Summary Of The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate

Marion Nestle deftly writes how supermarkets use various strategies and techniques in order to gain maximum profit as well as sustaining customer interest at the same time in her article, “The Supermarket: Prime Real Estate.” This issue is compelling yet perhaps obscure within many people’s lives as they often naturally regard supermarkets as locations to buy food and necessities. Nestle is conspicuously trying to change that simplistic perspective as she claims supermarkets are in fact the ones in control and that the shoppers are victims of buying “too much”, adding to one of America’s widespread health problems, obesity. Through relevant data, outlines of marketing strategies, and effective explanation, Nestle presents a matter that readers

All of the necessities or high profit products are deliberately placed in the back so shoppers would have to traverse through the rest of the goods, which is how supermarkets employ maximum advertising without people really having to think about it. After listing the fundamental principles that supermarkets are based on, Nestle concluded that the most important one of all is the products that sell best. Supermarkets reserve prime spaces that warrant popular products and therefore, she makes the analogy with the real estate market as both cases include competing for treasured spots in order to maximize earnings. Nestle then proceeded to the next topic in which she conferred in a scandalous fashion where food companies “bribe” supermarkets for placing their products on shelf space via slotting fees. The higher traffic a shelf space stirs up, the higher the rate is and as a result, supermarkets has another influx of revenue to receive. The stores actually control both supply and demand in this unique hypothetical

She did admits that food retailers argue it is ultimately up to consumers’ decision if they want to buy more than they should, but then offered a counterargument in which supermarkets are persuading shoppers to purchase more commodities, not less. Here, she could have admitted that one can’t fault the supermarkets’ intent to maximize revenue as all companies strive to do the same or they wouldn’t survive. She could also acknowledge the fact that without advertising or the power of persuasion, the demand from consumers wouldn’t be as high and thus, the supply and demand curve will point downward in terms of economic success. Nestle however does acknowledge a possible solution involving a shopping list. Although it could help one’s eagerness to not buy excessively, she stated “research says that about 70 percent of shoppers bring lists into supermarkets, but only about 10 percent adhere to them.” At last, the article does perhaps suggests that supermarkets are to blame for obesity, but why not allude to fast food restaurants or labor-saving technology that are in today’s society now? If she says this, it wouldn’t lead the readers to believe that supermarkets are the main cause of such a