UK Supermarkets

UK Supermarkets

Introduction

The food sales in the UK are dominated by names such as Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons. The "big four" together have a share of 75.6% of the national food market. London is a true reflection of what happens throughout the Kingdom, but includes other names. Among the supermarkets in London confirmed the large chain Tesco (with over 2 billion of earnings), Sainsbury, M & S food, Waitrose (the John Lewis Corporation), Asda, Iceland, Safeway, Somerfield (UK retailer), Morrisons, Lidl and Netto or local Costcutter and Organic Planet Organic, Fresh & Wild (Whole Foods). Very popular are also the well known Boots and Superdrags, a sort of drugstores and perfumeries. Nor should we forget the famous London 24 hours license, grocery stores present in the house, independent and in the hands of Indian and Pakistani communities (Angwin, 2011).

UK big 4

The UK has been emerging from one of its worst recessions since the 1930s, which saw the economy contracting by almost 7%. Economic output is not expected to return to pre-crisis levels until 2012. Whilst the UK is accepted to be on the right track in terms of recovery, with the risk of deflation thought to have passed, warnings still resound concerning the bumpy ride ahead, as the economy slowly trundles towards stability. Threats to the UK's recovery now include a set of external issues, such as rising commodity prices, a new crisis in sovereign debt markets or a sudden contraction in the US economy.

The big four supermarket chains faced increasing competition from cheaper retail channels such as discounters and internet retailing, with supermarkets and hypermarkets seeing falling growth in current value terms. These outlets had to defend themselves from serious contenders for weekly shopping sales for the first time towards the end of the review period. As a result, the grocery industry saw aggressive price wars.

The Morrison Group has achieved the best result in terms of market share is what emerges from the analysis of sales of food industry in Great Britain. Among the four chains that dominate the UK food distribution and total control over 75% of the market, Morrison went dalll'11, alll'11 3%, 5%, increasing turnover by 5.3%.

Sainsbury's also a positive trend that goes from 16 to 16.1%, with a sales increase of 4.8%. While Tesco is losing market share, the market leader went from 30.8 to 30.4, and Asda-Wal-Mart, from 17.8 to 17.4. The trend continues the positive trend of the two groups' discounters, Aldi and Lidl, which together control 6% of the market. Once again they have registered double-digit sales increases (Alexander, 2009).

Many supermarkets attempted to emulate Poundland's successful model by slashing prices to a whole pound. Even in traditionally higher-end supermarkets, attempts were made to increase sales by offering cheaper private label product ranges, with 2009 seeing Waitrose launch its Essentials range, whilst Tesco and other supermarket retailers focused on expanding their budget ranges. In a further clear illustration of the hardships facing many consumers, clothing and footwear specialist retailers saw a ...