A study by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has shown that supermarkets are systematically obtaining cheaper buying prices than competitors.
The campaigning voice of more than 33,000 local shops said its findings provide the strongest indication yet that buyer power of the big four retailers is distorting competition in the UK grocery market.
This counters the view expressed by the Competition Commission (CC) in its Emerging Thinking report that no differential exists between supermarket buying and the rest of the market.
The project, which analysed more than 300 products sold in both large and small stores, found that 10 per cent of the products sold in supermarkets are cheaper than the buying price that a wholesaler supplying the independent trade can buy from its supplier.
And 74 per cent of the items sold in supermarkets are sold at a price that suggests they obtain lower buying prices than the independent sector, ACS added.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “This study shows that in one in 10 of cases a small shop cannot buy products from their wholesaler cheaper than they could off the shelf in a supermarket. This is the single most compelling proof that there is a severe competition problem in the market and shows how important it is that the Competition Commission goes further in their probe of relationship between supermarkets and their suppliers.
“Supermarkets obtain preferential buying terms that are generated not from their volume and efficiencies but from the ability to dominate their suppliers. This market is not working effectively. If the Competition Commission does not act the situation will continue to worsen, small competitors will struggle to remain competitive and consumers will lose the choice and diversity that is vital to a strong grocery market and to communities throughout the country.
“We were astonished when the Emerging Thinking suggested there is no systematic differential in favour of supermarkets. This was a reflection of the failings in its early evidence gathering, rather than a reflection of what is actually happening in the grocery market. Our study reinforces that view, and it is now up to the Commission to probe further and more thoroughly into the evidence.”
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