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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Express pricing</span></span>
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<p><b>Express pricing</b> is a form of <a href="Price_discrimination" title="Price discrimination">price discrimination</a> where, in a reverse of <a href="Economies_of_scale" title="Economies of scale">economies of scale</a>, retailers raise their prices slightly in smaller stores.<sup id="cite_ref-ufpap_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ufpap-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The name of the practice originates from <a href="Tesco" title="Tesco">Tesco</a>'s <i>Tesco Express</i> stores in the UK, but the term can be used to apply to any <a href="Retailer" class="mw-redirect" title="Retailer">retailer</a> operating a similar policy. A 2018 <a href="Inside_Out_(2002_TV_programme)" title="Inside Out (2002 TV programme)">Inside Out</a> investigation, which looked at practices within Tesco, <a href="Sainsbury's" title="Sainsbury's">Sainsbury's</a>, <a href="Marks_%26_Spencer" title="Marks & Spencer">Marks and Spencer</a>, and <a href="Waitrose" title="Waitrose">Waitrose</a>, found that some smaller store prices were 178% more than prices in their larger-format counterparts.<sup id="cite_ref-bbc_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-bbc-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> According to Sainsbury's, this can be attributed to discrepancies in "operational requirements and <a href="Operating_cost" title="Operating cost">running costs</a>. Rents, for example."<sup id="cite_ref-sainsbury's_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sainsbury's-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The store stated that it can be "more of a challenge to deliver products to our local stores",<sup id="cite_ref-sainsbury's_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sainsbury's-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and referred also to "other factors such as staffing, local rates and a focus on convenience products".<sup id="cite_ref-sainsbury's_3-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-sainsbury's-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>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."
</p><p>In 2011, <a href="Marks_and_Spencer" class="mw-redirect" title="Marks and Spencer">Marks and Spencer</a>'s policy of charging express pricing in their <a href="Simply_Food" class="mw-redirect" title="Simply Food">Simply Food</a> branches was reported on. A spokesperson has admitted "prices are a little higher than at our high street stores".<sup id="cite_ref-m&s_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-m&s-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p><a href="Aldi" title="Aldi">Aldi</a> Local charged express pricing as soon as they opened.<sup id="cite_ref-i_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-i-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Express pricing attracted particular opprobrium in 2021 after <a href="Tesco" title="Tesco">Tesco</a> rebranded 89 of its <a href="Tesco_Metro" class="mw-redirect" title="Tesco Metro">Metro</a> 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.<sup id="cite_ref-mylondon_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-mylondon-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In 2022, <a href="News_Shopper" title="News Shopper">News Shopper</a> reported that there were differences in prices between <a href="Asda" title="Asda">Asda</a>'s Bexleyheath Graham Road superstore and their <a href="Crook_Log" title="Crook Log">Crook Log</a> supermarket.<sup id="cite_ref-asda_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-asda-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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</style><cite id="CITEREFBrown2010" class="citation book cs1">Brown, Amy Christine (2010). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ppMzyDFyHUwC"><i>Understanding Food: Principles and Preparation</i></a>. <a href="Cengage_Learning" class="mw-redirect" title="Cengage Learning">Cengage Learning</a>. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>9780538734981</bdi>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-bbc-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-bbc_2-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-46193653">"Big chain supermarkets hike prices at smaller branches"</a>. <i>BBC News</i>. 19 November 2018<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">24 August</span> 2021</span>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-sainsbury's-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-sainsbury's_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-sainsbury's_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-sainsbury's_3-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://help.sainsburys.co.uk/help/prices-payment/convenience-store-prices">"Why are prices different between your large and convenience stores"</a>. <a href="Sainsbury's" title="Sainsbury's">Sainsbury's</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">10 November</span> 2013</span>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-i-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-i_5-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://inews.co.uk/news/consumer/aldi-local-trial-balham-smaller-shops-271550">"Inside the first Aldi Local: what it's like to shop at the supermarket's high street store"</a>. <a href="I_(British_newspaper)" class="mw-redirect" title="I (British newspaper)">i</a>. 21 March 2019<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">24 August</span> 2021</span>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-mylondon-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-mylondon_6-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.mylondon.news/news/east-london-news/tesco-plans-big-change-london-21326266">"Tesco are fleecing London's poorest by changing 'cheap' Metro stores to Express, says mayor"</a>. MyLondon. 17 August 2021<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">24 August</span> 2021</span>.</cite></span>
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<li id="cite_note-asda-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-asda_7-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/20178616.shopper-shocked-price-differences-asda-bexleyheath-stores/">"Shopper shocked at price differences in Asda Bexleyheath stores"</a>. <i><a href="News_Shopper" title="News Shopper">News Shopper</a></i>. 5 June 2022<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">9 November</span> 2022</span>.</cite></span>
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