"According to a paper published by the CDFI Fund, the average profit margin for the supermarket industry was 1.9 percent in 2010. The profit margin varies by sub-classification. According to analysis of Yahoo! Finance data, the average net profit margin for publicly traded US-based grocery stores for 2012 is close to 2010's 1.9 percent average. Sagework's research shows that privately owned grocers had average profit margins of 2 percent in 2010 and only 1 percent in 2011." http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/profit-margin-supermarket-...
Upmarket you can get ~3.5 to 6 percent which helps boost the average to 1.9, but for bulk goods 1% is not actually bad.
PS: Natural and organic food markets have some of the highest profit margins. For example, in 2012 Whole Food's net profit margin was 3.79 percent and Fresh Market's was 5.58 percent. Traditional grocery stores have net profit margins ranging from 1.96 percent for Harris Teeter and 1.91 percent for Kroger's to 1.77 percent for Safeway.
The abuse of statistics is rampant. An average tells you either what the middle player makes or is only used to identify trends. The average means nothing for individual players. An average of 1.9 might mean one company makes about nothing with many making 2-3% or a bunch of companies around 1.9. Btw, Kroger is one using an aggressive growth strategy to undercut competition. Their stores stay having empty shelves around ehre. They own Harris Teeter, too. Safeway went bankrupt at that rate. So, what are these numbers proving again? ;)
Upmarket you can get ~3.5 to 6 percent which helps boost the average to 1.9, but for bulk goods 1% is not actually bad.
PS: Natural and organic food markets have some of the highest profit margins. For example, in 2012 Whole Food's net profit margin was 3.79 percent and Fresh Market's was 5.58 percent. Traditional grocery stores have net profit margins ranging from 1.96 percent for Harris Teeter and 1.91 percent for Kroger's to 1.77 percent for Safeway.