Are supermarkets profiteering in this recession ?

nashly

If everyone is shopping more carefully why are they still posting higher profits in their most recent returns, this is my example, I used to buy in Asda a fairly large washing up liquid in their smart price range and it was 13 pence, it is now half the quantity for 43 pence, has washing up liquid suddenly shot up in price due to massive rises in fuel prices ?

Or are they also ripping us off like a lot of other companies ?

KimYeovil

Running a business and making a profit (and keeping employees in work) is not profiteering or ripping customers off.

Untangling genuine increases (exchange rates and raw commodities and fuel) and having to restrict loss leaders (if too many people choose only them and don't buy anything else) will result in complications and a need to be wary for everyone.

None of this makes supermarkets bad. Their customers were happy enough to celebrate their remorselessness when they had access to credit.

scottishminnie

nashly wrote: »

If everyone is shopping more carefully why are they still posting higher profits in their most recent returns, this is my example, I used to buy in Asda a fairly large washing up liquid in their smart price range and it was 13 pence, it is now half the quantity for 43 pence, has washing up liquid suddenly shot up in price due to massive rises in fuel prices ?

Or are they also ripping us off like a lot of other companies ?

Absolutely - neither the suppliers or the hauliers are profiting from the price increases, the hauliers in particular are barely breaking even so the only people lining their pockets are.... yup the supermarkets. Of course the greedy supermarkets won't be upfront and honest about price increases so reducing the size of goods is how they do it. The opinion amongst senior staff at most supermarkets is that customers are too stupid to notice and too lazy to go elsewhere when they do.

DCFC79

People/shoppers forget that theres other people involved when a price increase happens, theres all the staff at the factory that makes the products, theres the drivers who deliver the items to make the products, all these people plus more need to be payed so they can eat etc

zorber

scottishminnie wrote: »

Absolutely - neither the suppliers or the hauliers are profiting from the price increases, the hauliers in particular are barely breaking even so the only people lining their pockets are.... yup the supermarkets. Of course the greedy supermarkets won't be upfront and honest about price increases so reducing the size of goods is how they do it. The opinion amongst senior staff at most supermarkets is that customers are too stupid to notice and too lazy to go elsewhere when they do.

AS DCFC79 also says there are many factors at work which we dont see.
I work for a major supermarket chain and some of the costs we have to factor in are incredible, 6 months ago our fixed rate electric contract eneded as it is too risky to take a variable rate contract ie we need to budget and plan our cost, we had to agree to another fixed contract at the height of the electic prices ( incase it went higher) this is costing us millions in higher electric bills.
Alot of the price increases can be directly related to the increase cost of fuel, recently i had a look at the cost prices for both diesel and petrol they were the same but the retail price for diesel was 10p higher per litre. This is profitering.

nearlyrich

I know the price of wine has gone up massively recently, brands that were £3 to £4 are £7 to £9....:o

A_Nice_Englishman

Then there are the people who benefit from the profits of the supermarkets, such as those who:

own their shares
are in pension schemes which hold their shares
receive public services such as health or education paid for out of the taxes on profits
receive benefits or pensions paid out of the taxes on profits
pay less tax than they would if the supermarkets didn't contribute

thor

nashly wrote: »

If everyone is shopping more carefully

It is because even now everyone is not shopping carefully, supermarkets are able to get away with these unjustified increases. Despite higher costs their profits do not seem to have dipped at all. Greater productivity and cost cutting can't account for it all. Increasing margins can.

sweetstudent

Again Supermarkets are a business, it may be an Oligopoly, but it is not a monopoply, you have a choice where to shop, Remember these are business's, they are not here to provide a charity they are here to make money. If you dont like the prices that you pay then dont shop there!

sorry if this sounds harsh, it does not mean to be, it is just simple facts!

Enterprise_1701C

I personally want to know why supermarkets charge more in some areas than others. We live in what is meant to be a more prosperous area which actually means an area where council tax is high, house prices and therefore mortgages are high (yes, even now) and rent is also sky high.

We are in effect subsidising people that live in cheaper areas with lower council tax, houseprices, mortgages and rent.

In effect we have a high cost of living, they have a low cost of living and we are paying for their cheaper groceries.

It does not equalise things at all, it is a painful inequity that is serving to ensure that we become broke whilst the other areas prosper at our cost.

Gingernutmeg

nearlyrich wrote: »

I know the price of wine has gone up massively recently, brands that were £3 to £4 are £7 to £9....:o

I wonder if that's because of problems with the Euro? Everyone's been saying how much more expensive Lidl and Aldi are now and most of that's put down to the exchange rate, so I'd imagine wine to be similar.