A modern phenomenon has taken place in the supermarket business, in which the arrival larger corporations forces smaller groceries to bankruption. Although larger supermarket chains bring some benefits for customers, in my opinion, there are more disadvantages than advantages for the local populations. This essay will elucidade the rationale for my stance.
The primary advantages of the availability of larger supermarkets concerns better pricing options for products and more convinience for consumers. First and foremost, larger supermarkets can operate on a economy of scale, where they can leverage their infrastructure and better logistics to mitigate costs. Consequently, these corporations can tolerate smaller profit margins and low prices, attracting more customers. A pertinent example can be observed at Walmart, which has smallest prices in the market for food products across their thousands of stores in the United States. Another avantage of larger supermarket chains are related to the convinience of their business, that attract more customers. For instance, German supermarket Audi offers plenty of parking spots, delivery options, and target promotions to their customers, resulting in higher rates of customer retention.
Conversely, the closure of smaller shops by their lack of competitiveness with larger brands can bring severe social and health adversities to local populations in the long term. First, smaller markets and groceries usually employ mostly local people. The bankruption of these shops results in increasingly unemployment rates throughout the region. For example, a study in Latin America has shown that the arrival of large supermarket brands to mid-sized cities, such as Carefour or Oxxo, results in smaller shops dismissing employees, trying to survive in the market. Additionally, this trend can negatively impact the health of individuals. While many groceries offer fresh and locally grown natural products that are better for people’s health, larger supermarkets focus on selling industrialized products. For instance, a Brazilian research showed that customers of large supermarket chains consumed canned food more often; in comparision, the diet of those who purchased solely from small cooperative enterpreurnerships contained more fresh vegetables and fruits.
In conclusion, although larger supermarkets can be beneficial to customers providing low prices and better facilities, it does not outweigh the disadvatangeous impacts local communities, threatening local jobs and citizens’ wellbeing. It is fundamental that customers conciously purchase from local shops to foster their competitiveness in this harsh economic scenario.