Dublin, July 17, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "The Future of Food Retailing: Value Grocery Shopping in the U.S." report has been added to Research and Markets' offering.

What could be said twenty years ago is even truer today: The U.S. food retailing business has never been more competitive. A number of trends are putting pressure on food retailers of all stripes, from supermarkets whose bread and butter is groceries to supercenters and drugstores for which food is a smaller but still crucial part of the product mix. Foremost are: 1) food deflation driven by heavy discounting; 2) shakeups among major chains; 3) heightened brick-and-mortar competition spurred by Germany-based discount retailers ALDI and Lidl; and 4) the incursion of e-commerce onto the food retailing landscape.

For value grocers, the good news is that many of these trends bode well for the value grocery business as a whole. On the other hand, with the expansion of discount/limited-assortment chains including ALDI and Lidl, it appears value grocery will be at the epicenter of some of the most aggressive competition the grocery industry has seen since the Walmart-driven supercenter invasion of the 1990s.

For a large majority and still growing number of Americans, value retailers are where it's at when it comes to grocery shopping. Supercenters attract 177 million U.S. adults as monthly shoppers (more than traditional supermarkets), wholesale clubs kick in 91 million, dollar stores draw 53 million, and discount/limited-assortment grocery chains like ALDI lay claim to 42 million.

And that's just for starters. As of early 2017, the value grocery business is heating up for what may be the hottest contest since the advent of Walmart supercenters. Not since Tesco's Fresh & Easy has a European grocery chain created such a buzz on the other side of the pond prior even to opening its first store, and right now the big word on the street is Lidl. Fresh & Easy was a colossal flop, but there's no reason to expect anything of the sort from Lidl, a German discount/limited-assortment grocery chains grocer à la Germany-based ALDI.

Fielding more than 10,000 stores in Europe, Lidl has cut into ALDI's European business and, along with ALDI, forced into deep-discount mode massive competitors including Walmart's Asda U.K. grocery unit. As of early 2017, Lidl plans to open at least 100 U.S. stores per year on its way to a buildout of as many as 2,000 stores. Already on the defensive, ALDI has gone into accelerated expansion mode with the goal of growing its U.S. footprint to nearly 2,000 stores by the end of 2018 and by almost 50% during the next five years, accompanied by a $1.6 billion plan to remodel and expand 1,300 of its U.S. stores by 2020.

Also girding for deep-discount battle is Walmart. In January 2017, Walmart announced plans to add 10,000 U.S. jobs and raise the minimum wage for its U.S. workers, and began testing a new low-price strategy aimed at undercutting ALDI and by extension Lidl. Like Target, Walmart is also investing in smaller stores designed to better compete with discount/limited-assortment grocery chains and dollar stores, the latter of which began cutting into Walmart's bread and butter during the Great Recession.

Also contributing to the ramped- up competition is e-commerce, particularly as Walmart and other grocers get serious about taking on Amazon and home delivery grocery services like Fresh Direct and Peapod. Outlaying several billion dollars, Walmart has snatched up e-commerce players including Jet.com, Shoebuy.com, and Moosejaw.com, and Walmart and other value retailers are now implementing bricks meet clicks services deigned to coordinate online grocery ordering with in-store pickup. Increasingly, such services involve smartphones and apps designed to help shoppers avoid lines and in some cases scan and pay as they go.

This first-edition report also explores the future of natural and fresh foods vis-à-vis the value grocery shopper, the impact of private labels and name brands, and the transformative and increasingly overlapping Millennial and Hispanic cohorts. The report profiles value grocery retailers across four sectorssupercenters (e.g., Walmart, SuperTarget, Kmart), wholesale clubs (Costco, Sam's, BJ's), dollar stores (Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Dollar General), and discount/limited-assortment grocery chains (ALDI, Lidl, Food 4 Less)and analyzes shopper behavior including penetration rates, preferences, cross-shopping at other grocery channels, demographics, and psychographics using trended multi-year Simmons consumer survey data.

