The Impact of Big Supermarket to the Small Retailer

1.1 Introduction

Gapan city has been one of the well-established cities in the province of Nueva Ecija. It is a city known for its export quality slippers and with the population of 101,488 with household numbers of 18,200 (Wikipedia.org, 2010), Gapan City has been economically stable and developed.

Retailing  in Gapan City has been a very productive industry where it offers innovation and career opportunities for the native of Gapan and as time goes by, many big supermarkets has been popping up like giant mushrooms. Supermarkets have been a popular purchase destination nowadays because it offers something new that can satisfy the needs and wants of the consumers. Thus, the consumers are more likely to shift to big supermarkets from buying to small retailers.

Big supermarkets give advantages that benefits most people of Gapan City and its nearby areas. But it will create positive and negative impacts on public market and small retailers.

Have you ever wondered how competition is going between small retailers and big supermarkets? How small retailers handle threats and competition with these giants?

In this study, the researchers will describe the impact of big supermarkets and how it affects small retailers around the Gapan city public market. This research also aims to determine the effect of the competition between big supermarkets and small retailers.

1. Statement of the Problem

Retailing can be defined as the activities involved in the selling of goods to ultimate consumers for personal or household consumption. It is undeniable that retailing industry has marked it significant growth especially in large urban areas.

Gapan City can be said as one of the most urbanized cities in Nueva Ecija where many retailers used to establish their business. There are large convenience stores, groceries and supermarkets that slowly swept away the small entrepreneurs of Gapan City.  But among those, supermarkets have the biggest impact to the small retailers. However, in the previous years, before the establishment of the large supermarkets in the city, small retailers have been very productive.

As the main focus of this research, the researchers will determine the impact of the big supermarkets to the small retailers in Gapan City and will conduct further study to create marketing strategies that can help small retailers to achieve their goals effectively.

In this study, the researchers will conduct a survey to the small retailers of Gapan City public market to be able to determine the reasons behind the patronage of the consumers to the supermarkets and how supermarkets affect the business activities of the small retailers.

This study aims to describe the various impacts of big supermarkets to the small retailers and feature relevant facts about the how small retailers of Gapan City deal with this kind of problem.

The researchers do not involve a direct solution to the marketing problem but will state several recommendations and suggestions.

1. Definition of Terms

respondent- a person who replies to something, especially one supplying information for a survey or questionnaire or responding to an advertisement.

supermarket -  a large form of the traditional grocery store, is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food and household products, organized into aisles.