Due to the development and rapid expansion of supermarkets in some countries, many small,
local businesses are unable to compete. Some people think that the closure of local
businesses will bring about the death of local communities. To what extent do you agree or
disagree?
The industry of supermarkets has shown a rapid increase in recent years. Some believe that this
development has affected local businesses the most and in near future, it might result in the
closure of small business communities. I partially agree with this point as despite having some
negative impact on national market spheres because of lack of choice here, the development of
supermarkets helps to keep the quality of sold products high both for international and local
businesses.
On the one hand, supermarkets give the option of choice-making which also encourages other
local markets to put much effort and try to overtake the first one in the quality of offered
products. This would mean that this approach makes businesses compete in a healthy market
condition and the population will benefit from high-quality products in both markets. For
example, one of the biggest shopping centers in the world Dubai Mall has a wide range of
choices, and other local businesses of the same field exist and flourish without any problem. As
a result, supermarkets may positively affect not only customers but also other local businesses
encouraging a monopoly-free market.
On the other hand, local markets may suffer from lower income because of consumers’
inadequate behavior. It means that in many regions, people tend to believe that imported
products are better than the national ones without having any proof of this belief.
Furthermore, recent studies showed that in a blind test customers preferred local products to
those overseas, but while shopping consciously they believed that the second one is the best
quality despite not choosing it during the research. As a result, these mysterious behavings lead
to the poor selling of local products in traditional shops making them unable to compete with
supermarkets.
In conclusion, although because of supermarkets local communities lack customers as they
tend to choose international products more, I partially agree with the opinion since without
supermarkets local businesses will not develop at all and choose to exist in a monopolistic
market instead.
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