Trends in Retail Competition: Private Labels, Brands and Competition Policy. Evolving Competition Dynamics: the Interface between Competition Policy, Brands and Retailers

The presentations can be downloaded by clicking on the links in the programme here or in the Online Papers on the CCLP website here.

While markets continually evolve, the pace of change is accelerating and uncertainty is deepening. Digital technology continues to disrupt and to change the competitive landscape; routes to market are evolving and present new challenges; and the level of transparency for shoppers, whether in relation to price, availability or source, continues to grow. Furthermore, rising inflation and cost pressures and currency fluctuations in the UK add to what is fast becoming a perfect storm for retailers and brand owners who will need to continue to innovate at an unprecedented rate just in order to maintain the status quo.

Against this backdrop of market and economic shifts, significant geopolitical changes are afoot. Alongside the well-versed risks facing the UK, Brexit also presents opportunities, particularly in relation to the framework of legal and regulatory rules that govern market operators. The UK must make some significant decisions on whether to diverge from the existing framework or to converge, and if so with whom.

This thirteenth Oxford Symposium will explore these themes from the perspective of brands and their routes to market, whether through traditional or digital retail or direct. The programme will look specifically at the role of and influences on price from a policy perspective, the climate for investment in innovation, choice and quality where unfair trading practices pose threats, the outcome of the European Commission’s e-commerce sector inquiry and the rules that govern horizontal and vertical relationships between market players. Two panel discussions will allow these themes to be explored from different perspectives.

The symposium will be held under the Chatham House Rule.

There is no charge to attend. Registration information can be found here.