21-02.

Symbol group

Pattern description

Symbol group is a mainly British term for a form of franchise in the retail sector. They do not own or operate stores, but act as suppliers to independent grocers and small supermarkets and produce stores which then trade under a common banner. Unlike other forms of franchise, they have expanded primarily by selling their services to existing stores, rather than by actively developing new outlets. SPAR is a well known symbol group with stores in many countries. There are several smaller symbol groups in the United Kingdom, such as Londis, Costcutter, Premier Stores and Nisa.

Inventive problems

The company should be large and have a complex structure to perform a large number of diverse operations for the development, production, and delivery of a complex product to the customers.

The company should be small and have a simple structure in order to:

  • reduce the variety and complexity of the company activities;
  • focus on a small number of core operations;
  • have a small stuff;
  • minimize the cost of development, production, sale, and delivery of products to customers.