Brattle Consultants Discuss the Impact of Consumer Shopping Behavior on Retail Grocery Merger Reviews in Antitrust Chronicle Article
Published in Antitrust Chronicle
Brattle Principal Dr. Renée Duplantis, Principal Dr. Loren Smith, and Senior Consultant Dr. Dimitri Dimitropoulos have coauthored an article on how the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approaches retail grocery mergers – and how that could change – in Competition Policy International’s Antitrust Chronicle.
The article, “Trends in Consumer Shopping Behavior and Their Implications for Retail Grocery Merger Reviews,” reviews the FTC’s current approach to retail grocery merger reviews and discusses how recent changes in grocery competition and consumer shopping behavior may significantly affect the way the FTC evaluates such mergers.
The FTC’s economic and econometric evaluation of retail grocery mergers has generally been flexible enough to adapt to differences regarding relevant competitors and consumer preferences. However, the FTC may need to rethink its approach to product and geographic market definitions in light of the growing strength of competition posed by wholesale club stores and online retailers, rapid technological advances, and a global pandemic – all factors that have significantly changed the way consumers shop for groceries.
The full article can be found below.
