Private Labels, Brands and Competition Policy: The Changing Landscape of Retail Competition

The growing use of private labels in recent years has affected significantly the landscape of retail competition, with major retailers no longer being confined to their traditional role as purchasers and distributors of branded goods. By selling their own-label products within their outlets they are competing with their upstream brand suppliers for sales and shelf space. This unique relationship, and the continued strengthening of private labels, raises important questions as to their pro-competitive effects and possible negative effects. This book provides an in-depth review of the range of competitive and intellectual property issues raised in connection with private brands in Europe and the US. It examines the development of private labels and their impact on retail competition, then moves on to focus on policy and question the adequacy of current economic and legal analysis in light of the characteristics of own-label competition, and finally it presents a thorough evaluation of the legal issues in the field, including chapters on horizontal and vertical effects, dominance, mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property, copycat packaging and consumer welfare. The book contains a collection of essays reflecting the debate on the impact of private labels upon competition, investment and innovation in the retail sector. The ideas and arguments underlying the articles have been developed through a series of seminars held in the Oxford Centre for Competition Law and Policy over the last three years. Participants in these seminars have included competition officials, law academics, practitioners and representatives from industry.

Table of Contents:
PART I: THE NATURE OF RETAIL COMPETITION 1: Richard Herbert: Private labels - what drives them forward 2: Dick Bell: The business model for manufacturers' brands 3: John Thanassoulis & Howard Smith: Bargaining between retailers and their suppliers PART II: MARKET POWER AND THE ABUSE OF DOMINANCE 4: Robert L Steiner: Market power in consumer goods industries 5: Paul W Dobson & Ratula Chakraborty: Private labels and branded goods: Consumers' "horrors" and "heroes" 6: Andres Font Galarza: Private Labels and Article 82 EC PART III: VERTICAL RESTRAINTS 7: David Gilo: Private labels, dual distribution and vertical restraints: An analysis of the competitive effects 8: Ioannis Lianos: The vertical/horizontal dichotomy in competition law: some reflections with regard to dual distribution and private labels PART IV: IN-STORE COMPETITION, PRICING, MARKETING AND ADVERTISING 9: Pieter Kuipers: Retailer and private labels: asymmetry of information, in-store competition and the control of shelf space 10: Ulf Bernitz: Misleading packaging, copycats and look-alikes: an unfair commercial practice? 11: Rainer Olbrich, Gundula Grewe & Ruth Orenstrat: Private labels, product variety, and price competition - lessons from the German grocery sector 12: Ariel Ezrachi & Jonathan Reynolds: Advertising, promotional campaigns and private labels PART V: RETAIL CONSOLIDATION AND THE USE OF REMEDIES 13: John Ratliff: Retail consolidation: the implications of mergers and buying alliances 14: Alistair Gorrie: Retail competition - the use of ex-ante and ex-post remedies PART VI: PRIVATE LABALES - THE US EXPERIENCE 15: Jeffrey Schmidt & Terry Calvani: United States competition law policy - the private label experience PART VII: CONSUMER WELFARE AND ENFORCEMENT STANDARD 16: Philip Marsden & Peter Whelan: The 'consumer welfare' standard as a form of substantive protection for consumers under European competition law 17: Renato Nazzini: Welfare objective and enforcement standard in competition law

About the Author :
Ariel Ezrachi is the Director of The University of Oxford Centre for Competition law and Policy; Slaughter and May Lecturer in Competition Law, Oxford University; and Fellow, Pembroke College, Oxford. Ulf Bernitz is Professor of European Law at Stockholm University; and Director of The Wallenberg Foundation Oxford/Stockholm Association in European Law, Institute of European and Comparative Law, University of Oxford.

Review :
`An excellent understanding of the drivers of private labels using some of the best known empirical research in the area. Professor Philip Stern, Professor of Marketing, Bangor Business School.' Communications Law Issue 15.2 `This book is a broad introduction into a range of topics around the development of the FMCG industry. it addresses the relevant legal issues and provides a sound overview on case law in the US and in Europe. Some contributors venture to look at the current discussion on private label and buyer power from a superordinate, historical perspective.' European Competition Law Review