The Grocers

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Retailing has been the most dynamic sector of industry over the past 20 years and supermarkets such as Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Safeway, M&S, Walmart, Aldi and Lidl have led the way in growth, operating efficiencies and profitability. With unrivalled access to the top decision-makers in all the leading companies, The Grocers describes and analyses the strategies, organization and cultures that have made the supermarkets what they are today.

With a forward by former Asda CEO Allan Leighton, this fully updated third edition of The Grocers also includes material on the rise of online retailing, the success of the hard discount chains and the influence of environmental issues on consumer attitudes and behaviour. Retailers, managers and students can all learn from the secrets of success it contains, and the pitfalls to avoid.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword (p. 7)
• Acknowledgements (p. 9)
• Introduction (p. 11)
• 01 Tesco (p. 21)
• Every little helps (p. 25)
• Online selling (p. 26)
• Diversifiation (p. 28)
• Sourcing (p. 29)
• International strategy (p. 29)
• Going local (p. 31)
• Retail services (p. 33)
• Corporate social responsibility (p. 35)
• Future performance (p. 36)
• The conclusion (p. 41)
• 02 Asda (p. 45)
• Diversification (p. 54)
• Sustainability (p. 56)
• 03 Sainsbury's (p. 63)
• Strategy (p. 69)
• The conclusion (p. 77)
• 04 Morrisons (p. 79)
• 05 Waitrose (p. 89)
• The partnership (p. 89)
• Marketing (p. 93)
• Online selling: the Ocado partnership (p. 97)
• 06 The Second Tier (p. 101)
• Failing heritages (p. 101)
• Cheap if not yet cheerful: Aldi, Lidl, Netto, the hard discounters (p. 106)
• Strong niche players (p. 111)
• 07 The Market in Europe (p. 115)
• European markets: retailers looking outwards (p. 115)
• National frameworks in Europe (p. 117)
• The European companies (p. 118)
• Format development in Europe (p. 119)
• The importance of the family (p. 120)
• Governments and legislation (p. 122)
• Building brands (p. 122)
• Germany (p. 123)
• France (p. 126)
• Spain (p. 128)
• The Netherlands and Belgium (p. 128)
• Summary: European strengths and weaknesses (p. 129)
• A comparison of continental Europe with the UK (p. 130)
• The outlook (p. 134)
• 08 Contrasting Fortunes in the United States (p. 135)
• Kroger (p. 139)
• Safeway (p. 140)
• Privately owned retail businesses (p. 140)
• Wal-mart (p. 145)
• Sustainability and corporate social responsibility (p. 151)
• 09 The Internet and Other New Ways of Shopping (p. 155)
• Why should new ways of shopping be needed? (p. 156)
• What do we mean by 'new ways of shopping'? (p. 156)
• What do consumers want? (p. 157)
• What are retailers offering? (p. 159)
• Ocado (p. 161)
• The future (p. 165)
• 10 Supermarkets, Society and Sustainability (p. 167)
• Consumers (p. 168)
• Diet, health and the price of food (p. 169)
• Food quality and safety (p. 170)
• Supermarkets and the town centre (p. 171)
• Climate change and sustainability (p. 173)
• The effect on suppliers (p. 180)
• 11 Conclusions (p. 193)
• References (p. 201)
• Index (p. 202)