The price discounting ("marking down") of soon to expire perishable items helps accelerate the sales of surplus food to humans, avoiding the need to donate or incinerate.

However, there are in some parts of the business concerns that the discount rates are often greater than they need to be to secure the sell through, leaving profits on the table. An additional concern is that the discounts lead to some shoppers switching to the discounted product instead of a full priced alternative.

In new research, Sara has been exploring the impact of substitutions when items are discounted, and the extent to which any switching behaviour changes depending on the location of the discounted items in the store, typically either in the items home location or in a special location, the end of the aisle, etc, where all marked down products are merchandised (as per photo)

Expect to hear in this meeting the latest and newest research findings on switching behaviour and to join in a discussion on the latest retailer thinking in the working group on the location of markdowns.

This working group meeting is for retailers, producers and academics only