http://hk.news.yahoo.com/editorial-competition-221307726.html
【明報專訊】A young man has started a small grocery store in Sham Shui Po. Seeing that many living in the district are elderly or in the lower income bracket, he has tried to increase sales by lowering his profit margins. For example, he priced Nissin demae ramen at $3 a pack, for which he paid a Nissin Foods agent $2.7 a pack. The agent's suggested retail price is $10 for three packs, or about $3.3 a pack. Not long ago a representative of the agent told him that his company had received a complaint from a big supermarket chain that he did not follow the suggested price and that his supply might be instantly cut off unless he adopted the suggested price. He said he had reluctantly given in and raised his price of the product to the supermarket chain's for fear that he could get no supply from the agent. His sales of Nissin demae ramen have since dropped.
He lamented, "In the spirit of free market competition, shopkeepers should be allowed to price their goods in the light of their own circumstances. Now big groups bully them. It is harder for small stores to survive, and my customers cannot but pay more. That is anything but fair."
Is it true that a supermarket chain has pressured Nissin Foods and, as a result, the Sham Shui Po grocery store may not sell the product at a lower price? Now there is no way one can answer this question. Though the truth may not come to light, the following is worth attention.
We gather it is established practice for agents to suggest retail prices. It is an implicit rule that retailers, to ensure their supplies, should adopt them. The young man, a new entrant, has ignored it. That is why he has run into trouble. What is worrying is not just what has happened to certain shop-owners. Are there people who can dictate how much daily necessities should retail at? If there are, consumers cannot but buy dear, and it will be even harder for people in the lower income bracket to make ends meet.
A supplier should see that it wholesales at uniform prices. It is its concern whether it gets paid, but it has no business to tell retailers how to price their goods. If any big supermarket chain is behind the agent's interference in the grocery store's business, one may say Hong Kong's business environment has worsened, it has become harder for ordinary citizens to start their own businesses, upward mobility has lowered, and oligopolies have become even more powerful. That would harm Hong Kong every way and benefit it no way.
If, as the owner of the Sham Shui Po grocery store has alleged, a big supermarket chain has had the agent force him to raise his price by threatening to cut off his supply, the supermarket chain has abused its substantial degree of market power in contravention of the competition legislation under discussion.
It is believed that there are such grey areas in the government's Competition Bill that it is hard to prohibit agents from cutting off supplies to retailers by reason of their low prices. The government should see if the bill will address real problems and find ways to amend it.
明報社評 2011.11.03﹕良心雜貨店被迫加價 突顯競爭法須快實施
深水埗有青年小本經營，在區內開設雜貨店，鑑於區內低收入人士和長者為數衆多，雜貨店以薄利多銷策略營運，服務街坊。例如，他們向代理商日清進貨出前一丁即食麵，每包來貨價2.7元，以3元出售；代理商建議零售價為10元3包，即約3元3角一包，結果，雜貨店老闆接到代理商的銷售員通知，由於接到區內某大型超市投訴，指雜貨店未按建議價售賣出前一丁，若雜貨店不跟從建議價，便會停止供貨。雜貨店老闆表示為免斷貨，只有無奈跟從，與超市同價，自此，雜貨店售賣的出前一丁即銷量下跌。
老闆慨嘆按市場自由競爭原則和精神，應該容許經營者各自按不同情况定價，現在卻遭大集團欺壓，小本經營店舖生存空間固然被擠壓，他的顧客也被迫買貴貨，絕不公平。
是否有超市和財團向日清施壓使得上述雜貨店未能以較廉宜價錢出售貨品，暫時無從查證；箇中緣由雖未能大白天下，但是仍有兩點值得關注：
據知所謂建議零售價，在代理和零售層面一貫存在，作為潛規則，零售商為了確保獲得供貨，大多會按建議定價。上述雜貨店營運，未理會潛規則，真箇自行定價，結果遇到麻煩；然而，最令人擔心的，並非個別小商戶的遭遇，而是與民生直接關連的定價權，是否有人為操控？若是如此，消費者只能被迫買貴貨，低收入階層更是百上加斤。
供應商只應關切批發價一視同仁，只要收到貨款，則零售商以什麼價錢出售，供應商不應橫加干預。近期供應商連續對付低價賣貨品的店舖，若涉及大型超市幕後操作，則顯示香港的營運生態惡化，小市民創業空間被壓縮，市民向上流動的機會減少，市場壟斷情况愈趨嚴重，對香港百害而無一利。
假如深水埗雜貨店老闆所說屬實，即大型超市透過代理以斷絕供貨，逼雜貨店加價，根據研議中的《競爭法》，應已涉及濫用市場優勢，屬於違例行為。
目前政府提出的競爭法草案建議，對於懲處單一供應商因為個別商戶零售價低而拒絕供貨的行為，被認為有灰色地帶，難以杜絕。政府檢視法例與現實是否存在落差，研究修補強化之道。
Glossary
retail﹕To retail at a certain price means to be sold at that price.
business﹕If you have no business to do something, you have no right to do it.
oligopoly﹕a market situation in which there is only limited competition between a small number of sellers.
