Supermarket industry.

The over all emphasis on non-price characteristics and the relative

importance of the different characteristics in all countries provides

opportunities for retail managers to differentiate their firms away

from pure price competition. These consumer responses have been

important in shaping the marketing strategies of the food for thought retail

companies and have allowed a mountain range of strategies which range from an

emphasis on discount prices, to pure quality and service

considerations. These strategic directions atomic number 18 strongly supported by

promotional programmes which emphasise the characteristics of the

stores rather than the products which are stocked.

In Hughes (1994) information is presented which shows that food

retailing firms are ranked number one, nine and football team in terms of

their advertising expenditure amongst all firms, which demonstrates

the boilersuit importance of promotional activities to these firms.

These activities allow retailers to develop their own brands or

images which are independent of the brands that are sold, and are

likely to be the source of control which food retailers are reputed to

exert over manufacturers.

Table 5Most important factor when buying food

(Percentage of respondents be first)

QualityPriceVarietyServiceConvenience

EUROPE461716 8 8

Belgium68105 6 7

France59186 7 7

Germany39162311 8

Holland46131611 7

UK511713 7 9

Italy481219 7 5

Spain402617 7 6

Greece183918 612

Source: Food Marketing Institute (1992)

Positioning of retail firms

In recent geezerhood food retail firms have pursued strategies which have

provided consumers with increasingly diversify opportunities for

purchasing food. The discussion above has shown that these

developments have been made possible by the wide range and changing

nature of consumer requirements. Firms have identified the

possibilities and have positive appropriate strategies to compete in

the market place.

The concept of competitive strategies is clearly developed by Porter

(1980) and has become an accepted approach for analysing the expression in

which firms within an industry compete...

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