LECTURE 9: Supermarkets, Fast Fashion and Consumption (UK and US)

The supermarket revolution – key concepts ‘Buyer-drivenness’ Oligopoly: few sellers, many buyers...... Oligopsony: many sellers, few buyers The supermarket revolution in the UK and US – drivers Societal change in US and UK Neoliberal deregulation in the ‘global North’ Economic liberalisation (FTAs, WTO, IMF & World Bank) New international division of labour – rise of manufacturing in the ‘global South’ IT and logistics revolutions Financialisationshareholder value How did Wal-Mart come to be so dominant in the US retail sector? Cost and price control – ‘everyday low price’ Culture – small-town America and anti-trade union Supply systems – point of sale data and ‘category champions’ Innovation – new ways of selling (store formats, online) Market destabilisation – ‘Wal-Mart effect’ on lowering prices 

Challenges to Wal-Mart’s dominance CultureIndonesia and Japan Horizontal competitionnot the only player Government regulationsland Worker resistanceGermany and (now) the USA  Fast Fashion Changing cultures of consumption Fashion change stimulates demand and differentiation Fast fashion speeds up change from 2-4 ‘seasons’ per year to over 12 based on smaller ‘exclusive’ batches Highly responsive to marketIT systems and ‘rapid fire’ supply chain Depends on very low cost labour  The supermarket revolution – winners and losers in the UK 1. Food prices and product innovation 2. Profitability 3. Suppliers 4. Nutrition 

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