Looks liike the groceries order is gone.

MrPudding

Savman wrote:

I see where you're coming from MrP but I've done some work with Tesco and seen how they operate, as long as Dunnes Stores, Aldi and Lidl are around, Tesco wont have the luxury of shooting up prices, granted they're more expensive for some things in an A-B comparison but I've yet to see how a competitive market CANNOT benefit the consumer.

We are fine in Dublin and most big towns will probably be OK. The problem, as seen in the US and UK, is smaller towns where there are a number of small operators and only one of the chains. In this kind of environment the big operators can and do intentionally choke the competition.

I agree that competition is good. I want to see more of it. But as pointed out before, the groceries act only covered a small number of things.


Here are a couple of questions I would like answered?

Why did the supermarkets not bombard us with below cost offers on things not covered by the act?

How did the act stop competition?

Why did the large chains lobby for it to be abolished whilst charities that deal with the poor pobied for it to be kept?

Why would the chains want a law that prevent then from dropping prices on a limited list of items dropped? They have to answer to shareholders, shops demanding the right to lower the price they sell something at to lower than it cost them does not seem like good business. In the short term we may see lower prices on some items but we will pay in the long run, the shareholders wil demand it.

MrP

Gegerty

I thought they got around the groceries order by having "2 for the price of 1" offers or "12 toilet rolls for the price of 7".

Having worked in a small convenince store myself I can say that I feel no sympathy for the local grocer. The price of milk (for example) is not 30c-40c more expensive because the local grocer does not have the storage space to buy in bulk, its because he knows people buy milk from him because they need it pronto, so he hikes the price up. Thats how it was with my boss anyway.

rubadub

Gegerty wrote:

he knows people buy milk from him because they need it pronto, so he hikes the price up.

Of course, it is simply supply & demand. I know a guy working in a small shop that charges a fortune compared to the tescos that is about a 15 minute walk away. People are always saying "how the **** can you charge that!, its only 1.50 down the road?", answer is simply "eh, so go down the road". But they rather pay the extra than walk and queue.
They are refered to as convenience stores, not thrift stores. You pay for the extra, like online tickets costing about €4 more than going into the shop. These shops are like touts selling at late hours at inflated prices since supply would be hard to get otherwise. They obviously work out what price is best, too high and nobody buys, too low and they have the hassle of re-ordering, more queues, more staff, more customers, more security needed etc.

~Leanne~

eoin_s wrote:

A huge amount of "Money rich, Time poor" professional people in their 20's and 30's can not be àrsed to take the extra 20/30 minutes to do some basic grocery shopping in the supermarket, they are much happier to go around the corner and get the basics there. I can't see this changing.

i know very few people who will go to a corner shop anymore. i always go to dunnes/tesco for bread, milk and other essentials.

Eoin

~Leanne~ wrote:

i know very few people who will go to a corner shop anymore. i always go to dunnes/tesco for bread, milk and other essentials.

That is the sensible thing to do alright, but I don't think you are in the majority.

That's why a lot of petrol stations also sell groceries - I doubt they are selling them at a competitive price, but it is generally easier for someone to stop at a petrol station on their way home, then to go to a supermarket.

~Leanne~

Yes i know what you mean, just if these places can be avoided i will go to the larger supermarket.

rubadub

~Leanne~ wrote:

Yes i know what you mean, just if these places can be avoided i will go to the larger supermarket.

if buying one or 2 items it can be cheaper to go to a small shop. You save time & petrol, both valuable.

rsynnott

Good for consumers, bad for small business and possibly also shop employees.

gerrycollins

the groceries order prevented the sale of items below the invoice cost that suppliers charged the retailers. certain items such as fresh foods and baby stuff are vat exempt due irish suppliers of fruit and veg and meat etc and baby stuff to keep the price down by not adding vat

Lowest price stuff in dunnes,supervalu,tesco is as it says low quaility,low price its not sold below cost because the retailer is been charged a low price for it because its low quaility(personally some items i cant tell the difference)and by the way the retailer makes no money on them they sell them at what they are charged by the supplier

for promotional activitity such as buy one get one free the retailer is charged half the usual price then they sell it as buy one get one free or sell it at half normal retail price,hence the invoiced price is less than usual and so the retailer can sell it lower yet not break the previous act

when a retailer buys "x" amount of a product the supplier may offer free stock along with it, the x is usually large,the retailer still cannot sell it any lower than the invoice price even tho they got more stock for the same money so now the new act enables retailers to sell stock less than invoiced due to free stock from suppliers thats if they get any.

due to the irish system of shops etc i dont think we will see a walmart effect as the new competition act will prevent predatory pricing where a retailer intentionaly lowers its prices in a single area to eliminate competition in that area.either the whole chain does the price dropping thing or none of them do

im a retailer and are somewhat against it and for it
i personally dont think there will be any knee jerk reaction to the change in the act, has anyone seen anything yet?no retailer has a dominant force in the irish market and will have to rely on its foregin sister companice to keep it afloat while it uses the act to increase it share market

i can see suppliers squeezed in margin thus probably effecting the quaility of their product thus leading to job losses to save money,in all honestly i dont think the act will greatly help the consumer in the long run cause all it will cause is price gimmericky between retailers etc,i can see it lowering the general price of goods but only by a few cents where retailers will demand more stock for same or similar price so they can sell it cheaper while retain margin

while there are some drawbacks there are more positive things to come out of it such as generally lower prices(i hope) and better competition but someone somewhere is gonna get hurt who will it be??