>>The human factor must not be overlooked with chip and pin
probes waste management time
from Guy Lougher, Food and Drink Team, Wragge & Co
an alternative: delist the big brands
from Steve Parfett, MD, AG Parfett & Sons, Stockport
It’s good to see that the three-month trial of chip and PIN technology in Northampton has gone smoothly. However, as our report on page eight shows, some retailers say they have been surprised at the number of shoppers who could not remember their PIN when told they would have to key it into a pad at the till. Even though we are not talking huge numbers, this is an important finding from the trial that should not be overlooked.
While the vast majority of consumers have embraced the technological change that has completely altered the face of banking in this country, there are those who have not quite got their heads round it all.It is this minority of consumers who will probably cause a disproportionate amount of hassle at checkouts as they fail to see why they need to tap in a number on a pad in order to pay for their goods. Even the most technologically savvy shopper could find the switch to chip-enabled cards troublesome, if only because very few will remember the numbers for all the different bits of plastic they hold.
Clearly, there is a huge job to be done educating consumers about the whole chip and PIN concept if we are to avoid pandemonium in stores come January 2005. As the recent change to the directory inquiries service has clearly shown, even when you spend big bucks on clever ad campaigns, consumers don’t always adapt as quickly as you would expect.
What is particularly worrying about chip and PIN is that there is a quiet revolution underway. Even though we are about to embark on the biggest change to the way we pay for goods since decimalisation, the public remains blissfully unaware of it all. Retailers are doing their bit. It’s now time the banks started to pull their fingers out.
Pushing up food prices in the current deflationary retail environment is no easy task.
But as you will have read on page six, buyers say they recognise that some suppliers have a justifiable reason for doing so in the face of freak weather conditions and the like. What these buyers don’t find acceptable are those suppliers who try to talk up the problems they face.
Invariably these suppliers get told to take a hike. You have been warned.
Sir; It has been recently reported the OFT is investigating once again the supply of milk in Scotland following allegations of price-fixing.
This is the third time Robert Wiseman Dairies has been investigated by the OFT since 2000. The allegations have been denied by Wiseman and without knowing all the details it’s impossible to comment.
Like a dog with a bone, alleged price-fixing is one thing that the OFT never lets go of. It will almost invariably try to run to ground any suggestions that a supplier is fixing its distributors’ resale prices or that competitors are together colluding on the prices they charge customers.
The fines totalling £19m very recently imposed by the OFT on several retailers of sports goods, Umbro, the FA and Man Utd for alleged price-fixing show the OFT will devote considerable resources to such investigations.
The OFT set those fines at a level intended to discourage others from breaching the competition rules.
Since June 20, when the Enterprise Act came into force, any agreement between competitors to fix resale prices in the UK has also become a criminal offence and the directors of any company engaged in price-fixing are vulnerable to being disqualified for up to 15 years.
If that isn’t enough, dealing with an OFT probe wastes senior management time, is costly and invariably leads to adverse customer reactions.
Any companies engaging in price-fixing in the UK are now playing for very high stakes! I hope they’re aware of the risks they’re taking.
Sir; In ‘Delist for Christmas’ (The Grocer, August 16, p59) Coors off-trade sales director Kevin Brownsey predicted Carling, Foster’s, Stella Artois and Grolsch would be the best performers this year. He said: “Retailers need to delist tertiary brands to create space and avoid going out of stock.”
Given the fiasco of big brand pricing we experienced last Christmas, it will be many years before most independents will adopt this strategy, despite the stronger support for brands generally that independents display. Many of my customers have suggested to me, and it is an equally plausible business strategy, that they should delist Carling, Foster’s and Stella over Christmas and concentrate on other brands with which they can compete and make a profit.
