June 25, 2012

Disadvantages Of Supermarket

Introduction

Supermarket is a large scale self-service retail store that offers a large variety of products (generally groceries and household merchandise) at affordable prices. There are various advantages of supermarket such as affordable price, buying convenience, low operational costs, quality assurance etc. At the same time there are also some disadvantages like requirement of huge capital, need of appropriate location, no personal attention, not suitable of varieties of products etc.

Disadvantages of Supermarket

The main drawbacks or disadvantages of supermarket are as follows:

1. Huge capital required

huge amount of capital is required to establish supermarket. It needs to be operated in huge building for which large amount of rent needs to be paid.

2. Need of central place

Central as well as proper places are needed to establish supermarkets. Supermarkets cannot be operated everywhere. It becomes difficult to find proper location to establish supermarkets, even if found they become costly.

Another disadvantage of supermarket is lack of personal attention. The employees and other staff do not pay adequate care. The customers should bring goods up to counter by themselves to pay bills. The employees do not care for the customers. Most of the customers, especially women shoppers do not like this.

4. Unsuitable for all products

Only some products, which are known by customers, can be sold in supermarkets. Some goods need to be explained by sellers to the customers for their knowledge. So, the products unknown to customers cannot be sold out from supermarkets.

5. Need of efficient manager

Compared to other retailing institutions, efficient manager is necessary for the operation of supermarkets. Otherwise, it cannot be operated successfully.

6. Unnecessary Spending

It promotes impulse buying by encouraging buyers to spend more through promotional offers and attractive layout. 

Pros And Cons Of Supermarket In Brief

Pros
* Customers can by quality product at lower price
* It provides hygienic buying environment
* It requires low operating costs
* There is no risk of bad debts

Cons
* It requires huge capital to establish
* It negatively impacts local businesses
* It is not suitable for all types of products
* It encourages unnecessary purchases