Key Topics Covered:

CHAPTER 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

TRENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Supercenters Are No. 1 Grocery Retailer, Walmart Is Supercenter King
Grocery Retailing More Competitive Than Ever
The Changing Faces of Convenience
Smaller Stores Bigger Than Ever
Mobile Payments, Apps, and Screenless Payment
Fresh and Natural
Millennials and Hispanics: A Big Part of the Future of Grocery Retailing

SUPERCENTERS AND MASS MERCHANDISERS
Overview
Retailer Profile: Walmart Stores, Inc.
Retailer Profile: Target Corp.
Retailer Profile: Kmart
Retailer Profile: Meijer
Retailer Profile: Fred Meyer

WHOLESALE CLUBS
Wholesale Clubs Account for Close to 10% of Grocery/Consumables Sales
Retailer Profile: Costco Wholesale Corp.
Retailer Profile: Sam's Club
Retailer Profile: BJ's Wholesale Club

DOLLAR STORES
Dollar Store Channel Sees Growth and Consolidation
A Lower-Income Customer Base, Plus Some Higher-Income Millennials
Channel Buoyed by Great Recession and Heightened Focus on Food
Retailer Profile: Dollar Tree
Retailer Profile: Dollar General

DISCOUNT/LIMITED-ASSORTMENT CHAINS
Fewer Choices, Bigger Savings
Retailer Profile: ALDI
Retailer Profile: Save-A-Lot
Retailer Brief: Food 4 Less

CHAPTER 2: TRENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS

MARKET OUTLOOK
Supercenters Are No. 1 Grocery Retailer, Walmart Is Supercenter King
Value Grocers Outperforming Traditional Grocery
Grocery Retailing More Competitive Than Ever
Food Deflation
Retailer Upheaval: Consolidation, Reevaluation, and Bankruptcy
Here Comes Lidl
The E-Commerce Effect
USDA Testing Online Acceptance of Food Stamps by Retailers Including Amazon
The Changing Faces of Convenience
Smaller Stores Bigger Than Ever
Brick-and-Mortar Stores Emphasizing Online Ordering and In-store Pickup
Mobile Payments, Apps, and Screenless Payment
Fresh and Natural
Private Labeland Name Brands
Millennials and Hispanics: A Big Part of the Future of Value Grocery Retailing

CHAPTER 3: SUPERCENTERS AND MASS MERCHANDISERS

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS
OVERVIEW
Trends and Characteristics
Shopper Penetration Rates, Demographics, and Cross-Shopping

RETAILER PROFILE: WALMART STORES, INC.
The World's Largest Food Retailer
Neighborhood Markets Going Strong
Walmart Testing Walmart Pickup and Fuel Stores and Convenience Stores
Walmart on Campus
Walmart Express Stores Shuttered
Better Wages, Better Performance
Private Label to Fill in the Gaps
App-solutely: Scan and Go and Walmart Pay
Self-Checkout, Home Delivery, and Store Pickup
Serious About e-Commerce: Walmart Acquires Jet.com, Shoebuy.com, and Moosejaw.com and Vows to Ramp up Digital Marketing Investment
No Shortage of Competitorswith More on the Way
Walmart Claims 60% of U.S. Adults as Monthly Food Shoppers
Walmart Supercenter Shopper Demographics
Walmart Supercenter Shopper Psychographics

RETAILER PROFILE: TARGET CORP.
Company Seeking to Halt Sales Slippage
Weak on Groceries
Target Remodeling to Add Fresh Foods
Target Testing Smaller-Format Stores
Target's Private Labels
Target Claims 9% of U.S. Adults as Food Shoppers
Target Supercenter Shopper Demographics
SuperTarget Shopper Psychographics

RETAILER PROFILE: KMART
Steady Decline Continues
Kmart Attracts 5.2% of U.S. Adults as Food Shoppers
Kmart Supercenter Shopper Demographics

RETAILER PROFILE: MEIJER
One of America's Largest Privately Held Companies
Meijer Claims 4.8% of U.S. Adults as Food Shoppers
Meijer Supercenter Shopper Demographics

RETAILER PROFILE: FRED MEYER
Strong in the Pacific Northwest
Fred Meyer Claims 2.8% of U.S. Adults as Food Shoppers
Fred Meyer Supercenter Shopper Demographics

