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Trends in Consumption

Cash-and-carry in Europe

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The principle of self-service is already firmly established in North America as it is accepted in Europe in the fifties. Like many other accessories and parts of their everyday life, the GIs had the new sales form in their field pack, so to speak. Self-service shops and the first supermarkets are soon no longer something exotic. Reporting shows, however, that there is still a need to explain. The packaging trade magazines make it their task to inform the industry in detail. For example, it is explained that packaging and displays are a means of communication with the customer. They are “dummy salesmen“, the reader is told.

Brand in demand

Up to now, consumers have been used to having the desired quantity of a product measured out for them individually. There are many items that are available in re-usable containers that are brought back to the shop to be re-filled. In self-service shops on the other hand, goods are already packed and their packaging often brightly printed. This new way of appealing to customers is sometimes regarded with scepticism. The talk is of deceptive packaging, of unnecessary luxury and of the packaging leading to higher prices. In the end, however, the majority understand intuitively that flawless hygienic packaging is a condition of the life-style that they are striving to achieve.