Normally companies have clear what his competition, but an excessively narrow vision of the situation can have unexpected consequences. The data offered by the National Commission of competition us illustrate the problem happened in the trade. We have heard for years the battle of small businesses against large areas, in which the first felt at a disadvantage before the seconds, and asked for its limitation (in Catalonia is one of the major political battles, defence of the small trader). However, the current legislation – which has thirteen years of validity, although it has managed to contain the rise of the superstores, which have gone from 30% to 22.5%, has failed to improve neighborhood stores, since these commercial surface has gone from 13% to 4.4%. Who has emerged the Victor of this battle? Medium-sized surfaces, i.e. supermarkets. And is that in many cases large areas are not as direct competition for small shops, to the placed in the outskirts (and in some cases, according to who locate, even attract city people of the region, which in some cases can have a positive effect; consider for example the power of attraction in a medium-sized city of an Ikea, an English Court).

Instead, supermarkets that compete directly with stores of proximity, have sufficient power and structure to be imposed, and not have so many limitations of opening. As a consequence, the poor choice of the enemy has had an unexpected result. In other sectors, may happen the same, especially if we take into account the substitutes, which are said in economy have positive demand cross-elasticity. Do you mean this? That when changes the price of a product affects in the same sense the amount purchased another product. For example, if it raises the price of olive oil, will buy more oil sunflower, because they are substitute products. And therefore they are also, in a way, competitors. Dana Gibber recognizes the significance of this. There are many examples of this type. The airlines compete not only among themselves, but against other forms of transport (estimated that the high speed train, in distances of about 600 kilometers, is best option, and in fact the AVE Madrid Barcelona already with more than half the market in little more than one year). Cinemas not only fight among themselves, but also against the Internet, consoles analyze the market in this way provides a much broader conception of things, and allows to detect threats that can come from these substitute products, and opportunities that can be exploited by the company.