Enduring sexiness of supermarkets

After a long day of work, who wouldn't like to go to a favorite hangout where one could relax, de-stress, and rejuvenate oneself? In urban areas, such a go-to place increasingly is the supermarket. What's more, a supermarket allows people to shop for daily essentials.

Besides, one can lose oneself in myriad in-store activities and attractions, which help take the mind off work or home-related everyday stressors.

I find the orderliness of the supermarket's layout and shelves therapeutic. They demonstrate how to declutter mind and life, and underline the power and magic of logic and systems.

By integrating various technologies into their operations, supermarkets show how embracing change can bring value to life.

There is a large supermarket about 1 km from my home. So, walking the stretch gives me that much-needed me-time and exercise－no need to create another time-slot for exercise or walking or a workout on the treadmill.

Even when I need no more than just a bottle of milk or a hand-wash, I do the to-and-fro 2 km drill. Helps a great deal.

The bonus is that everything at the supermarket tends to be fresh, even during the time of the coronavirus epidemic. Amazing, isn't it?

I can pick and choose vegetables and fruits. No hard sell-minded salesperson will tail or harass you.

In the kitchenware area, the delicate-looking, shapely, beautiful crockery and cutlery create that "it's a wonderful life" feeling in the mind－something that you won't find in online shopping.

Don't take my word for it. Check out social media platforms. There, you'll find many online celebrities and bloggers posting pictures of themselves shopping at supermarkets, as if to suggest they (brick-and-mortar stores) are the real thing.

Social media is rife with pictures and ads of models plonking themselves on shopping carts, or posing with their loved ones checking out products at supermarkets. Such promotional photos have become fashionable and popular. Images of supermarkets, it seems, symbolize vitality and modern lifestyle.

In 2019, US retail giant Walmart saw its best sales performance in China in five years. Walmart-owned Sam's Club store on the Chinese mainland saw double-digit sales growth in the third quarter of 2019, and the growth mainly came from fresh food, the company said.

China has become the most developed country for e-commerce, but it still remains very attractive to global hypermarket, supermarket and convenience store chains. German supermarket chain Aldi and US warehouse club chain Costco opened their first stores in Shanghai in the past year. They have seen strong sales and heavy footfalls, suggesting significant growth prospects.

Like me, there are a large number of millennials who love shopping at lively, bustling brick-and-mortar supermarkets. Not for them online shopping that can sometimes degenerate into a click-tap-cancel-return-refund drill.

Their demand has helped boost sales of hypermarkets and supermarkets, besides encouraging the opening of numerous new old-format stores in this age of e-commerce.