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The Power of Supermarkets on the High Street and Beyond

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The Power of Supermarkets on the High Street and Beyond
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Intro - Define power. How supermarkets use their power in the UK and abroad.

Main – discuss concept of domination page 67 * Link buying/market power to how it effects local communities and shops page 72-80 * talk about market and buying power page 67 and how they use these powers for good and bad pro and anti supermarket arguments. * Talk about the global supply chain page 81-86 and how it both benefits and exploits foreign communities page 86-92 * Refer to Baumans seduced and repressed ideas on consumerism page 47and link to how supermarkets make it easier for people create their lifestyle through consumerism. Page 46 * Link this to the zero sum and positive sum ideas on page 70
Summary – unquestionable affects here and abroad, link to winners and losers ideas

Outline the nature of supermarket power on the high street and beyond.

Power is a term used to denote influence and control or dominance (Allen 2009, p59), in terms of supermarkets this power extends beyond their influence over British high streets and into foreign countries, In this essay I will be describing how this power has a range of both positive effects and examining the various arguments surrounding these.

Supermarkets power stems from their size as a corporation leading to their dominance in the marketplace. Domination is the ability to impose upon or restrict the free choice of others despite possible resistance (Allen 2009, p59). Supermarkets gain this dominance by having both a vast buying power and a large market share. In comparison to the individual retailer supermarkets have the ability to both purchase in larger quantities and therefore being able to negotiate far more favorable terms than smaller retailers. This buying power makes it very difficult for non-chain stores to compete with the prices that the supermarkets are able to offer. Market power is the ability to influence the market conditions independently of competitors, for

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