ABSTRACT
In 1983 multiple grocery retailers owned 8.3 per cent of the total number of British grocery retail outlets, yet accounted for 66.8 per cent of packaged grocery sales (Mintel 1985/86). The power of multiple retailers to influence brands’ marketing strategy, through their ability to deny manufacturers access to the retail market place (Davies, Gilligan, and Sutton 1985), raises the question of the future for brands. Through understanding consumers’ perceptions of the competitive structure of packaged grocery markets, marketers should be better equipped to respond to the increasing dominance of multiple retailers. To appreciate how the marketing of grocery brands and retailers’ labels has changed a review of the evolution of the three tiers will be presented, showing how the balance of power has shifted and the impact of this shift.
