Fixed pricing, pound retailing, the round pound – call it what you like, but it seems to be everywhere I turn.

Fixed pricing, pound retailing, the round pound – call it what you like, but it seems to be everywhere I turn.

In particular, recent months have seen the media pushing the idea, which for them seems like a new discovery.

First up, we had the senior management of Poundworld featuring on Channel 4’s Undercover Boss. Fresh from releasing bumper 2010 financial figures, which saw sales soar by over 40%, Poundworld seems on a roll.

But we discovered that behind the gleaming new refurbished shops and the own-brand shampoo, there lay an undercurrent of despondency and bitterness among shop employees. They seemed disgruntled about everything from underinvestment in staff facilities to penalties for not clocking-in and having to pay for till discrepancies out of their own pocket.

Most surprising was the fact that Poundworld’s management seemed to have little clue of the problem – even though they were the ones that introduced some of the measures that were being complained about.

Poundworld’s appearance on Undercover Boss actually prompted rival Poundland to instigate a campaign entitled ‘Poundworld not Poundland’ in the run-up to the show’s screening.

Trying to distance his company as far as possible from the show, Poundland chief executive Jim McCarthy said: “I want to make it very clear that we are a completely separate company.”

This was then followed by an excited The One Show, also on BBC, which was keen to play up the rivalry between Pound Bakery – which, you guessed it, sells everything for a pound – and ‘upmarket’ rival Greggs.

Finally, we had 99p Stores featured on BBC Breakfast in a segment bizarrely called secrets of selling. As the presenter explained, the success of the fixed-priced retailers was due to their ability to buy in huge volumes and sell at discount prices – probably the worst kept secret in retail.

Topics