Those stores, JLL projects, will see an increase in store count by 63 percent by 2018, and sales are projected to grow more than 90 percent.
The outlook isn’t quite as rosy for traditional supermarkets like Publix: JLL projects that traditional supermarkets will see a 2.2 percent decline in stores and almost a 4 percent increase in sales.
Lakeand-based Publix is rightly categorized as a traditional supermarket in JLL’s report, but here are five reasons why it’s positioned to go head-to-head with its speciality competitors:
- Publix already excels in the “experience” category. One reason consumers gravitate toward Fresh Market or Whole Foods is the experience — things like the wine selection, the speciality cheese case, and an overall beautiful space that's pleasing to the eye. The grocer is known for clean, well-lit stores and a cult following that truly believes in its “where shopping is a pleasure” tagline.
- It offers organic and natural products. Publix launched its GreenWise Market, a line of healthy, natural foods, some of which are organic, more than a decade ago, and most stores have a dedicated GreenWise section within them.
- Online grocery sales aren’t much of a threat in cities where Publix dominates. Online grocery shopping is popular in densely populated cities where many people don’t own a car, and grocery shopping is inconvenient. In the car-dependent southeastern U.S., that’s not the case.
- But that’s not to say the grocer isn’t tech savvy. In recent years, it’s rolled out a mobile app for and offers online ordering for its deli items. In 2013, it started offering digital coupons, which customers select online and redeem by entering their phone number at checkout.
- Publix is working on the coming demand for smaller, urban grocery stores, following a national urbanization trend. Greg Maloney, JLL’s retail chief, told the Washington Post that “ the real growth for the grocery sector is coming in the urban space.” Earlier this year, sources told sister news organization the Orlando Business Journa l that the grocer was working on a prototype of a 20,000-square-foot store. Traditional stores are around 50,000 square feet.