網上聲檔: english.mingpao.com/critic.htm
【明報專訊】A young man has started a small grocery store in Sham Shui Po. Seeing that many living in the district are elderly or in the lower income bracket, he has tried to increase sales by lowering his profit margins. For example, he priced Nissin demae ramen at $3 a pack, for which he paid a Nissin Foods agent $2.7 a pack. The agent's suggested retail price is $10 for three packs, or about $3.3 a pack. Not long ago a representative of the agent told him that his company had received a complaint from a big supermarket chain that he did not follow the suggested price and that his supply might be instantly cut off unless he adopted the suggested price. He said he had reluctantly given in and raised his price of the product to the supermarket chain's for fear that he could get no supply from the agent. His sales of Nissin demae ramen have since dropped.
He lamented, "In the spirit of free market competition, shopkeepers should be allowed to price their goods in the light of their own circumstances. Now big groups bully them. It is harder for small stores to survive, and my customers cannot but pay more. That is anything but fair."
Is it true that a supermarket chain has pressured Nissin Foods and, as a result, the Sham Shui Po grocery store may not sell the product at a lower price? Now there is no way one can answer this question. Though the truth may not come to light, the following is worth attention.
We gather it is established practice for agents to suggest retail prices. It is an implicit rule that retailers, to ensure their supplies, should adopt them. The young man, a new entrant, has ignored it. That is why he has run into trouble. What is worrying is not just what has happened to certain shop-owners. Are there people who can dictate how much daily necessities should retail at? If there are, consumers cannot but buy dear, and it will be even harder for people in the lower income bracket to make ends meet.
A supplier should see that it wholesales at uniform prices. It is its concern whether it gets paid, but it has no business to tell retailers how to price their goods. If any big supermarket chain is behind the agent's interference in the grocery store's business, one may say Hong Kong's business environment has worsened, it has become harder for ordinary citizens to start their own businesses, upward mobility has lowered, and oligopolies have become even more powerful. That would harm Hong Kong every way and benefit it no way.
If, as the owner of the Sham Shui Po grocery store has alleged, a big supermarket chain has had the agent force him to raise his price by threatening to cut off his supply, the supermarket chain has abused its substantial degree of market power in contravention of the competition legislation under discussion.
It is believed that there are such grey areas in the government's Competition Bill that it is hard to prohibit agents from cutting off supplies to retailers by reason of their low prices. The government should see if the bill will address real problems and find ways to amend it.
明報社評 2011.11.03﹕良心雜貨店被迫加價 突顯競爭法須快實施
深水埗有青年小本經營，在區內開設雜貨店，鑑於區內低收入人士和長者為數衆多，雜貨店以薄利多銷策略營運，服務街坊。例如，他們向代理商日清進貨出前一丁即食麵，每包來貨價2.7元，以3元出售；代理商建議零售價為10元3包，即約3元3角一包，結果，雜貨店老闆接到代理商的銷售員通知，由於接到區內某大型超市投訴，指雜貨店未按建議價售賣出前一丁，若雜貨店不跟從建議價，便會停止供貨。雜貨店老闆表示為免斷貨，只有無奈跟從，與超市同價，自此，雜貨店售賣的出前一丁即銷量下跌。
老闆慨嘆按市場自由競爭原則和精神，應該容許經營者各自按不同情况定價，現在卻遭大集團欺壓，小本經營店舖生存空間固然被擠壓，他的顧客也被迫買貴貨，絕不公平。
是否有超市和財團向日清施壓使得上述雜貨店未能以較廉宜價錢出售貨品，暫時無從查證；箇中緣由雖未能大白天下，但是仍有兩點值得關注：
據知所謂建議零售價，在代理和零售層面一貫存在，作為潛規則，零售商為了確保獲得供貨，大多會按建議定價。上述雜貨店營運，未理會潛規則，真箇自行定價，結果遇到麻煩；然而，最令人擔心的，並非個別小商戶的遭遇，而是與民生直接關連的定價權，是否有人為操控？若是如此，消費者只能被迫買貴貨，低收入階層更是百上加斤。
供應商只應關切批發價一視同仁，只要收到貨款，則零售商以什麼價錢出售，供應商不應橫加干預。近期供應商連續對付低價賣貨品的店舖，若涉及大型超市幕後操作，則顯示香港的營運生態惡化，小市民創業空間被壓縮，市民向上流動的機會減少，市場壟斷情况愈趨嚴重，對香港百害而無一利。
假如深水埗雜貨店老闆所說屬實，即大型超市透過代理以斷絕供貨，逼雜貨店加價，根據研議中的《競爭法》，應已涉及濫用市場優勢，屬於違例行為。
目前政府提出的競爭法草案建議，對於懲處單一供應商因為個別商戶零售價低而拒絕供貨的行為，被認為有灰色地帶，難以杜絕。政府檢視法例與現實是否存在落差，研究修補強化之道。
Glossary
retail﹕To retail at a certain price means to be sold at that price.
business﹕If you have no business to do something, you have no right to do it.
oligopoly﹕a market situation in which there is only limited competition between a small number of sellers.
網上聲檔: english.mingpao.com/critic.htm
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