Personally, I think the problem is being exaggerated for political gain.

kobiak: , warehouse started selling groceries, how much more competition there should be to the addition of woolworths and foodstuff?

I think the Warehouse problem was scale, you are either fully in or you are not really a player.

So you look at the size of your average supermarket, and you have to have that EXTRA space.
This gets you stuck with having to find locations to build supersized warehouses.
Putting some groceries in corner of existing properties and squishing things up is not scale.

The Supermarket Duopoly has pretty good control of such large plots making them hard to find.

Suppliers that jump to your new Warehouse stores will be wary that they just upset,
or cut their links to the 2 other places that could sell their products. 
If your venture falters then.

It was different before the commerce commission decided that amalgamation of supermarkets years ago removing competition would not cause problems.
Duopoly, the market will find balance, Yeh Right ....

Lias:

 

MikeB4:

 

The main change I would like to see is the stopping of land banking and covenants preventing the establishment of stores. Interfering or regulating with profit margins is something that would probably cause more harm that good, for example it may result in less competition if say Woolworths deciding to exit the New Zealand market. 

 

 

I'm not exactly a fan of the idea but I'm not inherently opposed to profit margins being regulated if it was a blanket thing across all industries, not just targeting one. 

 

Easy to say, harder to do. How would you sell that to the business community?

I wonder if the true strength of the Telecomms model is the separation between wholesale and retail?

In the case of spectrum, govt is wholesaler.  Wired, Chorus (generally).  All retailers offer mostly the same services and then compete on price.

That's kind og what you want in groceries.  People selling the same things at a different price.

Lias:

 

MikeB4:

 

The main change I would like to see is the stopping of land banking and covenants preventing the establishment of stores. Interfering or regulating with profit margins is something that would probably cause more harm that good, for example it may result in less competition if say Woolworths deciding to exit the New Zealand market. 

 

 

I'm not exactly a fan of the idea but I'm not inherently opposed to profit margins being regulated if it was a blanket thing across all industries, not just targeting one. 

 

Who the hell decides whats an acceptable margin in any given industry in any given market and how on earth would they remain politically neutral as not to be over influenced by the Nats protecting "their rich mates" or Labour preventing "excess profits" as their union overlords would have them do.

Even the issue of competition is a bit flawed with groceries. More competition = lower prices. Citizens win, the suppliers of baked beans, lemons and cheese scones get screwed down. Its just kicking the can from the people to the providers of food for those people. There needs to be some mechanism where if I was providing brocolli, I'm not locked into one part of the duopoly and excluded from the other. Im powerless, as they tell me they will pay less for my brocolli as customers getting ratty over inflation, I lose. I cant go to the other half of the duopoly as I'm not allowed. Competition could mean lower prices but not lower margins, but many supplier profits could be slashed.  

Lower profits can create a depressed sector resulting less expansion, lower wages, reduced employment opportunities, less product variety and ultimately less competition due to reluctance to invest because of lower return on investment.

sen8or:

 

Who the hell decides whats an acceptable margin in any given industry in any given market and how on earth would they remain politically neutral as not to be over influenced by the Nats protecting "their rich mates" or Labour preventing "excess profits" as their union overlords would have them do.

 

B*ggered if I know, as I said not a giant fan of the idea, just trying to point out if they were going to do something like that, it would be pretty unjust to only target a single industry rather than everyone. For all that they are a political football right now, supermarkets are nowhere near my personal list of industries/organisations that I believe rip off the kiwi consumer and I still wouldn't wish that sort of singling out on any of those.

Earbanean:

Geektastic:

Agreed. You cannot even walk Milford Track without making an official booking or name your child without State approval. NZ appears to have created the belief in the minds of the population that they are free and able to do as they wish and at the same time regulated everything to the nth degree without anyone complaining. No idea how they achieved that but it is spectacular, if chilling.

You can walk the Milford track whenever you want, with no booking.  However, you need to book (and pay for) a bunk in a DOC hut.  That makes perfect sense.  Are you saying hundreds of people should just rush to the huts and either get first in first serve on the beds, or fight for them or something?

Lias:

 

 

 

B*ggered if I know, as I said not a giant fan of the idea, just trying to point out if they were going to do something like that, it would be pretty unjust to only target a single industry rather than everyone. For all that they are a political football right now, supermarkets are nowhere near my personal list of industries/organisations that I believe rip off the kiwi consumer and I still wouldn't wish that sort of singling out on any of those.

 

My fear is if we start down this track we could repeat history and wind up in the same horrific state we were in under Robert Muldoon. I believe the consumer has the greatest weapon at their disposal, their wallet, phone, watch etc.

Dulouz:

 

Personally, I think the problem is being exaggerated for political gain.

 

I disagree. It is obviously being highlighted for political gain, built the problem has been there for many years. But NZers are too laid back and go with the flow to do anything about it. It is self inflicted, because we should never have allowed Foodtown etc to be brought, and it turning into a duopoly, and experts warned it would happen . We are losing $1 million dollars a day from our wallets due to this, and that money could have made us wealthier as a country as a result if it had been infested into infrastructure and businesses to increase productivity. I remember this argument was brought up a the reason for introducing a third entrant into NZs mobile market and also unbundling the copper network, 

No. I’m saying staying in huts ought not to be the only way. Carry a tent. Sleep by the track. It’s supposed to be a wilderness experience not an organised walk.

I climbed widely in the Alps in France, Switzerland, Austria and Italy in my youth. Stayed in many huts. Didn’t have to book at all. It can be done.

you still can do it without booking, but only allowed to camp 500m from main track on great walk and 200m anywhere else. But don't seen where you could camp easy and safe on some of the alpine tracks in NZ. Doable sometimes and I did that myself when it's safe to do so.

Plus outdoor industry is booming for the past 20is years and numbers are growing each year thus some measures needed to limit number of people on the track, otherwise it will be Queen st on Friday afternoon.

MikeB4:

 

Lower profits can create a depressed sector resulting less expansion, lower wages, reduced employment opportunities, less product variety and ultimately less competition due to reluctance to invest because of lower return on investment.

 

They would need to look overseas and get a balance. But has that occurred in NZs mobile market where a 3rd entrant came in? Businesses are always going to look at ways to reduce costs, and in NZ supermarkets are already moving to almost solely self service checkouts, and some pay some of the lowest rates. 

Lias:

 

 

 

B*ggered if I know, as I said not a giant fan of the idea, just trying to point out if they were going to do something like that, it would be pretty unjust to only target a single industry rather than everyone. For all that they are a political football right now, supermarkets are nowhere near my personal list of industries/organisations that I believe rip off the kiwi consumer and I still wouldn't wish that sort of singling out on any of those.

 

That is why they have paid all these experts and consultants, who look overseas for examples. I believe the Comcom is neutral and independent, and they are the ones who wrote the report showing the problems.