Hypermarket Definition & Examples

What is a Hypermarket?

A hypermarket is a big box store that sells a general line of groceries, in combination with a general line of merchandise, such as appliances, apparel, toys and household items. It combines between the characteristics of a supermarket and a department store.

Hypermarkets are also known as superstores or supercenters, and warehouse clubs can also belong to this category.

Hypermarket vs. Supermarket

According to the NAICS classification, both, hypermarkets and supermarkets primarily sell a general line of grocery and food products. Hypermarkets adds other lines of general merchandise to its product mix, in order to provide a one-stop shop to its customers.

Due to the bigger product assortment, and some product departments, such as appliances and furniture, requiring a large display area, hypermarkets tend to be larger in size than supermarkets.

Store Layout

Hypermarkets typically use the grid store layout, which divides the retail store into aisles, that together form the shape of a grid.

Each aisle will display a certain group of related merchandise, for e.g. snacks and confectionery, and a navigational sign is placed above that aisle to guide customers on where to find those products in the store.

Such a layout helps customers locate the products they want in this large retail store, while also exposing them to as many products as possible during their shopping journey, as a customer will typically need to go up and down the different aisles to pick all the products on their shopping list.

Usually the most important and basic items are placed at the back of the store, also for the same purpose of exposing customers to many products, and increasing the chances of unplanned purchases.