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Promotional Competition Between Supermarket Chains

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  • Richard Volpe

Abstract

This article measures promotional competition between two major supermarket chains in the United States. The approach does not rely upon quantity sales data and can be applied to any industry that features advertised sales. The results indicate that retailers do compete using promotions. A supermarket promotion in one week significantly increases the probability of a promotion for the same product at rival stores in the following week. Additionally, competitors seek to match or exceed the price cuts of their rivals when responding to promotions. Oligopolistic competition plays a significant role in determining the timing of sales and retail price variation. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC (outside the USA) 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Volpe, 2013. "Promotional Competition Between Supermarket Chains," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 42(1), pages 45-61, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:revind:v:42:y:2013:i:1:p:45-61
    DOI: 10.1007/s11151-012-9352-x
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    Cited by:

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    2. Rebecca Cleary & Rigoberto Lopez, 2014. "Supermarket responses to Wal-Mart Supercenter expansion: a structural approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 905-925, November.
    3. Carlo Russo & Rachael Goodhue, 2018. "Farmgate prices, retail prices, and supermarkets' pricing decisions: An integrated approach," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(1), pages 24-43, December.
    4. Holzer, Patrick Sebastian, 2020. "The effect of time-varying factors on promotional activity in the German milk market," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    5. Inderst, Roman & Obradovits, Martin, 2015. "Too Much Attention on Low Prices? Loss Leading in a Model of Sales with Salient Thinkers," CEPR Discussion Papers 10813, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.

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