New OU / BBC series – Inside the Supermarket

A six-part weekly series from the OU / BBC which is looking behind the scenes of one of the high street’s most well-known supermarkets, Sainsbury’s, hits our screens in a primetime slot.

Sainsbury’s has been part of the British high street for 150 years with millions going through its doors every week. Yet the retail industry has never been more competitive, and this supermarket giant is losing market share to discounters such as Aldi and Lidl.

With unprecedented access over the course of a crucial year to Sainsbury’s 1,400 stores, the London headquarters, innovation kitchens, supplier factories, giant depots and test labs, this series gets to know the people that run this British institution and explores how they are doing everything they can to keep up with the competition.

The first episode of Inside the Supermarket is on Thursday 7 November at 20:00 on BBC1 (except BBC1 Wales). After a tough Christmas for profits, Sainsbury’s have pinpointed Mother’s Day as the year’s first big opportunity to regain some much-needed sales.

The academic consultants for the series were Dr Morteza Abolhasani, a Lecturer in Marketing in The Open University Business School, and OU colleague Dr Rajiv Prabhakar.