1 What conclusions could Julie draw from the data? Dr Rhian Silvestro, Warwick Business School, and Stuart Cross formerly a postgraduate at Warwick.

Stuart Cross is now head of strategy development, Boots the Chemist The UK supermarket industry is dominated by four leading chains, with all others competing in the second tier. The four main players have all diversified into the non-food sector; now, at the end of the economic recession, with a slowdown in price-based competition, the emphasis has shifted to competition based on customer loyalty and quality.

Superstore is one of the big four supermarket chains in the UK and operates a chain of hundreds of stores, which retail in excess of 40,000 product lines, including food products and nonfood items like music, personal care products, clothing and pharmaceutical products. Superstore has positioned itself as a family store offering good value and, like many of the large superstores, the company has introduced loyalty card technology and a self-scanning service with a view to improving customer loyalty.