What’s good and not so good about the UK retail sector?
Here’s a list from Lincoln University’s Prof Martin Hingley, speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference:
What we do well…
- We have a world-beating, efficient distribution system that delivers to our customers
- We have rigorous quality standards which we export around the world
- We have tremendous choice, variety, range and convenience – look at wine alone.
- The UK boasts a vibrant artisanal food culture, which has been rejuvenated in recent years.
- Our online presence is both innovative and safe. One of the impediments to the growth of online in other parts of the world is security.
- Intense competition has delivered a good food offer from the shopper’s perspective.
Could do better…
- We have a ‘big player’ infrastructure, but it’s a blunt instrument built for hypermarkets, when most are moving away from that and building smaller stores.
- We have stable retailer-supplier relationships, but they can fray at the edges when price competition intensifies.
- The perceived (visual) quality of our produce feeds waste – we don’t eat enough ‘ugly’ food
- Too much choice can be a turn-off. Do we need a tandoori topped chicken pizza and a 50,000-line choice?
- Our fantastic specialist products are not matched by cohesive/effective marketing and distribution.
- We have “high business-taxing local authorities who hate shoppers in cars”
- There’s too much self-service and we could learn a lot from others on customer care.
- Cut-throat pricing is a race to the bottom which kills off national assets (“look at milk”)
- There is a poor perception of retail and food chain sectors as a career and a demonising of the migrant workers they rely on.
- We don’t understand, or sell to, the full range of UK cultures and groups.
