Author: Leigh Sparks
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May 2023 – Two new articles and a book chapter noted on the Journal Articles page
February 2023 – New piece for The Conversation on online retailing (see commentaries tab)
January 2023 – Roll over of some areas for new year, plus The Conversation piece on Christmas trading updates published (see commentaries tab) and main posts
December 2022 – End of year tidying up and re-arrangement, including link to EDAS podcast on places and towns (see presentations tab)
Top Posts & Pages
- Transformative Food Retailing, Data and Consumers
- Twenty One Years of UK Grocery Market Share
- The architectural heritage of Montague Burton’s Art Deco shops
- Internet sales as a percentage of retail sales in the UK
- Retail Branding: it's not (just) private label
- UK Grocery Market Share 1997-2019
- Co-operative Tokens, Sports Direct and The Bristol Pound
- Are Retailers Social Engineers?
- Food, health and data: developing transformative food retailing
- Strange Things in Self-Service
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Tag Archives: Competition
The Price of Petrol
During the summer my pattern of buying petrol changed. My semi-regular route takes me past two independent garages and two superstores. Almost invariably over years Tesco has been the cheapest, often by some margin. But this changed at some point, … Continue reading
Posted in Asda, CMA, Competition, Competition and Markets Authority, Convenience stores, Cooperative Group, Independents, Petrol, Pricing, Tesco, Wholesaling
Tagged Asda, CMA, Co-operative Group, Competition, independents, Petrol, Prices, Retailing, Tesco
1 Comment
Asda/Sainsbury’s vs the CMA: The verdict
If this was a boxing match, then the result was a clear knockout, perhaps to the surprise of some onlookers. As one of my followers on Twitter noted, it is nice to see a regulator regulating. In this case, it … Continue reading
Posted in Asda, CMA, Competition, Competition and Markets Authority, Consumer Choice, Consumers, Convenience stores, Cooperatives, Food Retailing, Internet shopping, Lidl, Market Shares, Regulation, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Retailing, Sainsbury, Supermarket, Uncategorized, Waitrose
Tagged Aldi, Asda, CMA, Competition, Consumers, Convenieince Stores, Discounters, Food retailing, Lidl, Market Shares, Online, Petrol, Retailing, Sainsbury's, Supermarkets, Tesco
7 Comments
The Next Ten Years of Grocery Retailing?
Given we are less than 10 weeks away from Brexit and the possible end of the grocery world as we know, writing a post about retailing a decade ahead seems foolhardy (spoiler alert; it is). But bear with me. Let’s … Continue reading
Posted in Amazon, Asda, Brexit, Competition, Consumer Change, Customer engagement, Food Retailing, Property, Reinvention, Retail Change, Retail Failure, Sainsbury, Store Closures, Tesco, Uncategorized
Tagged Asda, Brexit, Competition, Customer, Grocery, Innovation, McKinsey, Property, Sainsbury, Tesco
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Retail Disruptors – the spectacular rise and impact of the hard discounters
The rise of the hard discounters is a well-observed phenomenon of continuing research endeavour and commentary. In the UK, as is well known, Aldi and Lidl have captured considerable market share over the last decade. ‘Retail Disruptors’ by Jan-Benedict Steenkamp … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Aldi, Competition, Consumer Choice, Discounters, Food Retailing, Jack's, Lidl, Market Shares, Pricing, Retail Change, Retailers, Strategy, Uncategorized
Tagged Aldi, Book, Competition, Consumer Choice, Discounters, Disruptors, Food retailing, Jack's, Lidl, Market share, Pricing, Strategy
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“We’re in the Money”
A couple of weeks have gone by since the notion of a merger of Asda and Sainsbury began to be debated in the media. During that time I wondered whether to add to the coverage via this blog or to … Continue reading
Posted in Asda, Booker, CMA, Competition and Markets Authority, Consumers, Food Retailing, Government, Mergers, Policy, Retail Change, Retailers, Retailing, Sainsbury, Store Closures, Suppliers, Tesco, Wal-Mart
Tagged Asda, Booker, CMA, Competition, FOI, Job Losses, Market share, Retail, Sainsbury, Store Closures, Tesco, Wal-Mart
5 Comments
Waaaagaaamaaamaaa – Tesco and Booker spring a surpise (perhaps)
I read something the other day whereby the author noted that such was the bad news coming out of this government and the USA so far in January, they were getting nostalgic for the calm and reason of 2016. When … Continue reading
Posted in Association of Convenience Stores, Booker, Click and Collect, Competition, Competition and Markets Authority, Consumer Change, Consumer Lifestyle, Convenience stores, Food and Beverage, Food Retailing, Mergers, Restaurants, Retail Change, Tesco, Wholesaling
Tagged Booker, CMA, Competition, Consumer change, Convenience Retailing, Convenience stores, Fascias, Mergers, Retailing, Tesco, Wholesaling
12 Comments
Boldly Going to the Borders
The 8th September this year was notable for a couple of anniversaries. In 2015 the Queen formally re-opened the Borders Railway. It was also 50 years since the first episode of Star Trek was broadcast; may retailers ‘live long and … Continue reading
Posted in Consumer Change, Convenience stores, Cooperative Group, Food Retailing, High Streets, Local Retailers, Places, Retail Change, Retailers, Rural, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Borders, Scottish Diaspora Tapestry, Scottish Grocers Federation, Small Towns, Town Centres, Towns
Tagged Abellio, Borders, Born in the Borders, Competition, Consumer change, Galashiels, Opportunities, Retail, Scotland's Towns Partnership, Scottish Grocers Federation
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Musselburgh, the Scottish Grocers Federation and the Scottish Local Shop Report 2015
Some of you will recall that the Scottish Grocers Federation (SGF) organised a Study Day this year to Musselburgh, with the aim of looking at what the discounters have to offer and the competition that they “provide” to local convenience … Continue reading
Posted in Academics, Aldi, Association of Convenience Stores, Competition, Convenience stores, Discounters, Lidl, Local Retailers, Poundland, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Local Retailer, Small Shops
Tagged Aldi, Competition, Convenience stores, Discounters, Lidl, Local Stores, Musselburgh, Poundland, Scottish Grocers Federation
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Super Thursday?
Last Thursday was dubbed Super Thursday by a number of analysts due to the sheer volume of results, trading updates and other news expected from retail companies. It did not disappoint in that Morrisons sold off their convenience stores and … Continue reading
Posted in Aldi, Competition, Convenience stores, Discounters, Discounts, Food Retailing, Lidl, Local Retailers, Multichannel, Places, Post Offices, Pound Shops, Poundland, Scottish Grocers Federation, Understanding Scottish Places, USP
Tagged Aldi, Competition, Discounters, Lidl, Musselburgh, Pound shops, Poundland, Scottish Grocers Federation, Understanding Scottish Places, USP
2 Comments
The Conversation: What is Going on at Tesco?
The University of Stirling is a supporter of The Conversation, and I published a commentary there yesterday. I reblog it here. My commentary, perhaps unsurprisingly, was on the goings-on at Tesco, which has been something of a running theme on … Continue reading