Food price wars affects Western Canadian grocer

Price wars, coupled with changing habits of shoppers along with business setbacks is really getting got store owners. The inconsistent prices in Western Canada are foreign grocers to deal with food deflation as consumers are more aware of the way they spend. Consumers are now finding several techniques to prevent them from over spending on shopping trips. This however is no good news for grocers as by the end of 2016, grocery prices in the region declined by 0.9% which is three times higher than the national figure. The largest drop in grocery prices was seen in fresh vegetable with a 5.2% drop, processed meat 3.9% and condiments 2.7%.
Consumers are motivated by promotions and cheaper prices and they are now more focus on the quality of food they purchase. The effort to concentrate on value is driven by the weak economy in Alberta and also a increase in the Vancouver real estate market. The ongoing trend of consumers being fussy on food makes it more challenging for retailers to provide the right type of food consumers require. Retailers instead of focusing on products that can be supplemented, concentrate on providing consumers with unique brands or distinctive offerings. According to research Canadians made over 668.4 million trips to grocery stores in 2016 which is 7% fewer than in 2012 online shopping. Moe people have been buying online to ease on the stress and they get better deals while doing online shopping. Millennials will most likely participate more in online shopping as evidence indicates that they only make 116 trips per year to Western Canadian grocery stores.