Market Consolidation and Pricing Developments in Grocery Retailing: A Case Study

Chakraborty, Ratula, Dobson, Paul, Seaton, Jonathan and Waterson, Michael (2014) Market Consolidation and Pricing Developments in Grocery Retailing: A Case Study. In: The Analysis of Competition Policy and Sectoral Regulation. World Scientific-Now Publishers Series in Business, 4 . World Scientific-Now Publishers Series in Business, pp. 3-29. ISBN 978-981-4616-35-5

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Abstract

When large retailers merge, there is a concern that a sudden and marked increase in concentration will alter the intensity and nature of price competition to the detriment of consumers. This chapter considers just such a situation in regard to UK grocery retailing, which has witnessed steadily increasing concentration over recent years, advanced by a series of mergers. Specifically, we examine the nature of price competition amongst the major “one-stop-shop” retail chains before, during, and after the Safeway/Morrison merger in March 2004.We find the merger offered consumers an immediate windfall benefit — with average prices falling straight after the merger—and more intriguingly appears to have led to (or at least is associated with) a marked change in the character of price competition in the market.

Item Type: Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords: price competition,concentration,pricing strategies, grocery retailing
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > Norwich Business School
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Responsible Business Regulation Group
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Centre for Competition Policy
Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Marketing
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Depositing User: Pure Connector
Date Deposited: 01 Dec 2015 07:37
Last Modified: 24 May 2023 05:48
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/55577
DOI:

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