Feb. 1970 – Supermarkets Headed for Extinction?

This serene scene was predicted to go the way of the Dodo Bird, according
to the article below. Hey, isn’t that the little girl from The Bad Seed?

Here's an interesting article from the February 27, 1970 edition of the Journal. It explored the possibility that the ritual of going to the supermarket, shopping for groceries and then hauling them home in the family car might eventually become a thing of the past.

It turns out the article was ahead of its time in predicting the growth in popularity of having groceries delivered to the home. Of course, the internet wasn't invented yet in 1970.  So the prediction was that the ordering would be done by telephone.

A variety of reasons (such as a lack of time or transportation) are making home delivery a very desirable option today using various apps such as Shipt, Instacart and Google Express.

Anyway, here’s the article, by Carl Miller of United Press International.

Will Supermarkets Be Replaced by Home Delivery?

By CARL MILLER

United Press International

The supermarket, which currently receives the lion’s share of America’s food dollars, may be headed for extinction.

It probably will be replaced by the end of this century with home delivery services, small neighborhood specialty stores and prepared food outlets, according to a researcher at Battelle Memorial Institute.

“Housewives’ shopping patterns are changing,” Gerald Collings, a research economist at Battelle, told UPI. “They want more convenient, quicker shopping to give them more leisure time.”

Collings said a preliminary study of consumer food shopping habits by Battelle showed a definite trend away from supermarket buying. Conversely, the study showed an increase in catalog sales, telephone ordering and home deliveries.

The supermarket came into being to give the housewife a vast array of goods to choose from, Collings said.

HOWEVER, the acceptance in recent years of proven-quality brand names and labels makes home delivery workable, he said, not only of staple products, but meats, vegetables and pastries as well.

“If she knows the canned soup, cube steak or cream pie she orders this time will be the same as the one she ordered a week ago, she doesn’t need to see it before she buys it,” Collings said.

When home delivery becomes the chief method for consumers to obtain food, small, neighborhood specialty food shops and prepared food outlets will appear in great numbers according to Collings.

The specialty shops will provide the “pickup” items nearly everyone forgets at the market as well as fancy cuts of meat and other items the customer prefers to shop for individually.

The prepared food business, which already is growing by leaps and bounds, will reach a point where there may be as many outlets as there are service stations today, Collings predicted.

He said the logistics of home delivery of food should present no problem.

Delivery would be from a central warehouse from which the consumer would order by telephone. Video – phones or closed circuit television could allow the customer to view any or all of her order if she was so desired.

Collings believes the cost of home food delivery would equal or be less than the current expense of supermarketing. Food prices also would either be comparable or lower, he said.

He pointed out that home delivery would not lend itself to “impulse buying” which help boost profits of supermarkets. But neighborhood stores would benefit from this.

“Food processors and distributors will have to develop some new techniques to stimulate buying,” he said.