Are supermarkets getting too large?
...ng • Even Broadband internet! Now supermarkets are not only places where people can buy there Christmas dinner, but all there Christmas presents as well. If these supermarkets keep expanding, there will be no room for any other companies on the high street. This is clearly seen in the selling of clothing in supermarkets, as ASDA now sells more clothes in there supermarkets than any other clothing stores on the high street. It is now more than 40 years since the 1st supermarket arrived and like many other fashions the idea was shipped over from the USA. At first they appeared as no serious threat to the local stores, although throughout the 60’s this started to change. Supermarkets could offer goods at lower prices therefore forcing smaller companies to sell there shops, therefore changing the face of the British high street. One area where supermarkets are expanding there market segment is books. One in every twelve books is now bought in a Supermarket. Tesco’s are now offering the brand new Harry Potter book for £3.73. This is forcing specialist book sellers to be pushed out of the high streets. The supermarkets can offer lower prices as they can afford to operate on much lower profits than general stores. They can also afford to sell books where there only making 2 or 3% mark up. One little trick supermarket’s like to use, is to provide loss leaders to the consumers. This is when they sell certain products at a loss, and using it to entice customers into the store where they can buy other products. They did this with the last Harry Potter book by J K Rowling, whereas general book stores would have to sell it at around £5.99 at the least. Supermarkets are also affecting small record shops as one in every eight CD’s is now bought in Tesco’s. Many people argue that this is affecting the music industry with great consequences. Supermarkets only stock the biggest artists albums which they believe will sell successfully and give them the largest profits. This is bad for the music industry as famous artist such as U2 who would not be famous if smalle...