Sainsbury's is the latest mult to reveal it's giving over more space to non-food, by expanding existing stores as well as building new - this can only put pressure on space for grocery.

The latest shop floor invader is electricals, offering the likes of 40" widescreen TVs to shoppers who want their Dr Who in near-lifesize proportions - but stores don't have the properties of a Tardis, so displaying large household goods is bound to present problems.

New research from Verdict Consulting shows that more than 62% of shoppers regularly use supermarkets to buy non-food items, collectively spending over £19.7bn. These numbers have risen sharply compared with five years ago, when 45% used grocers for non-food, spending £13.3bn.

Neil Saunders, consulting director at Verdict Research, says: "Figures demonstrate the extent to which supermarkets have tightened their grip on the £177bn UK non-food market, of which they now take an 11% share."

He says that, in terms of regular customer share, Asda is the UK's fifth-largest clothing retailer and Tesco the ninth. Both retailers have more regular clothing customers than well-established chains such as BHS, Gap and H&M. Meanwhile, in personal care, the big four grocers have larger market shares than health and beauty specialist Superdrug.

Saunders adds: "Almost everyone has to go grocery shopping and that means grocers have a huge base of customers who regularly visit their stores. That's an enormous advantage because it allows them to easily put non-food ranges in front of those customers."

And the offering will continue to grow, he says, particularly in homewares and electrical.

"Grocers are growing their ranges in terms of credibility and making sure they have a premium offer as well," he says. "Two or three years ago you would have seen a bigger offer around low price points. Tesco uses the same branding as for food, so there's a value offer cutlery and a Finest offer at the premium end."

He says the grocers' market share of non-food is still modest, adding: "There's room to grow."

The question is, how long before the offer grows beyond the available space?

In the past, the multiples have expanded upwards and outwards with extra floors and extensions. But changes to planning regulations have made such expansion less of an option, says Rob Barker of Shopper Insights.

"More non-food items puts pressure on grocery space and the question for the retailers is how they organise this decreasing space with an increasing consumer demand for choice," he says.

The issue came up for Morrisons in Weymouth last month, when the store was kitted out with a Techno Bar displaying high-end electricals such as Wii, widescreen TVs and iPods. The installation meant two weeks of nightly rejigs for the rest of the store, says manager John Volney.

"We have balanced the rest of the store in terms of grocery and fresh food, and have upgraded till space," he says. "Where there have been slower-performing commodities we have taken space from there."

Of course, expansion of the offering doesn't only create space issues instore - storage brings its own difficulties, especially with high-ticket items. The Weymouth Morrisons, for example, was equipped with a large warehouse and a security cage to hold its 15 to 20 pallets of electricals.

The Techno Bar concept took off immediately, Volney says. "It's almost like having a mini Sony Centre in the middle of a supermarket."

But here's where supermarkets' service offer comes in for criticism - they may stock Sony Centre-level goods, but do they have the expertise to back it up?

Saunders thinks not. "It's all very well to have the offer, but it's difficult to deliver service staff," he says. "With electricals, customers want advice and a level of customer service that's sometimes difficult for grocers to provide.

"They have improved over the past two or three years. There are now staff you can ask for advice but they're still not at the standard of many high street specialists."

Barker agrees that the specialism isn't there, but is not convinced that it is a barrier to the offering. He says: "Consumers do not necessarily expect to receive the same service as in the high street. The shopper is expected to self-select, facilities are generally poor and staff lack expertise. However, for shoppers whose service expectations are low, grocers offer a good alternative to high street shopping, delivering value and convenience."

But Volney has his own answer to the specialism problem - he's been deploying natural experts from within his store.

"In our store there are 350 staff and among that population we have some who are already expert in this area, and have been able to redeploy people into it.

The growth of non-food in the supermarkets has been steady and significant, with Nielsen statistics in January this year showing non-food sales growing 8% over Christmas and 7.8% in 2007 as a whole. The fastest-growing areas were mobile phones, games consoles, stationery and jewellery.

Clothing, of course, has been a mainstay for some time, although a change is coming, says Saunders. "Since the early 90s there's been a reassessment of brand ethics in clothing. Then it was very much about status and brand kudos. Then it got quite trendy to go to Asda and say 'this cost me £2'. The focus was more around value and convenience. The ranges have improved now. Five years ago they were OK but not fantastic. Now you've got premium products like cashmere jumpers."

But, he says, a lot of the gains that were made by using cheap resources such as manufacturing in China have come to an end.

"The fall in the cost of goods over past five or 10 years can't be repeated over the next five. There are not the same savings to be made and it's difficult to take further costs out."

But that won't stop the supermarkets extending their offer, he says, and that goes for many other areas too.

It was only a matter of time before someone looked at the Argos model and took on a new approach. Tesco, for example, has gone the direct-selling route with its catalogue, covering everything from bikes and homewares to furniture.

This would seem the logical next step as space reaches its boundaries on the shop floor.

Saunders says: "I don't think non-food will erode food because that's the mainstay of the offer. That's the reason people come to supermarkets. Not a lot of people will go just to look at non-food so grocers will always be careful to make sure it's optimised."

But Barker warns: "My fear is that bigger brands will win out."n

state of the art

It pays to expect the unexpected these days - even contemporary art is trying to make inroads into the multiples.

The Art Group, which publishes photographs, art and design, has online listings in Tesco and an upcoming in-store listing in Sainsbury's.

Art Group commercial director Henry Chambers says: "In previous years grocers have had limited success in store with art, as it's more complex to merchandise than other fmcg products, and very open to the subjectiveness of personal tastes.

"However, having a core range in-store with bespoke PoS can work well for grocers, and catalogue/online business gives the opportunity for a broader range."

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