nickshanagher

We can read lots into Warren Buffett telling CNBC that he made a mistake in investing in Tesco. “I am going to make mistakes,” he said. “But not because I buy businesses that I like as they go down in price but I am just going to be wrong sometimes on the facts.” The interview that we can see does not go on to examine what these facts might be. What I would suggest is that Buffett is saying that Tesco is a well-run business for the world of shopping that used to exist when he bought into Tesco in 2007. The supermarket retail world has changed beyond recognition since then. Morrisons under Dalton Philips claims it will be the first retailer in the world to price match Aldi and Lidl with its Match & More initiative (based on its mid-range own brands, not its value range). If he reads Dieter Brandes' BareEssentials Philips will see this is not the case. History is littered with retailers who have tried to beat Aldi on price and failed. But is the Aldi UK model ...

In the past 20 years the science of behavioural economics has been adapted by consumer packaged goods manufacturers to create a revolution in shopper marketing. Independent retailers in the convenience channel will see the benefits of this thinking all around their store. For example, confectionery companies ask you to arrange your assortment according to shopper needs so that a hungry builder can find what he is looking for and a dieting social worker can find what she is seeking. Or in the beverages chiller, a brewer suggests how you should arrange your stock to make it easy for customers to find what they want. However a lot of this marketing investment may not work if the shopkeeper does not get the context right for her shoppers, suggests a new book The Irrational Consumer by  by Enrico Trevisan . Trevisan, an expert in pricing strategies, says that “the value created by a product and the resulting willingness to spend are strongly influenced by how the choice relat...