JEDDAH, 5 May 2003 — Does Jeddah really need another supermarket? Since the city is expanding by leaps and bounds, there is room for many more supermarkets and even hypermarkets, top executives of an international supermarket chain say.
At present 15 major companies are operating over 50 supermarkets and their branches across the country. “But these are not enough,” says Hussein S. Ramadan, regional operation manager of Giant Stores for Riyadh, Jeddah and Abha. “Major and medium supermarkets account for only 30 percent of the grocery business, while the major chunk of this business is still handled by ‘baqalas’ or wayside shops,” Ramadan told Arab News. Supermarkets compete more in terms of layout and presentation than prices, he says.
“Prices are more or less the same in all supermarkets. There may be a difference ranging from 50 halalas to a riyal on food items, but that does not matter for shoppers. What really matters for them is location, parking, the layout of various sections of products on display, and their presentation,” said Khaled Bawazir, the assistant branch manager of the chain.
He said all big supermarkets have a system of checking prices with their competitors and prices are marked up or down depending on the trend. “However, price fluctuations are marginal,” he added.
“When families walk into a supermarket, they look for areas where their children can move about freely. That’s how some leading superstores have designated children’s play areas. A cafeteria is another requirement which families like to see in supermarkets,” said Bawazir.
“Running a supermarket is no joke. You need constant attention to meet the needs of shoppers and consistent vigilance against shoplifters,” he said.
But shoplifting is not considered a major problem for supermarkets in this part of the world. Shoppers in general know the harsh punishments that a shoplifter is liable to get.
“Speaking for ourselves, our vigilance is strong. We have our staff going around and looking for potential shoplifters. Major supermarkets are now equipped with an alarm system,” Bawazir said.
Some of the supermarkets and hypermarkets have their managements watching the movement of shoppers on closed circuit TV screens but say they have yet to develop a foolproof system to detect shoplifters.