CHAPTER 4: WHOLESALE CLUBS

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS

OVERVIEW
Wholesale Clubs Account for Close to 10% of Grocery/Consumables Sales
Shopper Penetration Rates
Food Shopper Demographics
Cross-Shopping: Most Wholesale Club Shoppers Also Frequent Supercenters
Food Shopper Psychographics

RETAILER PROFILE: COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP.
A Time-Tested Company Culture
Low Prices and Living Wages
Keeping Prices Down
Miles of Aisles
Private Label : Kirkland Signature Is an International Mega-Brand
Marketing, Not Advertising
Costco Claims 19.1% of U.S. Adults as Monthly Food Shoppers
Costco Food Shopper Demographics

RETAILER PROFILE: SAM'S CLUB
Groceries and Consumables Account for Over Half of Sales
Working to Improve Performance and Profits
A Lower-Income Shopper Base
Sam's Club Poaches Costco Shoppers Unhappy with Credit Card Switch
Sam's Club Claims 8.4% of U.S. Adults as Monthly Food Shoppers
Sam's Club Food Shopping in Overall Sam's Club Context, 2014-2016 (monthly percent of U.S. adults shoppers)
Sam's Club Food Shopper Demographics

RETAILER PROFILE: BJ'S WHOLESALE CLUB
Up for Sale?
BJ's v. Costco and Sam's
Paring Private Label
An Important Shopper Draw: Low-Price Gas
Pickup and Pay and Online Deli/Bakery Ordering
BJ's Claims 2.6% of U.S. Adults as Monthly Food Shoppers
BJ's Food Shopper Demographics

CHAPTER 5: DOLLAR STORES

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS

OVERVIEW
Dollar Store Channel Sees Growth and Consolidation
A Lower-Income Customer Base, Plus Some Higher-Income Millennials
Channel Buoyed by Great Recession and Heightened Focus on Food
Additional Expansion Ahead
Dollar Store Shopper Penetration Rates, Demographics, and Cross-Shopping
Dollar Store Shopper Psychographics

RETAILER PROFILE: DOLLAR TREE, INC.
Sales and Store Count Surge Due to Family Dollar Acquisition
Dollar Tree Number of Stores, 2011-2015
Dollar Tree Net Sales, 2011-2015 (in billions of dollars)
Family Dollar Acquisition Poses Challenges
Dollar Tree and Family Dollar Shopper Penetration Rates
Dollar Tree Shopper Demographics
Family Dollar Shopper Demographics

RETAILER PROFILE: DOLLAR GENERAL CORP.
The Most Locations and Rapid Expansion
New DGX Smaller Store Format Targets Millennials
Focus on Food (and Tobacco)
Dollar General Plus and Dollar General Market
Responding to Dollar Tree
Dollar General Claims 10.5% of U.S. Adults as Monthly Shoppers
Dollar General Shopper Demographics

CHAPTER 6: DISCOUNT/LIMITED-ASSORTMENT CHAINS

CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTS

OVERVIEW
Discount/Limited-Assortment Grocery Stores: Fewer Choices, Bigger Savings
Market Entry of Lidl Expected to Sharpen Competitive Stakes
ALDI Out Front
Cross Shopping Among Discount/Limited-Assortment Grocery Chains

RETAILER PROFILE: ALDI
ALDI: South v. North
Bare Bones Approach for Low Prices Keeps Shoppers Smiling
Gearing Up for Lidl: Accelerated Expansion and Remodeling
ALDI Demographics: Shoppers on a Budget
ALDI Shopper Psychographics

RETAILER PROFILE: SAVE-A-LOT
Company Overview
Private Equity Firm Onex Buys Save-A-Lot
Save-A-Lot Leads Supervalu Chains by Number of Shoppers
Save-A-Lot Demographics
Comparison of Save-A-Lot (Onex) Shoppers vs. Shoppers for Selected Supervalu Chains

RETAILER BRIEF: FOOD 4 LESS
Part of the Kroger Supermarket Kingdom
Food 4 Less Attracts 3.7% of U.S. Adults as Monthly Shoppers
Food 4 Less Shopper Demographics
Kroger Shopper Profile Much Less Distinct

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/mmk4k3/the_future_of