MEASUREMENT OF GROCERY PRICES: SOME METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND EMPIRICAL RESULTS

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Abstract
This paper examines some methodological issues in the design and execution of food price surveys, and presents findings from a recent survey of fifty‐eight grocery stores in the Cardiffarea. The methodology discussed includes the design of samples of goods to be surveyed (the ‘shopping basket’), of shops in which grocery prices are to be measured, and derivation of the shop‐price matrices to be used in analyses of grocery pricing strategies. The empirical results show, as expected, significantly cheaper prices in multiple and co‐operative stores compared with independent and affiliated. No significant difference is found between the latter categories of store. There is limited support for the hypothesis that the larger the store the lower the prices. Prices measured in the Cardiff area are also compared with average ‘shopping basket’prices derived from a national survey carried out concurrently by the Consumers' Association. Finally, the value to the researcher of ‘one‐off’ price surveys is assessed.

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