When people shop in supermarkets they often look for what’s on special offer. After all, everyone likes a bargain. About 35–37% of supermarket items are on special offer at any one time and around 50% of the money spent by customers is on such items.
But things aren’t always as they seem. Supermarkets use clever marketing to persuade people that they’re getting a good deal, while sometimes it’s nothing of the sort. Examples include putting up prices for a while and then reducing them again saying “huge reduction”; or promoting an offer of, say, “three for £2”, when you could buy an individual item for 60p; or using the word “now” £2.50 to imply that the previous price was higher, when in fact it wasn’t; or selling a double-sized “value pack” for more than double the price of the regular size. These tricks are commonplace in supermarkets.
Sometimes the wary consumer will be able to find out which offers are genuine, but it’s not always that easy. And even if you do buy something at a genuine discount, is it something you really want? Or have you been persuaded to buy it simply because it’s on offer? Supermarkets study consumers’ psychology. They find clever ways of promoting products to make us feel that we have done well in getting a bargain.
The following programme in the BBC’s Panorama series looks at the big four supermarkets in the UK – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons – which between then have 68% of supermarket sales. It gives examples of some of the not so special offers and how consumers are being hoodwinked.
Webcast
Revealed: The truth about supermarket ‘bargains’ BBC Panorama (clip), Sophie Raworth (5/12/11)
The Truth About Supermarket Price Wars BBC Panorama (full programme), Sophie Raworth (5/12/11)
Articles
What you need to know about the supermarket price wars Totally Money (7/12/11)
Supermarkets accused of misleading consumers The Telegraph, Nick Collins (5/12/11)
Supermarket price war: Can they all be cheapest? BBC News, Anthony Reuben (9/12/11)
Are Our Retailers Criminals? International Supermarket News, Laura Elliott (6/12/11)
Supermarket deals “not what they seem” warns expert Retail Gazette, Gemma Taylor (6/12/11)
Questions
- What types of misleading offers are identified in the Panorama report?
- For what reasons are consumers “taken in” by such offers? Does this imply that consumers are irrational?
- Does intense oligopolistic competition between the big four supermarkets lead to lower prices?
- How is it possible for two supermarkets to claim that they are cheaper than the other? How would you decide which supermarket was generally cheaper?
- Why might it be difficult for an independent agency to do a comparison of prices of different supermarket chains?
You’ve probably heard of Groupon. If you join its emailing list, the company will send you daily details of deals in your area that it has negotiated with local retailers. If you want to take advantage of any particular deal, you sign up for it online and if enough people do so to reach a minimum number agreed with the retailer, Groupon will bill your credit card. You then download the voucher and use it to purchase you discounted item or service. Discounts are often substantial – 50% or more.
But are these deals as good as they seem? On 2 December, the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority took the decision to refer Groupon UK to the Office of Fair Trading, following 48 breaches of the advertising code of practice in eleven months. It referred complaints about Groupon’s:
• Failure to conduct promotions fairly, such as not making clear significant terms and conditions
• Failure to provide evidence that offers are available
• Exaggeration of savings claims
And it was not just consumers who had complained. Many retailers found that so many people signed up for certain deals and the discounts were so great, with Groupon often charging the retailer half the discounted price, that retailers made substantial losses on the deals. One example was a cupcake maker, Rachel Brown, who runs the Need a Cake bakery in Reading, Berkshire. She had to bake so many extra cupcakes below cost that profits for the year were wiped out.
So what is the nature of this market failure and how appropriate are the competition authorities for dealing with it? The following webcasts and articles look at the issues. They also consider the growing problems Groupon faces in the market from new competitors.
It has not been good news recently for Groupon and it’s hardly surprising that, following Groupon’s flotation on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the USA last month, and an initial surge in the share price, its shares have since fallen by over 40%.
Webcasts
Groupon investigated by OFT Channel 4 News on YouTube, Benjamin Cohen (2/12/11)
Time to Jump Off Groupon Bandwagon? Newsy (24/11/11)
Articles
Groupon to be investigated by Office of Fair Trading Guardian, Mark Sweney (2/12/11)
OFT launches investigation into Groupon advertisements BBC News (2/12/11)
UK regulator launches Groupon probe Financial Times, Michael Stothard (2/12/11)
Groupon investigated by UK advertising authorities ZDNet, Eileen Brown (5/12/11)
Deal with it: Groupon ponders its future Independent, Stephen Foley (6/12/11)
Groupon’s Business Model Doomed To Fail Seeking Alpha, Mazen Abdallah (5/12/11)
Small Businesses Hate Groupon LiveOutLoud, Loral Langemeier
Competition authorities sites
ASA refers complaints about Groupon to OFT Advertising Standards Authority (2/12/11)
Investigation into the trading practices of MyCityDeal Limited (trading as Groupon UK) Office for Fair Trading (2/12/11)
Questions
- What market failings are there in the discount voucher market?
