A new M&S Food Hall has just opened opposite a Lidl and about 50 metres from Waitrose.
Three food shops. Same road. Same catchment. Same cost-of-living crisis.
And yet the new M&S is absolutely rammed. Not "quite busy." Rammed. Proper Sergio Ramos levels of rammed. People merrily wandering around paying more for food than they could buy 30 seconds away.
Meanwhile Waitrose looks a bit flat. Tired. Slightly uninspired.
Lidl just sits there doing its Lidl thing.
Which got me thinking about clinics.
Healthcare people love telling themselves price is the problem. "It's a tough market." "Patients are price-sensitive." "We need to keep fees competitive."
Maybe.
Or maybe people are perfectly happy paying more when the experience is clearly better. Better product. Better presentation. Better feeling when you walk through the door. The smell of success and freshly baked bread.
That's what M&S understands. Premium only works when it actually feels premium.
The truth is most businesses accidentally become Waitrose. Not cheap enough to be Lidl and not good enough to be M&S. Just slightly tired in the middle, hoping loyalty carries the day.
Clinics do this all the time. They charge premium fees and deliver a perfectly average experience. Patients notice.
So the question for any clinic owner is simple: are you Lidl, Waitrose or M&S?
Just don't charge M&S prices while delivering the Waitrose tote bag experience. Convinced it's premium because the bag says so.