<
https://theconversation.com/the-secret-sauce-of-coles-and-woolworths-profits-high-tech-surveillance-and-control-224076>
"Coles and Woolworths, the supermarket chains that together control almost
two-thirds of the Australian grocery market, are facing unprecedented scrutiny.
One recent inquiry, commissioned by the Australian Council of Trade Unions and
led by former Australian Consumer and Competition Commission chair Allan Fels,
found the pair engaged in unfair pricing practices; an ongoing Senate inquiry
into food prices is looking at how these practices are linked to inflation; and
the ACCC has just begun a government-directed inquiry into potentially
anti-competitive behaviour in Australia’s supermarkets.
Earlier this week, the two companies also came under the gaze of the ABC
current affairs program
Four Corners. Their respective chief executives each
gave somewhat prickly interviews, and Woolworths chief Brad Banducci announced
his retirement two days after the program aired.
A focus on the power of the supermarket duopoly is long overdue. However, one
aspect of how Coles and Woolworths exercise their power has received relatively
little attention: a growing high-tech infrastructure of surveillance and
control that pervades retail stores, warehouses, delivery systems and beyond."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
