nickshanagher

I was passing a branch of Waitrose in London last week and as I glanced through the front door I saw this excellent floral display. How inviting it looked. How many independent retailers can match that? (Vim Odedra is one, having been at his Canvey Island Nisa Local.) But at least, you may say, people will know this is a multiple retailer and they may like a local shop. Not if you proceed to read the marketing on the shop’s windows, which I reproduce in full: “The first Waitrose branch in Gloucester road was opened in 1912. It was part of a small chain of specialist food shops founded eight years earlier by grocers David Taylor, Wallace Waite and Arthur Rose. “After Mr Taylor left the firm in 1906, the remaining two partners combined their surnames to produce the name Waitrose. “The original branch traded for 76 years and was thought of locally as Kensington's village shop. It ran a popular home delivery service and many customers called in every day. “Back in 1...

The supermarkets have a £5bn problem and growing with on-line groceries. The problem is that they charge £5 for each delivery and it costs them £15 to £20 to make the delivery. If they don't go on-line, then they lose market share and buying power. If they do go on-line, then they cannibalise their own profitable sales. If you are a supermarket making a 10 per cent margin, then you need to sell more than £100 of groceries to break even on each home delivery order. A £200 order is effectively cutting your margin in half to 5 per cent. Is this good news for local shops? Probably not. Hundreds of thousands of shoppers are being trained to buy in a way that destroys retail margins. The supermarkets are also having to open local shops themselves. This helps reduce the turnover from their larger - and most profitable - stores by around 5 per cent. It sounds toxic. Avoid moving your business into the same space.