Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    • Archive

    Supermarket Wars

     
    3/27/2006

    In 2001’s The Grocers: The Rise and Rise of the Supermarket Chains, Andrew Seth and Geoffrey Randall predicted that food retailing would become more international. And so it has. Supermarket Wars analyzes the range of global food retailers such as Wal-Mart, Carrefour, and Tesco, and discusses a variety of issues relevant to global expansion.

    Wal-Mart, Carrefour, and Tesco each receive their own chapter, and further chapters profile emerging food retailing powerhouses such as Germany’s Lidl and Japan’s Aeon and discuss how information technology lends competitive advantage. Other topics covered here include countries for possible expansion (such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China); strategy development for local and international retailers; and how the theoretical benefits of strategies such as first mover advantage don’t always play out in reality. With mini case studies, Seth and Randall also offer insight into the bumpy journey of other retailers like Sainsbury’s.

    Seth, chairman of the Ingram Partnership, a strategic brand consultancy in London, was an international manager at Unilever for thirty years. Randall is a well-published independent consultant specializing in marketing.

    - Cynthia D. Churchwell

    Table of Contents

    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Accessibility
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College