farm Markets. Supplied

Mandy Roberson spends her Sundays driving from store to store to buy all the groceries she needs for the week.

To find bargains, the 28-year-old blogger from Queen Creek, Arizona, heads to the Sprouts organic supermarket for produce, meat and condiments, She drives to Target for dairy products, eggs, bottled water and paper products. Then, she zips over to Sam's Club for frozen fruit, muesli bars and cereals.

"We have picked our favourite spots, because we know there are more options out there for meals. It doesn't have to be from one store. We can go someplace we like a little better," Roberson said.

The opening day of Melbourne's first About Life store in Port Melbourne.
The opening day of Melbourne's first About Life store in Port Melbourne.Chris Hopkins
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For an increasing number of shoppers, the days of one-stop shopping have gone the way of home-delivered milk in glass bottles. Half of American grocery-shoppers go to three or more stores to get their food and household supplies - five items or more per stop - according to Magid, a Minneapolis research firm.

The multiple-stop shopping trend is a throwback to how people purchased food in the first half of the 20th century before the birth of the modern supermarket.

Your ancestors didn't go to a 30-aisle behemoth where they could find everything. They went to the butcher shop, the bakery and the produce stand.

Your ancestors didn't go to a 30-aisle behemoth where they could find everything. They went to the butcher shop, the bakery and the produce stand.

On errands lists now in the US are big-box stores with large grocery sections, such as Walmart; warehouse stores, such as Costco and BJ's Wholesale Club; no-frills grocery stores, including Aldi and newcomer Lidl; natural-food stores, like Whole Foods; and specialty stores, including ethnic markets, family-run shops and regional chains, where customers can find local brands and exclusive products.

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"If you look at a traditional 40,000 to 50,000-square-foot supermarket, it's a dinosaur. It's extinct," said analyst Phil Lempert of supermarketguru.com, a website that tracks food industry news. "People don't want to go to one store and walk up and down the aisles and look at 50,000 products. It's just not a great experience."

The shift is due to the increasing popularity of smaller supermarkets, the splintering of specialty food purveyors and loyalty to chains' house brands. It's a way to hunt for lower prices and it enables people to participate in the pervasive foodie culture, which is all about where one's food comes from - such as manufacturers' back stories and commitment to the environment and human rights - and uncovering the newest or most obscure foods.

"We're in the throes of the decline of the one-stop shop," said Magid senior vice-president Matt Sargent. "We're seeing smaller specialty stores pulling from super centres and the traditional grocery stores."

Turning grocery shopping into a fun outing is one way supermarkets are fighting to maintain or rebuild their basket share. Some have upped their ready-to-eat food sections to make certain dishes their traffic drivers. Others host fun in-store events, such as wine-powered shopping trips, or amp up the shelf space dedicated to local craft beers.

To stay relevant in the increasingly fragmented landscape, Kroger, the largest supermarket chains in the US, has expanded its organic offerings, emphasised customer service and offered special discounts and promotions to people with customer loyalty cards, according to spokeswoman Kristal Howard.

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"We don't just look at our competitors as being traditional grocery stores. We're starting to shift our thinking to 'share of stomach. There's $US1.5 trillion ($1.9 trillion) that Americans spend on food, whether a grocery store, convenience store, dollar store. We want a greater stake," she said. "Our most loyal customers, on average, only spend 50 cents of their food dollar with us."

In Australia, the supermarket duopoly has been shaken by the expansion or impending arrival of overseas players such as Aldi, Costco, Kaufland and Amazon, and the ascension of specialty stores such as About Life, Harris Farm Markets and IGA. David Jones has also announced a major overhaul of its food offering, which will eventually include standalone food stores.

In one recent report, British retail veteran and David Jones chief executive John Dixon said there was a gap in the market between discount outlets and traditional supermarkets.

"The old-fashioned aisle shop is mundane: customers are almost rejecting this ever-growing catalogue of product; there's almost too much choice," the former head of Marks & Spencer's food business was reported as saying.

Consider Roberson, who not only goes to Sprouts, Target and Sam's Club, but sometimes, also stops in midweek at a local butcher for more upscale pork cuts, a convenience store for beer or wine and Trader Joe's for fresh flowers.

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She does it to save money and to get the specific products she feels each store does best. "We like the quality of things, so I'd rather make the drive and spend the money there," Roberson said.

And many of today's consumers are brand agnostic. For an industry already besieged by new competition from online delivery services and dwindling margins, this multi-stop shopping is yet another alarm sounded.

"People are picking and choosing where to buy things. That's a good adventure for consumers. The stores are nervous and trying to figure it out," Lempert said. "They used to have a loyal shopper who went every Friday or Saturday and bought everything. Millennials and generation Z don't care."

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