The Competition Commission is hotting up its campaign to help the consumer. They have initiated an investigation into the supermarket industry. They have a number of concerns about how the industry is structured that may directly affect consumers. While the commission deliberates you can save money and embrace the recession by buying no-name brands.
- Biscuits - R22.04 saved
- Washing powder - R 6.00 saved
- Cleaning fluid - R 3.56 saved
These may seem like small amounts but over a whole month and with a full basket of products you can save hundreds of Rands. The Competition Commission is concerned that price deflation in the agricultural industry is not being passed onto consumers by the big retailers. They are also worried about possible barriers to entry that exist for smaller outfits that can't compete against the big groups buying power.
The basic inputs for both branded and non branded products are the same, the major price differences can be explained by the marketing cost attached to branding. The Commission however is worried about category manipulation whereby competing brands are managed by one function limiting inter-brand competition. This also allows no name brands to be discounted against named brands. The retailers have all stated that they wish to co-operate with the commission.
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