Research Paper on:
Supermarket Industry in the UK

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
of the market, Tesco is followed by Asda, which is part of the Wal-Mart group, and Sainsbury each having only about half the share of Tesco, and trialing behind  that is Morrison, which has recently become a major competitors after acquiring Safeway. This means that 75% of the entire market is controlled by four firms, which gives  the market a very concentrated level of competition. This makes the market akin to an oligopoly. In an oligopoly there are either  only a few operators, or the market is dominated by only a few operators, even if they are operating under subsidiary companies. If there are a large number of companies  then the majority of the market place will be one where there are only a few major companies (Thompson, 2007). In a low population oligopoly there are few competitors. The  supermarket industry appears to be moving to a model where there are fewer competitors. Over years the increased presence of the supermarkets and the drive towards out of town has  resulted in a decline in the number of independent shops and shopkeepers. The larger stores have been able to compete with special offers and provide convince, but this has also  resulted in a decline in town centers and smaller operators, and as such may be argued as reduced the level of competition in the market place. However, the supermarkets themselves  argue against this saying 90% of the population are within a 20 minute drive of at least three supermarkets. The problem with  oligopolies is the way in which they can impact in the way a firm competes. Unlike the models of pure competition and monopolistic competition, an oligopoly along with the monopoly