- What to retailers gain from dealing with companies such as Groupon?
- Do small businesses have anyone other than themselves to blame if they make a loss from doing a deal with Groupon?
- What should be the role of the competition authorities in the discount voucher market?
- Is Groupon’s business model ‘doomed to failure’ and if so why?
- Does Groupon have a ‘first-mover advantage’?
- Are there any barriers to entry of new firms into the discount voucher market? If so, what are they? What are the implications of your answer for the future of Groupon?
Nokia is finding out just how competitive the phone industry is, as it sees its third quarter figures come in at a loss. Google and Apple have seen their market shares rise and this has had an adverse effect on the Finnish company, Nokia. This goes some way to backing up the job losses seen earlier in the year, when 7000 jobs were cut and there was a re-allocation of workers towards ‘smartphones’.
Despite Nokia’s disappointing results in this sector, it has seen growth in its sales of other more simple phones, illustrating its ability to focus on this aspect of the market. Its sales were higher than forecast at 107 million handsets in the third quarter, showing some signs of a changing trend for the firm. However, with competition ever increasing, Nokia will need to consider its future strategy very carefully.
Nokia reports lower-than-estimated loss as profit forecast for phone unit Bloomberg, Diana Ben-Aaron (20/10/11)
Nokia swings to loss in third quarter BBC News (20/10/11)
Nokia boosted by sales of cheap handsets Financial Times, Daniel Thomas (20/10/11)
Nokia beats forecasts with sales of 107m phones Guardian, Juliette Garside and Charles Arthur (20/10/11)
Nokia prepares for ‘solid’ windows phone launch Telegraph, Matt Warman (25/10/11)
Questions
- How would you describe Nokia’s strategy of focusing on cheaper and simpler phones?
- Would you say Nokia’s strategy is sensible? What factors will determine its success?
- How have Apple and Google managed to expand their market share and become serious competitors to firms like Nokia?
- Into which market structure would you classify the phone industry?
In the blog Has Merlin lost his magic, the issue of banks failing to meet their lending targets as set by the government was considered. Small businesses have been finding it difficult to obtain bank loans to help their business grow. Vince Cable has gone so far as to say: ‘There is a serious problem with lending to good, small companies.’ As a result of this, new sources of finance are being sought and one innovative approach has come to the forefront: crowd funding. People group together by pooling their money and investing in ideas or businesses. The attraction is that it doesn’t require huge amounts of cash, but with enough potential investors, significant amounts of finance can be raised. The following BBC News article looks at this innovative approach to financing a business.
Small firms seek crowd funding BBC News, Catherine Burne (27/5/11)
Questions
- What is the attraction of crowd funding?
- Are there any risks of this method of finance to the investors and to the firm seeking investment?
- What are the disadvantages of crowd funding relative to something like investment from a venture capitalist?
- How important is the size of the firm when it comes to the viability of crowd funding?
Apple and Google: two well known brands that appear everywhere, but which is the most valuable? For the past few years, the answer to that question has been Google, but with recent product developments, including the iPad, Apple has overtaken Google to become the world’s most valuable brand. This information comes from a recent study by Millward Brown, which found that Apple’s brand is now worth some £94 billion ($153.3bn), which is up about 84% on the previous year.
The study showed that of the top 10 brands, 6 were technology and telecoms companies, which is further evidence of the move towards the technology-based economy. Another interesting trend to come out of the report is the development of the emerging markets, with 6 more companies coming from emerging economies compared to last year. Indeed 12 of the top global companies came from China. Besides Google and Apple, who occupy the top 2 places, other companies in the top 10 include Coca-cola, McDonalds, IBM, Microsoft and General Electric. The following articles look at this overtaking move by Apple.
Apple brand value at $153 billion overtakes Google for top spot Bloomberg, Tim Culpan (9/5/11)
Jobs well done: Apple overtakes Google as the world’s most valuable brand Daily Mail (9/5/11)
Apple overtakes Google as top brand: Study Market Watch, Dan Gallagher (9/5/11)
Success of iPad helps Apple topple Google as No 1 brand Independent, Stephen Foley (10/5/11)
Apple overtakes Google as world’s ‘most valuable’ brand Telegraph (9/5/11)
Questions
- How reliable is this study and how is the value of a brand measured?
- What factors have contributed to Apple’s climb up the tables? Is it because of Apple’s good work or problems faced by Google?
- What are the main trends to come out of the study?
- What might explain the growing presence of fast food companies in the top 100?
- Why is there a growing presence of companies from emerging markets in the top 100?
- Should Google be concerned about this report and what could be done to reverse the situation next year?