§3.3.1.4 Distance-related factors, transport costs and catchment areas

72. In some markets, the competitive positions of suppliers may depend on the distance between each supplier and the customer. For example, transport costs may represent an important fraction of costs for certain products, which may put suppliers that are located at a greater distance from the customer at a significant competitive disadvantage relative to suppliers that are located closer to the customer. Other factors, such as security of supply considerations, sustainability considerations (96), product perishability or accessibility may have a similar effect. Moreover, in consumer markets, travel distance or time to the supplier may be an important consideration. This is typically the case, for example, for airports, supermarkets or petrol stations. 73. In such situations, markets are likely to be geographically differentiated in the sense that competitive conditions change as a function of the distance between each supplier and the customer (97). In such cases, the Commission may define the geographic market based on catchment areas. Catchment areas can be drawn around customers or around suppliers, depending on the specificities of the case and on whether suppliers offer their products at different conditions based on the location or the geographic area of the customer location. Absent such discrimination, the Commission often considers catchment areas around supplier locations. By contrast, in markets with customer-specific prices, it is normally preferable to assess competitive conditions at different customer locations and draw catchment areas around customer locations (98). Where this is not possible, for example because customers are many and dispersed or because there is no information on the location of customers of competitors, the Commission may draw catchment areas around supplier locations. 74. Catchment areas are generally either measured in terms of customers’ travel distance or time (in which case they are called isochrones) or in terms of the delivery distance or time around a location within which a given proportion of sales occurs. The Commission usually relies on catchment areas that are representative of the purchasing patterns of most customers (99). This can be determined from the actual distribution of delivery or travel distances or time, and/or can be based on the views of market participants. On that basis, the Commission typically considers catchment areas covering 80 % of sales or customers (100). Depending on market-specific considerations, the Commission may also rely on alternative sets of ranges. The Commission has, for instance, also defined geographic markets on the basis of catchment areas covering 70 % and/or 90 % of sales (101).

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07