Express pricing is a form of
price discrimination
Price discrimination (differential pricing, equity pricing, preferential pricing, dual pricing, tiered pricing, and surveillance pricing) is a Microeconomics, microeconomic Pricing strategies, pricing strategy where identical or largely similar g ...
where, in a reverse of
economies of scale
In microeconomics, economies of scale are the cost advantages that enterprises obtain due to their scale of operation, and are typically measured by the amount of Productivity, output produced per unit of cost (production cost). A decrease in ...
, retailers raise their prices slightly in smaller stores.
The name of the practice originates from
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
's ''Tesco Express'' stores in the UK, but the term can be used to apply to any
retailer
Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesal ...
operating a similar policy. A 2018
Inside Out investigation, which looked at practices within Tesco,
Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...
,
Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...
, and
Waitrose
Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...
, found that some smaller store prices were 178% more than prices in their larger-format counterparts.
According to Sainsbury's, this can be attributed to discrepancies in "operational requirements and
running costs. Rents, for example."
The store stated that it can be "more of a challenge to deliver products to our local stores",
and referred also to "other factors such as staffing, local rates and a focus on convenience products".
Tesco themselves have acknowledged this, saying "Our prices don’t differ greatly but they will differ slightly because of the difference in costs of running the smaller stores. Express stores are typically on the high street, which means Tesco don't very often own the land. So the overheads involved in running a smaller store are higher."
In 2011,
Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...
's policy of charging express pricing in their
Simply Food branches was reported on. A spokesperson has admitted "prices are a little higher than at our high street stores".
Aldi
Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...
Local charged express pricing as soon as they opened.
Express pricing attracted particular opprobrium in 2021 after
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
rebranded 89 of its
Metro
Metro may refer to:
Geography
* Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...
stores into Express stores; with their Express branches not taking part in Tesco's "Aldi Price Match" scheme, many shoppers reported overnight price increases of up to 50% on some lines.
In 2022,
News Shopper
The ''News Shopper'' titles are local newspapers published in South East London and North West Kent by Newsquest.
There are five local editions: Bexley Borough, Bexley & North Kent, Bromley, Dartford & Gravesend, and Lewisham & Greenwich.
...
reported that there were differences in prices between
Asda
Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...
's Bexleyheath Graham Road superstore and their
Crook Log supermarket.
References
Pricing
Retailing
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