It wasn't a good year for Sainsbury's in 1998, as Tesco had overtaken it three years previously and began to dominate the market. In the February 1999 third quarter statement, CEO Dino Adriano showed his dissatisfaction: "In a market that was more competitive, our Value to Shout About campaign improved customer's perceptions of value but did not meet its sales target." He also admitted the value campaign "resulted in a fall in average spend and transaction size". Things have changed now though, and Sainsbury's is well into achieving its 'Turnaround' objectives, with 12 consecutive quarters of sales growth to December 2007.

Apart from rivalling other multiples on basket spend, Waitrose seems to do everything brilliantly, and its internet shopping services are no exception. WaitroseDeliver, launched 10 years ago at Waitrose's Kingston store, and Ocado are innovations that have kept Waitrose head and shoulders above the rest, bringing reassuringly expensive smoked salmon and champagne to 'the ladies who lunch' across the UK. WaitroseDeliver differs from Ocado in that deliveries are sourced from certain local branches.

The Government has announced a £2m fund to support retailers who work with African suppliers to bring products into the UK.

Chief executive of Tesco Terry Leahy had only been in the job a year in April 1998, but that was the point he saw 'primary' Tesco shoppers spending 80% of their grocery shopping budget with Tesco [AGB Retailer Track].

When James asked me to write about how retailing has changed in the past 10 years, I thought it would be easy. After all, we now have online shopping - remember ordering over the phone or waiting two hours for the store's inventory to download if you used the computer?

Nineteen-ninety-eight was the year the multiples started to come under serious attack, accused of monolithic behaviour, artificially high prices and supplier domination. This problem won't go away unless treated with extreme caution.

The key driver for consumers in grocery shopping was convenience and this would lead to a growth in formats such as online shopping, a report by Euromonitor in 1998 found. This has been borne out in the growth of online shopping, while the other big factors of quality and service have grown in importance, according to a 2008 report published by IGD.

Over the past 10 years, Unilever has been at the forefront of innovation in the laundry market. Since the groundbreaking introduction of Persil tablets in 1998, a wealth of NPD and heavy marketing support has continued to add value.

The controversial acquisition in 2004 by Tesco of 45 London convenience stores run by Cullens, Europa and Harts caused the OFT to investigate. Although the move meant Tesco opening Expresses across town, the OFT dismissed calls to refer the purchases for a full Competition Commission inquiry.

City analysts may have been questioning Morrisons' decision to expand south out of its Yorkshire heartland in April 1998, but how things have changed. Sir Ken Morrison has just stepped down as chairman after 56 years, in which time he has transformed the firm from his father's three market stalls to the UK's fourth biggest supermarket.

QWhat would the Government do without national retailers?