Structural change in grocery retailing in Great Britain: a discount reorientation?

Abstract

British grocery retailing has been seen as one of the best-managed sectors of Western retailing. Its main companies have an extensive development and profit record, based on their success in restructuring post-war grocery retailing. Recently however, concern has emerged about changes in the grocery market, particularly with emerging and competitive threats in the form of non-indigenous discounters. Some have argued that the 'golden age' of British grocery retailing is at an end. This paper seeks to understand how the current situation has developed and to consider whether the turning point has indeed been reached