Grocery stores are filled with advertising and sales promotion. It's interesting to see how different grocery stores market to their customers.

Visit three different grocery stores. Ideally, you should visit a flagship store (HEB Central Market or Whole Foods, for example), a regular grocery store (a neighborhood Kroger), and then a locally owned grocery store (Food Basket in Oak Ridge, for example.)

What are the immediate marketing differences between the stores? What do you notice as you walk the isles? Are different products or brands highlighted on the end-caps of each isle in the three stores? Are there significantly different products on the shelves? Are there price differences? What else do you notice?

Pick out five products that you regularly buy. Look for them at each store. Are the prices the same? Are the units of measure the same? Are they placed in the same place on the shelves?

Then visit the website for each store. How are the stores marketing to customers via the web? Are there differences in how each company is using the web?