My first visit to a supermarket in Sri Lanka was at Arpico. Compared to the Austrian supermarkets, there are some differences and many very exciting things to discover.
For one thing, there is rice and pulses in various types to be taken openly from containers as kilo goods.
The product group arrangement was also very exciting. In the entrance area directly next to the fruit & vegetables was also the jewelry department placed. This was followed by the rest of the fresh categories such as meat & fish. I can't imagine a composite purchase between fruit and jewelry, but maybe I'm too uncreative - does anyone have any suggestions?
One thing that surprised me the most was the issue of price labeling. In this supermarket, there were no labels with regular prices to be seen in the price rails. Only promotional prices were marked as price labels at the shelf rails. Why is this so? In Sri Lanka, manufacturers specify the regular retail prices of their items and print them directly on the item - thus ensuring that people everywhere in the country get the same item at the same regular price.
For this reason, it is not mandatory to have price labels on the shelves - after all, customers can look up the price directly on the item themselves. And since an item costs the same everywhere in the country (unless a promotional price is shown), the need to compare prices is probably not as great as in other countries. Exceptions are non-packaged goods and private-label items - in these product groups, supermarkets naturally have some leeway when it comes to pricing.
I find this concept totally exciting. I had some more questions about how this concept can work. If I meet another person on my journey who can give me more insights, I will complete this article.
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