Originally Posted by Swerv-o (Post 9445880)

Are you in a different Australia to me? All I see is a country that is hamstrung by duopoly and cartel behaviour, where the consumers blindly pay what the retailers ask, and subsequently have their arms pulled from their limbs at every opportunity...


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Originally Posted by fish.01 (Post 9448422)

From abcdiamond post ;)

Top 2 hold 48.0% in UK (53.1% in Australia)
Top 4 hold 75.6% in UK (65.4% in Australia)

Looks like the consumers vote with their feet equally to me.

Originally Posted by Swerv-o (Post 9448471)

It's not about market share but about how competition drives prices down. The two major supermarkets haven't had any real incentive to compete on price.

And because there isn't really anywhere else to go consumers have to lump it. Of course, consumers are welcome to go to FoodWorks or Franklins, but their prices represent even worse value than the duopoly. So the result is less downward pressure on prices.

The small retailers that make up the remaining percentage can't afford the economies of scale that the duopoly does.

Another large player would make a lot of difference, particularly if driven by a genuine desire to reduce prices in return for market share.


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Originally Posted by fish.01 (Post 9448496)

Aldi is a lot cheaper so obviously not all of Australia is the same.

I wasn't addressing that point rather your blind consumers comment. Australians clearly often go out of their way to take the opportunity to get better quality or price somewhere other than the big 2.

Originally Posted by irishbloo (Post 9446253)

I just popped in to Coles on the way from work to get a chicken for dinner.Mount baker free range was $19.I decided that the kids wouldnt notice if it was free range or not.

Originally Posted by Swerv-o (Post 9448502)

Maybe some, definitely not the majority. If that were the case than places with out of date retail models like Harvey Norman wouldn't still exist.

Originally Posted by fish.01 (Post 9448496)

Aldi is a lot cheaper so obviously not all of Australia is the same.

I wasn't addressing that point rather your blind consumers comment. Australians clearly often go out of their way to take the opportunity to get better quality or price somewhere other than the big 2. Just as much if not more so than the uk consumer does as it is often at a greater inconvenience here than in the uk.

Originally Posted by unfair dinkum (Post 9448593)

I'm not clear what your point is. You seem to acknowledge that the big 2 do not offer value for money to the consumer, but are you saying that australians shun the big 2 in favour of cheaper options like aldi? Cos that's not what I see: they aren't exactly empty. It's just a shame that the aldi shopping experience is so soviet, if they got their act together and offered more choice and convenience then this ridiculous scenario of trudging round different shops to get groceries, fruit/veg and meat would end. People have better things to do!

Originally Posted by Amazulu (Post 9448574)

Not defending HN as I refuse to shop there as they are so shite, but a friend recently bought an LED TV and some appliances there that were the cheapest he could find anywhere, including the internet. They really went out if their way to get his business. Desperate maybe? The customer is the winner either way.

Originally Posted by Swerv-o (Post 9448692)

I think it is starting to change, and retailers are starting to have to make more of an effort to capture sales. The old model of consumers being insulated from the pricing information in other countries is long dead. Certainly, the IT component sector has really sharpened up, and prices here are comparable with what you would see in the US.

I still think that we don't really have a completely free market here though - there still seems to be too much interference and/or accepted cartel/duopoly behaviour, some of which affects other areas of industry too.

It still grates on me when I hear sectors of the retail market demanding government protection instead of attempting to make themselves more competitive. And if they have to defend themselves from overseas markets, well so be it.


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Originally Posted by Amazulu (Post 9448708)

I am really surprised that a big international grocery retailer like Carrefour, Walmart or Tesco has not moved in here yet. Why don't they come? Nothing is stopping them, in fact I think the government would welcome them with open arms as it would drive down prices, taking pressure off interest rates etc, thereby taking the heat off them (awkward questions in parliament) in return. Many multinational companies operate here very successfully here, make big profits etc. The market is there. Maybe Australia's high minimum wage (highest in the world) is putting them off. These companies have a reputation of paying low wages, it's part of their high profitability. I don't know what the reason is.

Originally Posted by Swerv-o (Post 9448722)

Agreed. A European or US style chain market with loss leading principles could really clean up, and, as you rightly say, introduction of some real competition would place downward pressure on inflation.

I wonder if the government would welcome Tesco, Wal Mart et al with open arms though. I wonder if that would be considered to 'un-Australian' to receive open government support.


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Originally Posted by Amazulu (Post 9448574)

Not defending HN as I refuse to shop there as they are so shite.