Problems And Prospects Of Retail Stores (Supermarket)

INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
A supermarket is a large store specializing in groceries with self-service and wide assortments according to Kotler (1995) this is a relatively large, low margin, high volume, self reliance operation designed to serve the customers total needs for food laundry and household maintenance products.
And according to Jerome (1988) it is a large retailing business until that sells mostly food and grocery items on the basic of low price, wide variety of assortments, self service and heavy emphasis on merchandize displays.
A supermarket is a departmentalized food store with minimum sales volume of one million or more per year in a variety of merchandize and in which the sales of food, much of which is on a self service basic plays the major role by F.E Okorie in his lecture note. The carry about 12,000 product items. According to the food marketing institute said that 2 million is the minimum annual sales volume for a store to be called a supermarket. It earns an operating profit of about 1% on the sales an 10% on 30,000 supermarkets, about 20 percent of all food stores sales.
Supermarkets also upgrade their facilities through more expensive locations, larger parking lots carefully planned designs architecture and décor, larger store customer services, such as check casting, rest rooms increased their promotional budgets.
Supermarkets are also planned, so that product can be located on the shelves easily. The store layouts make it easy for consumer to shop. This helps sell more products faster, reduce the investment in inventory, make stocking easier and reduces the cost of handling products, such efficient is very important because competitions is tough, net profit (after taxes) in grocery supermarket usually run a thin in percent (1%) of sales or loss.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS
Despite many advantages associated with owing and shopping is supermarket. The supermarket is faced with many problems arising from rapid increase in population, trading, income and education of inhabitants.
Other factors militating against the progress of supermarket operation include government policies and the local government bye-laws. Also the inhabitants buy mostly in the local markets (open market like Eke Ukwu owerri, owerri main market, Eke Amakohia, Nkwo orji) and including some other markets, because it is their belief that the hard earned naira can justified by serious bargaining or negotiation before payment.
Furthermore, consumers attitude is also one of the problems. The problems of this research work now is, problem militating against better patronage or supermarket operations.

1.3 THE OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
Supermarkets play an important role in the economy of any nation especially to the inhabitants in owerri urban. In an economy of abundance, the problem is not what to produce, but the appropriate channel to market the products to reach to final consumers. Supermarkets were established in owerri as a result of some marketing opportunities that have not been fully explored. There is need to explore the prospects and identify the main problem associated with supermarket operation in urban area of imo-state. A case study of owerri urban cannot be our emphasized. Therefore the objectives of the study can be stated as follows:
i. To identify those problems and prospects of retail stores (supermarket) in owerri urban of Imo-state, analyze then and determine the key factors for their continued success of failure.
ii. To access the technical economic and financial factors affects supermarket operations is owerri urban.
iii. To get insight into merchandize assortments their width, depth, pricing and promotional strategies of supermarkets in Owerri urban of Imo state.
iv. To know the food shoppers attitude to supermarkets.
v. To assess the socio-economic justification for embarking on such a ventures in owerri urban.
vi. Finally the objectives of the study will explore the availability of manpower market and organizational liability of supermarket in general.

1.4 THE SCOPE OF STUDY
The study will cover with problem and prospects of supermarket operations with a special reference of supermarkets in owerri urban area Imo-state.

1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The following research questions will be used the project.
1. Does supermarket patronage reduce risk of buying adulterated goods?
2. Does the supermarket provide variables than general stores?

1.6 THE RELEVANCE OF THE STUDY
1. This work will help enhance the operation of operators by bringing innovations.
2. This work will enrich my understanding of the value of supermarket as market sources.
3. It will also be an improvement of related studies on supermarket operations by scholars of purchasing and supply.

1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The research would be happy surveying the supermarket but due to time factors, financial constraints academic loads and distance from my limitations to the project.
TIME FACTORS
Semester is sometime so short that it leads to crash program, this affecting time allocation for projects.
SOCIAL FACTORS
This as well lead to some problems in project writing due to so many social activities surroundings the semester.
Last but not the least is the financial constraints which is hindering the proper success of project.
Secondly, that the location must be economical in terms of cost compared with the sales volume. That the area for location would not cost so much that the expense incurred. The site of location should be motorable, visible and should not be in obscure place that may be another effort to locate. Customer should not buy goods but also enjoy convenience. The customers would not want to put in great effort in order to buy goods that the supermarket carries. Therefore, the location of the store must have t be in a place accessible to the customer.