How the Grocer turned King during the lockdown

In Marketing parlance, a commonly used saying is, “Customer is King”. While this may be true, something that was evident during the lock down was that the unassuming Grocer turned King. Really, in these times, the Grocer metamorphosed into a King probably without his will or prior knowledge. The lock down altered the lives of many of us but for the grocer, it opened a door of opportunity  

As we all experienced during the lock down, for shopping, the environment was controlled. Only essential products could be purchased, time for shopping was limited to specific periods. There were limited outlets where we could purchase and for a major part of the lock down, one could not utilize services of e-grocers. Once e- grocers began their services, home deliveries were not as prompt and there was a waiting time from anywhere between 2- 5 days.

In this controlled and restricted environment, the neighborhood grocer emerged savior and basked in the glory. Probably, no grocer would have thought he would gain such prominence and importance

The grocer dictated our choices and many of us were happy to settle for “products” against “brands”. For example, if I preferred a brand of Tea and did not get it, I gladly settled for any other available brand as long as its Tea. Smaller brands and side products like snacks stood no chance anyways and in these categories, the grocer was the undisputed King, dictating his own terms

The grocer also decided the quantity he was selling and left no choice to the customer to buy his desired quantity. Quite obviously, larger packs were sold against smaller variants and customers were fine because many of us felt that there might be no tomorrow.   

The shopping experience went out of the window. My experience when I went to the local supermarket was that I had to wait for an average 30 minutes outside the store just to get in. When the privileged moment arrived, I was told by the store staff to finish my shopping quickly. I was pointed to follow a pre-decided store layout and forget the sequence on my shopping list. If I spent too much time on evaluating a product, its contents, expiry date etc. a store staff came over and reminded me of my limited time for shopping!

While many lost their jobs and others had salary cuts, this was boom time for the grocer and probably, one of the few businesses that profited from this situation. Customers resorted to hoarding and not only were grocers able to run their businesses while others shut shop, they made money from people buying more than they wanted. During this journey, many of us discovered our culinary skills, consumed more than we usually do, tried different cuisines thus adding to the profits of the grocers

The previously pampered customer realized that in the age of lock down, availability matters more than his own whims and fancies around brand, convenience, preferences, experience and the quintessential music in the store.

Moving forward, the question is whether a realization has dawned on the customer on what his/her real needs and aspirations are, whether all this while ( pre lockdown) his ego was being massaged or whether this is just a temporary phase for the customer to return to being King again? Only time will tell, lets wait and watch!