I recognise that all the major brewers now accept enough is enough in terms of the suicide pricing of last winter, but until we see real action to solve the problem, independents will be forced to keep all the weapons in their armoury, especially choice and variety. It would be irresponsible for wholesalers to do anything but support them.
talking about a revolution
take a hike
probes waste management time
from Guy Lougher, Food and Drink Team, Wragge & Co
an alternative: delist the big brands
from Steve Parfett, MD, AG Parfett & Sons, Stockport
It’s good to see that the three-month trial of chip and PIN technology in Northampton has gone smoothly. However, as our report on page eight shows, some retailers say they have been surprised at the number of shoppers who could not remember their PIN when told they would have to key it into a pad at the till. Even though we are not talking huge numbers, this is an important finding from the trial that should not be overlooked.
While the vast majority of consumers have embraced the technological change that has completely altered the face of banking in this country, there are those who have not quite got their heads round it all.It is this minority of consumers who will probably cause a disproportionate amount of hassle at checkouts as they fail to see why they need to tap in a number on a pad in order to pay for their goods. Even the most technologically savvy shopper could find the switch to chip-enabled cards troublesome, if only because very few will remember the numbers for all the different bits of plastic they hold.
Clearly, there is a huge job to be done educating consumers about the whole chip and PIN concept if we are to avoid pandemonium in stores come January 2005. As the recent change to the directory inquiries service has clearly shown, even when you spend big bucks on clever ad campaigns, consumers don’t always adapt as quickly as you would expect.
What is particularly worrying about chip and PIN is that there is a quiet revolution underway. Even though we are about to embark on the biggest change to the way we pay for goods since decimalisation, the public remains blissfully unaware of it all. Retailers are doing their bit. It’s now time the banks started to pull their fingers out.
Pushing up food prices in the current deflationary retail environment is no easy task.
But as you will have read on page six, buyers say they recognise that some suppliers have a justifiable reason for doing so in the face of freak weather conditions and the like. What these buyers don’t find acceptable are those suppliers who try to talk up the problems they face.
Invariably these suppliers get told to take a hike. You have been warned.
Sir; It has been recently reported the OFT is investigating once again the supply of milk in Scotland following allegations of price-fixing.
This is the third time Robert Wiseman Dairies has been investigated by the OFT since 2000. The allegations have been denied by Wiseman and without knowing all the details it’s impossible to comment.
Like a dog with a bone, alleged price-fixing is one thing that the OFT never lets go of. It will almost invariably try to run to ground any suggestions that a supplier is fixing its distributors’ resale prices or that competitors are together colluding on the prices they charge customers.
The fines totalling £19m very recently imposed by the OFT on several retailers of sports goods, Umbro, the FA and Man Utd for alleged price-fixing show the OFT will devote considerable resources to such investigations.
The OFT set those fines at a level intended to discourage others from breaching the competition rules.
Since June 20, when the Enterprise Act came into force, any agreement between competitors to fix resale prices in the UK has also become a criminal offence and the directors of any company engaged in price-fixing are vulnerable to being disqualified for up to 15 years.
If that isn’t enough, dealing with an OFT probe wastes senior management time, is costly and invariably leads to adverse customer reactions.
Any companies engaging in price-fixing in the UK are now playing for very high stakes! I hope they’re aware of the risks they’re taking.
Sir; In ‘Delist for Christmas’ (The Grocer, August 16, p59) Coors off-trade sales director Kevin Brownsey predicted Carling, Foster’s, Stella Artois and Grolsch would be the best performers this year. He said: “Retailers need to delist tertiary brands to create space and avoid going out of stock.”
Given the fiasco of big brand pricing we experienced last Christmas, it will be many years before most independents will adopt this strategy, despite the stronger support for brands generally that independents display. Many of my customers have suggested to me, and it is an equally plausible business strategy, that they should delist Carling, Foster’s and Stella over Christmas and concentrate on other brands with which they can compete and make a profit.
I recognise that all the major brewers now accept enough is enough in terms of the suicide pricing of last winter, but until we see real action to solve the problem, independents will be forced to keep all the weapons in their armoury, especially choice and variety. It would be irresponsible for wholesalers to do anything but support them.
talking about a revolution
take a hike
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