Retail food industry in the UK
A. Provide an overview of the retail food industry in the UK. This should include the following:
I. An analysis of the current structure of the sector including the reason/s for the current structure and the possible future structure.
II. An assessment of the contribution of this sector to the UK economy.
B. Consider the relationship between the retail food industry and its suppliers
In more details:
AI) Retail food industry in the UK
• Rise of supermarkets (post war).
• Changing Trends in market share – (data) STRUCTURE.
• Reasons for oligopolistic market in food retail – analysis (economies of scale) TRENDS.
AII) Contribution of the sector to the UK’s:
• GDP
• Employment
• Low prices
• Competitiveness
• Invest abroad (Tesco in US) FDI theory
B) Retail food industry and suppliers
• Porter’s forces and the role of suppliers in determining competitive advantage.
• National suppliers/ outsourcing (Data).
• Role of outsourcing.
• Compare relationship with suppliers across firms – Tesco, M&S, Waitrose.