Oliver Williamson didn't get a lot of press for wining his Nobel Prize (for Economics) in 2009, I can't imagine why Obama! Yet here is a man whose 'Transaction Cost Economics: The Governance of Contractual Relations' sums up how I've always felt about shopping. It's a long and impenetrable read but fundamentally Oliver believes that trust is everything in business - more so that trust actually lowers transaction costs. Simply put 'If I trust you it will cost me less money to do business with you, therefore I am more likely to do business with you'.
Very simple but retailers often forget.
Which brings me to Sourced Market. I'm not sure why I trust them, but I do. Yes, they have the appearance of another city boys first foray into food retailing, yes, the first shop is overtly and heavily branded, yes, the website already boasts of intentions of expansion and yes, somehow, I still trusted them. The product selection is second to none and far far better than my instincts suggested. Every product has integrity and many surpirses were discovered.
It even made me feel a little jingoistic - how wonderful that all those Eurostar tourists will see this store as they descend the escalators. How wonderful that Kings Cross, the biggest city centre rejuvenation development in the whole of Europe, now has something else to be proud of.
Proud of for as long as we continue to trust them.
