nickshanagher

If you work for a non-profit organisation, do you give money to charity? is a question raised by Seth Godin. More accurately, he criticised people who worked in the non-profit sector and refused to give money to charity. In fact, he suggested that they would cross the street to avoid giving money to someone collecting for a competing charity. Which set me to thinking about how often I visit local shops and how much money I spend at them - and if they can be an alternative to the major grocers. Which set me to thinking about how often the owners of local shops use other local shops. So far this year, I have visited independent shops on my travels around the UK and close to my office. In my village I do not have the option as Tesco and the Co-op own the two local grocers. I do support my local newsagent but his operation is mostly geared to home delivery. In thinking about reasons why using local shops is a challenge - such as understanding how they are merchandised and whether loca...

There is a statistic from Neilsen that says that 35% of sales by supermarkets this year, measured in pounds, was on promotion. This compares with 26% in 2008. The cost of this activity was shared by the big grocers with their suppliers. Assuming that the buyers for the big stores started out with the best prices and margins, this statistic suggests that their suppliers have had to stump up 34% more money in extra sales support. The impact is likely to a greater than 34% reduction in the suppliers' margin. This seems like good business to many suppliers because they think there is only one game in town, selling to the public through the multiple grocery channel. Selling through independents looks to hard. It looks too difficult to measure. But that does not mean that the independent channel's sales are not measured. Figures from wholesale and cash and carry sales to independent shops compiled by Sales Out show that corner shops are doing better than multiples. The positive...