Grocery shopping channels: lessons from an emerging market

Emerging markets present strong growth prospects for international retailers, but ill-founded assumptions about the nature of these markets can prove costly. This paper reveals how emerging market consumers' grocery shopping channel choice and shopping behaviour is more complex than developed markets. The paper examines grocery shopping behaviour in a significant African emerging market and reveals some of the challenges facing international retailers. The research is based upon more than 3000 interviews that investigate the retail channel habits of Kenyan grocery shoppers. Findings highlight the significant economic divide between different types of Kenyan consumers who nevertheless use several common grocery shopping channels. The study also reveals the diversity of channels patronised, as well as significant variation in the frequency of households' grocery shopping. By enhancing understanding of the complexities characterising Kenyan grocery shopping behaviour the paper assists retailers and academics considering business in emerging regions.