Marketing 3rd Edition by Dhruv Grewal,Michael Levy

Exercise 16

You have been hired by a regional supermarket chain as the candy and snack buyer. Your shelves are dominated by national firms, like Wrigley's and Nabisco. The chain imposes a substantial slotting fee to allow new items to be added to their stock selection. Management reasons that it costs a lot to add and delete items, and besides, these fees are a good source of revenue. A small, minority-operated, local firm produces several potentially interesting snack crackers and a line of gummy candy, all with natural ingredients, added vitamins, reduced sugar, and a competitive price-and they also happen to taste great. You'd love to give the firm a chance, but its managers claim the slotting fee is too high. Should your firm charge slotting fees? Are slotting fees fair to the relevant shareholders-customers, stockholders, vendors?