Conceptualising innovative customer-facing responses to planning regulation: the UK food retailers

Abstract

While receiving extensive coverage across a wide range of industries, brand adaptation in the face of regulatory change has been largely under-researched in the field of retail marketing management. This paper seeks to fill this void by reviewing the strategic customer-facing responses of the leading UK food retailers to the tightening of retail land-use planning regulations; in doing so, this paper exposes a highly variable range of strategies that include store format adaptation, new format development, entry into new markets and more controversially the outright challenging of government regulation. The findings underline that although regulatory intervention can serve to restrict continued expansion, it can also encourage customer-focused innovation where well-established retail brands retain market focus but modify the shape of their ongoing growth.

Keywords:

• food retailing
• brand management
• retail planning
• innovation

Notes

While not subject to any ‘single’ retail planning policy throughout the UK, the planning regulations of each constituent country share markedly similar objectives. From the perspective of the food retailers, such planning policy commonly represent a formidable brake on out-of-town development with PPS6 operating in England (ODPM, 2005), SPP8 in Scotland (Scottish Executive, 2006), PPS5 in Northern Ireland (Department for Regional Development, 2006) and Chapter 10 of PPW in Wales (Welsh Assembly Government, 2005).

Most recently (March 2008) the retailer has announced plans to discontinue its High Street units and focus on the larger ‘living’ stores.