Supermarket chain simulator
Run an established supermarket chain at its real size — 4 million households on day one — year by year for eight years, before you bet the real one.
Millions of baskets, a margin of pennies, and the discounters. This one opens as Greengate Foods: A national grocery chain selling the weekly shop to millions of households. Rename it, reprice it, or describe your own supermarket chain and let Nova rewrite it to fit.
What a steady grocer ends up with
Played steadily for all eight years — quality first, then growth, a fair share of the bank spent each year — a steady grocer here ends its last year on $23.4bn of revenue and $1bn of profit, with 6.8 million households and 21% of the market (#2 of 8).
It opens as it stands today: 4 million households, 8,000 staff and $300m in the bank.
People who play it well do better, and a bad plan runs out of money.
Revenue in the last year: $23.4bn
Profit in the last year: $1bn
Households at the end: 6.8 million
Share of the market: From nothing to 21%
Where it finishes: #2 of 8
Years and decisions: 8 years, yearly
What you'll decide each year
Each year you set prices, brand and sales spend city by city, decide capacity and headcount, choose where to expand next, and how much to borrow or pay back.
Each decision shows on a forecast before you file it, and every period resolves against the rivals and the economy.
Who your households are
At this size the market barely grows, so every point of share is taken from somebody, city by city — and the leader fights back.
30 million households in all, across your home city, the capital, the second city, a university city and a coastal city.
Budget shoppers: Millions of them, loyal to the price and nothing else. About 15 million of them, worth $2.1k a year each.
Weekly family shop: They buy the brand they trust and switch when it lets them down. About 9.6 million of them, worth $3.3k a year each.
Premium and organic: They pay for the best and expect it to feel that way. About 3.6 million of them, worth $7.2k a year each.
Convenience top-ups: Contracts, volume discounts and a procurement team. About 1.8 million of them, worth $12k a year each.
Who you're up against
You start as one of the big names, with four rivals around you and every one of them after your households. They play to win: they cut prices, spend on marketing and answer what you do.
The market leader: The biggest, and slow to change — it has stopped listening to its smaller customers. Holds about 30% of the market.
The hard discounter: Wins on price and little else; its customers leave the moment somebody is better. Holds about 22% of the market.
The upmarket grocer: Hasn't changed in years and is living off the customers it already has. Holds about 14% of the market.
Online delivery: Clever and quick, but stretched thin and hard to get hold of. Holds about 8% of the market.
How it works
Free until you start: building and previewing cost nothing, and starting is $10, once.
Build it — free: Press build and you get your own copy of this market: four kinds of household, four rivals and five cities.
Make it yours: Change any number, describe your supermarket chain in a sentence or two and let Nova fill it in, or upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history to fit it to your real figures.
Preview — free: See what a steady grocer ends up with, and every warning worth reading, before you pay anything.
Start — $10: Pay once to start, your seat included. Then run it year by year for eight years.
Also for
grocery · supermarket · food retail · convenience
How much does the supermarket chain simulator cost?
Building and previewing are free: make your own copy of this supermarket chain market, change anything in it and see what a steady grocer ends up with without paying. Starting the simulation is $10, once, and your own seat is included.
Can I make it match my own supermarket chain?
Yes. Every number can be changed — the households and what they pay, the rivals, the cities, the costs and the starting cash. Or describe your supermarket chain in a sentence or two and Nova, SparkTower's AI, fills every section in for one Nova action. If you already trade, upload a profit and loss or a month-by-month sales history and the simulation is fitted to your real numbers.
Are the numbers realistic for a supermarket chain?
The template is checked against what real ones do: played steadily, a believable one finishes year eight turning over between $8bn and $22bn, with between 2.5 million and 7.5 million households. Your own prices, costs and figures change that, which is the point of trying it here first.
Can I use it to test a supermarket chain business plan?
That is what it is for. Put your plan's prices, costs and starting cash in, play it forward year by year, and see whether the money lasts, how many households you would need and what a rival's price cut does to you — before you put real money in.
More bigger businesses simulators