Marketing 3rd Edition by Dhruv Grewal,Michael Levy

Exercise 4

Suppose you are the confectionary buyer for aregional chain of grocery stores. The store policy is to charge a "substantial" slotting fee for the placementof new items. Slotting fees were originallydesigned to cover the costs of placing new productson the shelves, such as adjustments to computersystems and realignment of warehouse and storespace. Over the years, these fees have become larger,and they are now a significant source of revenuefor the chain. A local minority-owned manufacturerof a popular brand of specialty candy would like tosell to your chain, but claims that the slotting fee is too high and does not reflect the real cost of addingtheir candy. Discuss the ethical implications of sucha policy. What should the chain do?