Conflict between Supermarkets and Wet-Markets in Ghana: Early Warning Signals and Preventive Policy Recommendations

Abstract

<p>The source of conflict between Supermarkets and Wet-markets arise from the use of market power and economies of scale by one group against the other. This study explores the tensions that exist between modern retailers and their traditional counterparts as a result of the influx of supermarkets in Ghana. The main objective of the study is to compare attributes related to the control of access to consumers by the Supermarket and the Wet-market. In this study, the dot-survey approach of Rapid Market Assessment Technique was used to elicit information from 438 respondents at the Madina market (wet-market) and Melcom (supermarket) over a period of two weeks and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney (WMW) comparison test and descriptive statistics were employed for the analysis. The results revealed that consumers patronise the supermarkets for convenience and the wet-market for freshness of product. Their purchasing decisions were affected by their level of education and product selections of the retailer. The highly educated preferred to shop at the Supermarket instead of the Wet-market; however, over 50% of respondents preferred the wet-market for fresh food products and the supermarket for non-food items. Each retailer receives its fair share of purchases from its loyal customers, therefore the revolution arising from the supermarket influx in Ghana has not yet resulted into conflict between supermarkets and their traditional counterparts, though it is inevitable if nothing is done to prevent it from happening. To avoid the conflict, it is recommended that policies should be instituted to (i) improve the market infrastructures and shopping environment in the Wet-markets, (ii) give tax concession to modern retailers who source products from local farmers and small-scale processors, (iii) enable traditional retailers position themselves on the fringe and co-exist with modern retailers and (iv) enforce public standards with regards to food safety laws in the traditional markets.</p>

Choice of supermarkets as a marketing outlet for purchasing fresh agricultural products in urban Ghana

“…In the 21st century, the supermarket has evolved as a perfect outlet where consumers resort to purchasing goods, including agricultural products. In Ghana, the retail outlet has rapidly changed in the past decades since the inception of Melcom (the household name for supermarkets in Ghana) in early 1990s (Anku and Ahorbo, 2017). Recently, the modern retail outlet has witnessed an influx due to an increase in foreign direct investment in Ghana, resulting in the establishment of Max-mart, Koala, Accra Mall, Marina Mall, and West Hills Mall (Reardon et al , 2010; Anku and Ahorbo, 2017).…”

Atributos Qualitativos Que Influenciam Consumidores Na Escolha E Avaliação Dos Supermercados Na Região Do Médio Alto Uruguai Gaúcho

“…A Figura 2 ilustra as palavras-chave dos atributos e suas dimensões teóricas mais influentes na percepção dos clientes de supermercados. As variáveis que foram apresentadas por essa pesquisa e, complementadas com outros trabalhos nacionais, também se aproximam em semelhança com atributos de outros trabalhos internacionais relacionados ao tema em diversas partes do mundo (ANKU; AHORBO, 2017;RAJBHANDARI;INTRAVISIT, 2017;KIRAN, JHAMB, 2016;ZULQARNAIN;ZAFAR;SHAHZADA, 2015;AL-ALI;BAZIN;SHAMSUDDIN, 2015;GUERRERO, 2014;KIMANI et al, 2012;OGHOJAFOR;LAPIDO;NWAGWU, 2012;MIN, 2010).…”

“…Também destaca-se que os atributos identificados por esta pesquisa foi o primeiro na área de abrangência geográfica explorada no Rio Grande do Sul, corroborando e ampliando dessa forma o entendimento das variáveis qualitativas acerca de pesquisas acadêmicas e mercadológicas sobre variáveis qualitativas com supermercados no país (MESQUITA; LARA, 2007, GALLON et al, 2008CAMPOS, 2012;WATANABE;LIMA FILHO;TORRES, 2013;SILVA et al, 2014;LIMA JR et al, 2015;SILVA et al, 2017), apresentadas no Quadro 2. Os trabalhos nacionais, incluindo este artigo, corroboram também para ampliação do entendimento teórico das principais variáveis e atributos de qualidade que influenciam na avaliação e no comportamento do consumidor de supermercados em diversas partes do mundo (ANKU; AHORBO, 2017;RAJBHANDARI;INTRAVISIT, 2017;KIRAN, JHAMB, 2016;ZULQARNAIN;ZAFAR;SHAHZADO, 2015;AL-ALI;BAZIN;SHAMSUDDIN, 2015;GUERRERO, 2014;KIMANI et al, 2012;OGHOJAFOR;LAPIDO;NWAGWU, 2012;MIN, 2010).…”

Atributos diferenciadores entre el comercio minorista tradicional y el moderno

“…Frente a la variedad de atributos y su mezcla perfecta para influenciar el comportamiento de compra del consumidor, aparece el concepto de atmósfera, que ha sido investigado por diversos D académicos (Ballantine et al, 2015;Terblanche, 2018), ya que genera lealtad hacia cualquier formato de tienda (Bai et al, 2008). En el canal moderno, los elementos ambientales adecuados aportan confort y mejoran la experiencia de compra; por ejemplo, los estímulos visuales y olfativos se consolidan como atributos importantes para la compra de frutas y verduras (Kapoor & Kumar, 2015); también los componentes ambientales, como la temperatura y la humedad, crean un entorno sensitivo que incrementa el valor para el consumidor gracias al confort y los valores estéticos (Abdul Karim et al, 2013;Jalil et al, 2016), lo que se complementa con buen servicio al cliente y experiencia de compra de una sola parada (Anku & Ahorbo, 2017), así como con ofrecer facilidades para estacionar (Chamhuri et al, 2015;Septiari & Kusuma, 2016). Cuando la atmósfera de una tienda es evaluada positivamente, el tiempo invertido en la tienda y la disposición de visitarla nuevamente se incrementa (Huddleston et al 2003).…”

“…La entrada y larga existencia de supermercados en el sector de venta al detalle de países desarrollados y en desarrollo genera conflictos con sus contrapartes tradicionales, porque los supermercados atraen clientes de los minoristas tradicionales. Además, el incremento de la participación del supermercado en el comercio minorista resulta en una disminución de la proporción de tiendas minoristas tradicionales en países como Chile y Argentina (Anku & Ahorbo, 2017). En mercados emergentes, existen dos formatos importantes: los minoristas tradicionales y los minoristas modernos (Amin & Mahasan, 2019).…”