Outline the Nature of Supermarkets Power on the High Street and Beyond Essay

draft The Nature of Supermarkets Power On The High Street and Beyond. This essay is looking for at the origin of supermarkets and how they use this power. The word power is often employ to denote influence, control or domination (Allen, 2009, p. 9) Supermarkets use this power over suppliers, workers, Councils, consumers and other shops and there ar conflicting views as to whether this power is employ for the good of everyone or at the expense of everyone other than the supermarkets themselves or as Dennis Wrong (1977) c on the wholes it Positive Sum Game- where all parties involved benefit to near extent or Zero Sum Game- where supermarkets wield their power at the expense of others (Allen, 2009, p. 70) Supermarkets due to their sheer size and buying power adopt a huge advantage over the teeny autarkical graduate(prenominal) driveway shops.They stick out a enormous natural selection of products at a low price because they atomic number 18 able to buy in bounteous q uantities at discounted prices, sometimes even so below approach price. These out of townspeople supermarkets have commodious parking and consumers ar able to do all their shopping in one place, from food, clo issue, electrical equipment, financial services, gas and electricity etc This all makes shopping in these sell parks easier and twopennyer for the consumer and the lower-rankinger self-sufficient high street shops are unable to match these prices, choices and whatchamacallum and are therefore unable to compete a murderst the giants.As weve seen a move towards more(prenominal) out-of-town, car-dependent stock certificates with large-format sell dominating, its driven trade away from town centres which has clearly had an concussion on the small shops that are there, and we see approximately fifty small shops, freelance shops, closing every week Helen Rimmer (Friends of the earth) (Evidence in the kind sciences, 2009 track 1) The big supermarkets have also introdu ced small high street Metro and Express stores to put further pressure on the independents and gain those consumers without cars and who are unable to get to the out of town retail park.harmonize to Helen Rimmer (Friends of the Earth) Theres been a study of the impact of Tesco Express which is the Tesco convenience store when theyve moved into an area, that generally led to a decline, in the small shops locally, of about 30 to 40 per cent (Evidence in the genial sciences, 2009 track 1) To keep their prices low, Supermarkets are putting huge pressures on suppliers some(prenominal) in the UK and globally, they are often dictating how much they will establish and even the size, shape and colour of fruit and vegetables.To meet these demands suppliers are macrocosm squeeze to cut their personify to the bare minimum and in many cases are operating at a loss, forcing the smaller suppliers out of business. There is massive wastage, as food is rejected if it doesnt conform to the set ornamental appearance that the supermarkets have imposed, often sacrificing taste and flavour for appearance. Farmers have been know to plough crops back into the land when they have been rejected or the supermarket wants to pay a ridiculously low price.The cost of this wastage is usually met by the supplier, as are the buy one get one free (BOGOF) deals that the supermarkets offer to entice their customers. This cost cutting is passed onto their workers both in the UK and abroad. In the UK they are more often than not migrant agency workers who pick and shed light on the salad crops, who are paid very low nets, sometimes below the cost of living.There is a high price to be paid for cheap goods and that cost is borne one-sidedly by the weakest and least respectable groups in the supply orbit (Allen, 2009, p. 3) Meanwhile abroad, cheap clothing is produced in sweatshops, with exploited workers enduring piteous conditions, long hours and being paid an inadequate wage. The true co st of the cheap jeans and trousers, as well as the bargain-priced shoes, which line Asdas and Tescos aisles, War on Want claim, is the absence of a living wage for workers in their supply chain (Allen, 2009, p. 85) However the fact that this work is being sourced in Asia instrument that the clothing industry in these countries is expanding rapidly and this means work that was not there previously.These jobs are in demand by the locals as it means a way out of poverty for them, the go away thing a country like this wants is for the big retailers to stop sourcing their motor from them. That, it is pointed out, would threaten the steadily rising living standards of the garment workers. (Allen, 2009, p. 91) Supermarkets use their power over local government to persuade them to allow the further growing of fresh stores. This is done by a method called Planning imbibe in which they pay for civic facilities to be built i. e. leisure centres and Doctors surgeries, in return for planni ng permission for a new store.These developments are sometimes in run down, poor areas and the development of a new store can be interpreted as a good thing in helping the regeneration of the area, creating new jobs for the unemployed and encouraging new business into the area. Again there is controversy surrounding this, many opine it is for the good of the community and other believing it is merely the latest in a series of opportunistic moves by them to get stores built at a time when planners and government frown upon out-oftown developments (Allen, 2009, p. 4) The supermarkets are providing consumers with what they want. threepenny products in the current climate of recession are a requirement for many having to tighten their belts. The ease of having everything in one place makes it convenient to shop for those who have cars and can get to the out of town stores. nation like what supermarkets do and the efficiencies that come from the scale of their operations, the quality and choice that theyre able to offer, the prices that people find appealing are all reasons why people choose to shop in supermarkets. Richard Dodd (British retail consortium. )(Evidence in the social sciences 2009, track 1)There is no doubt that supermarkets are powerful and it is very often a zero-sum game for their suppliers, the suppliers workforce, and the independent shops on the high street, when they wield this power against them. Town centres and the smaller independent shops are in decline, 12 per cent of town centre retail premises are now vacant compared with 4 per cent fail autumn so thats a threefold increase.Richard Dodd (British retail Consortium) (Evidence in the social sciences 2009, track 1) and many farmers are sledding out of business. The consumers however are getting what they want, but at what cost In this consumer Society that we live in they are seduced by the choice and bargains and turn a blind eye to the lengths the supermarkets are prepared to go to g ive them this. The exploitation of the workers in the sweatshops of Asia, the bullying of the farmers to sell their milk, fruit and vegetables to them at the price they dictate and the small shops being put out of business.Yes supermarkets are powerful but at the end of the day it is the consumer who is enabling them to hold open being so. If customers like what a retailer is offering, they will choose that event store or type of store and theyll use it. If the retailer gets it wrong, the customers wont show up and that retailer will very promptly go out of business. It is customers who have the power in all of this. Richard Dodd (British retail consortium) (Evidence in the social sciences 2009, track 1)