Express pricing

{{Short description|Form of price discrimination}}

Express pricing is a form of price discrimination where, in a reverse of economies of scale, retailers raise their prices slightly in smaller stores.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ppMzyDFyHUwC|title=Understanding Food: Principles and Preparation|last=Brown|first=Amy Christine|year=2010|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=9780538734981 }} The name of the practice originates from Tesco's Tesco Express stores in the UK, but the term can be used to apply to any retailer operating a similar policy. A 2018 Inside Out investigation, which looked at practices within Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer, and Waitrose, found that some smaller store prices were 178% more than prices in their larger-format counterparts.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-46193653|title=Big chain supermarkets hike prices at smaller branches|work=BBC News |date=19 November 2018 |accessdate=24 August 2021}} According to Sainsbury's, this can be attributed to discrepancies in "operational requirements and running costs. Rents, for example."{{cite web|url=http://help.sainsburys.co.uk/help/prices-payment/convenience-store-prices|title=Why are prices different between your large and convenience stores|publisher=Sainsbury's|accessdate=10 November 2013}} The store stated that it can be "more of a challenge to deliver products to our local stores", and referred also to "other factors such as staffing, local rates and a focus on convenience products".

Tesco themselves have acknowledged this, saying "Our prices don’t differ greatly but they will differ slightly because of the difference in costs of running the smaller stores. Express stores are typically on the high street, which means Tesco don't very often own the land. So the overheads involved in running a smaller store are higher."{{cite web|url=http://www.confused.com/money/articles/mystery-shop-tesco-vs-tesco-express#ixzz2UhlHm8jk|title=Mystery shop: Tesco vs. Tesco Express|publisher=Confused.com|accessdate=29 May 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229223829/http://www.confused.com/money/articles/mystery-shop-tesco-vs-tesco-express#ixzz2UhlHm8jk|archivedate=29 December 2011}}

In 2011, Marks and Spencer's policy of charging express pricing in their Simply Food branches was reported on. A spokesperson has admitted "prices are a little higher than at our high street stores".{{cite web|url=http://www.confused.com/money/articles/mystery-shop-how-much-more-do-you-pay-in-m-s-simply-food#ixzz2V8aHbrYr|title=Mystery shop: How much do you pay in M&S Simply Food?|publisher=Confused.com|accessdate=3 June 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927074743/http://www.confused.com/money/articles/mystery-shop-how-much-more-do-you-pay-in-m-s-simply-food#ixzz2V8aHbrYr|archivedate=27 September 2013}}

Aldi Local charged express pricing as soon as they opened.{{cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/consumer/aldi-local-trial-balham-smaller-shops-271550|title=Inside the first Aldi Local: what it's like to shop at the supermarket's high street store|date=21 March 2019 |publisher=i|accessdate=24 August 2021}}

Express pricing attracted particular opprobrium in 2021 after Tesco rebranded 89 of its Metro stores into Express stores; with their Express branches not taking part in Tesco's "Aldi Price Match" scheme, many shoppers reported overnight price increases of up to 50% on some lines.{{cite web|url=https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/tesco-plans-big-change-london-21326266|title=Tesco are fleecing London's poorest by changing 'cheap' Metro stores to Express, says mayor|date=17 August 2021 |publisher=MyLondon|accessdate=24 August 2021}} In 2022, News Shopper reported that there were differences in prices between Asda's Bexleyheath Graham Road superstore and their Crook Log supermarket.{{cite web|url=https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/20178616.shopper-shocked-price-differences-asda-bexleyheath-stores/|title=Shopper shocked at price differences in Asda Bexleyheath stores|work=News Shopper|date=5 June 2022 |accessdate=9 November 2022}}