Supermarket, shopping, competition • Nowadays, supermarkets are constantly Œ to get ahead of the competition. There are thousands of supermarkets in the country. They  mainly in their sizes rather than the products they have to offer. The demand for modern Super-Supermarkets has become extremely high during the last ten years. Nationwide chain stores such as Sam's Club, Costco, and Wal-Mart have started to Ž the normal department store with grocery shopping in one convenient package. Just one step into today's supermarket and you will find everything from food, household products, to hardware supplies as well as cloths and sporting goods. • To better serve the needs of the x , many supermarkets have y state of the art self-checkout terminals, which enables shoppers to scan and pay for their goods. This strategy both shortens the wait line and z the high cost of hiring clerks. Can you imagine what supermarkets will be like ten years from now?