Three prices, one name
Poundland · Porter’s generic strategies: cost leadership · Read the study: maxnoble.com/study/0014
For the class
1Porter names three ways to win. Which one has a discount shop like Poundland chosen, and what must be true for it to work?
2How did Poundland's price promise change between 1990, 2019 and 2025?
3Sales were rising again in autumn 2026. Why does the study say the chain's future is set by a loan, not by its tills?
Answers · for the teacher
No. 0014 · Three prices, one name
1Porter names three ways to win. Which one has a discount shop like Poundland chosen, and what must be true for it to work?
Being the cheapest to run (cost leadership). It works only if the shop's costs stay below its rivals', year after year. A single price is not that strategy; it is a promise about one number.
In the study: Screen: The tool
2How did Poundland's price promise change between 1990, 2019 and 2025?
1990: everything £1. November 2019: prices from 50p to £5, with about three in four products still £1 ('simple pricing'). September 2025: the grocery aisle on three prices, £1, £2 and £3, with about 60% of grocery lines at £1.
In the study: Screens: The idea; The promise; The tool
3Sales were rising again in autumn 2026. Why does the study say the chain's future is set by a loan, not by its tills?
Gordon Brothers holds a £30 million loan (about DKK 269 million) backed by everything Poundland owns and told bidders any buyer must repay it in full. Management's preferred bid for the whole chain did not offer full up-front repayment, and on 29 October a notice of intention to appoint administrators was filed. So the timetable for repaying the loan, not the shoppers, decides between selling the chain whole or in parts.
In the study: Screens: The moment; Your verdict
Hand out page 1 after the reading. Page 2 holds the answers. Every answer is in the study; nothing new is added.