12 January: Supermarkets

This date in 1948 saw the opening of Britain’s first supermarket, at Manor Park, run by the London Co-op. 10 things you didn’t know about supermarkets:

1. Before supermarkets, grocery shopping would involve going into a shop and handing your shopping list to an assistant, who would get the items for you. This would probably have to be repeated in several shops, ie the greengrocer, butcher, baker etc.

2. The supermarket at Manor Park wasn’t the first in the world. This opened in the USA on September 11, 1916, in Memphis. The store was called Piggly Wiggly.

3. Early supermarkets were called "cheapy markets" at the time; this was soon replaced by the phrase "super market". The compound phrase was then closed up to become the modern term "supermarket".

4. The first UK out of town superstore opened in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, in November 1964.

5. The largest supermarket chain in the world is Walmart. In the UK, the largest chain is Tesco. The UK market has long been dominated by “the big four” Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, and Morrisons. However, discount supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl are catching up. In September 2022, Aldi overtook Morrisons for the first time to be the supermarket with the fourth largest market share in the UK.

6. The way your local supermarket is laid out isn’t random. It’s the result of years of study into human behaviour and how it can be manipulated to maximise sales. Necessities like Bread and Milk are always at the back of the shop which means you have to walk past lots of other products to get to what you came in for. The supermarket hopes this will result in a few impulse buys. Even the customer Toilets will be placed in a location which takes you past high-draw, high-impulse items. Fresh produce will be one of the first things you come to because it gives an impression of health.

7. Research as shown that customers spend more if they move around the shop in an anti-clockwise direction, so the entrance is usually on the right hand side of the store.

8. In the 1950s, supermarkets frequently issued trading stamps as incentives to customers. These have largely been replaced by loyalty cards.

9. There’s an urban myth that claims that Aldi and Lidl were founded by two brothers. That isn't true. Both grocery store empires were founded by different families. It might have originated because Aldi's massive global empire was split into two, with two brothers each owning half.

10. A Swedish supermarket chain has been airing a series of soap opera inspired commercials on national TV for 12 years. The story is about a group of people who work at a supermarket and the “show” consists of over 360 episodes.