Comments on: Grocery watch won’t help the little guy: two retail insiders weigh in

By: hausfrau

hausfrau — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Rob Lake clearly doesn’t go to the supermarket. I can walk to my IGA but I drive to Coles/Woolworths and drive in another direction to Aldi. Cowbell Butter is a third the price of butter in Coles/Woolworths.
Having worked in Battlestar Galactica I can assure you that Coles has got to second position through its sheer market size rather than any efficiency in its operations.

By: William Tell

William Tell — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Rob Lake’s contempt for customers (and suppliers), expressed in his “let the mathematically challenged eat cake” approach helps to explain the loathing by the common herd for the approach of the big two. By the way, Rob - it’s arithematic you’re thinking of, you linguistically challenged snob. (Well, you started the insult thing.) Mathematics applies to a much higher order of calculation than percentages and long division . And as for the gentlemanly approach to competition being your watchword for succes, I am delighted to report the uplifting strength of the independent green grocer and butcher in my local shopping centre. Quality over surly service wins every time. I suggest these sneering attacks on customers and suppliers say a lot more about the threat of price-watch strategies than the big operators might care to admit.

By: Barry Cook

Barry Cook — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

One paragraph from Laurie Giuseppini's article regarding the government inquiry into adding information on shelf tickets giving us unit pricing........enabling the mathematically challenged to compare the cost per gram of the 75g toothpaste with the 125g tube, is possibly the cleverest example of retail grocery giants manipulation of the consumer, with us ironically endorsing it as being so good for us!
The trick of these hungry margin retailers will be to increase prices on both the small & large sizes, and always show the smaller size to be so uneconomical to buy, that we will be conditioned to always buy biggest is best. Who cares if we throw half of it away, or it sits around longer, and we don't need to purchase more for awhile. These giants immediately increase turnover, make more money doing so, resulting in the choice of several sizes being reduced to one, and eventually they will promote only the larger size of anything, and occassionally spruck it with an extra % more of the contents now made available for their same regular competitive price etc. Followed by an ever increasing own name brands appearing at the expense of brands, a ploy to make these appear cheaper, make it more difficult for government regulators to assess retail competition, and eventually eradicate well known brands.
This is another example of the tail wagging the dog, corporates running governments. This is not new news and several good books will confirm the road we are so easily going down eg:
The Manipulators/Jeffrey Robinson
The Elephant & the Flea/Charles Handy
The Corporation/Joel Bakan
The WalMart Effect/Charles Fishman
Here's to samll business, those that survive might just prove the folly we are condoning.

By: Florence Howarth

Florence Howarth — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Why is there only comparisons between super markets. Why not comparisons to specialists shops such as butchers, greengrocers, chicken outlets and fish markets etc. .

These small business can put a downward pressure on prices.

The extreme action taken by the major players to force these people out of business when they move into a area proves that the completion they provide is real.

Same can be said for the two top supermarkets into petrol has resulted fewer independent petrol stations.

My choice is between Coles and Woolworth's, a couple of butchers and greengrocers. I would have to go at least 30 kilometers to find any opposition. We have even lost Cole's Bi-Lo.
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