Since some of you already know my feelings on this subject, I will not launch into a diatribe. I will merely relate something I read just now. to sum up, Wal-Mart and supplier Sara Lee came up with the idea of selling items off pallets, right on the store floor. They soon noticed a marked increase in the sale of underwear. Why the increase? "Were [they] taking market share from other competitors? Were people replacing underwear sooner?" The answer?
Both
and...
increased wardrobe inventory...
people just had more underwear stored in their house than they really needed, or had had in the past. The underwear was so cheap and so irresistibly displayed on those pallets, that people just bought it and took it home...consumption driven strictly by price and impulse--consumption that answers no need at all--well, that's curious
So, does that mean that if Wal-Mart wasn't driving down prices and providing such a good service for middle-class America, we just would stop buying so much?
***quotations from The Wal-Mart Effect by Charles Fishman
Thoughts?
2 comments:
I loved that book - mostly because it tries to talk folks that do shop at Wal-mart to be a vehicle for change in how Wal-mart does business. I don't shop at Wal-mart for tons of reasons but I do like the idea of those folks who do shop there knowing exactly what they are supporting and trying to make it better.
Mmmm, something to think about! I haven't read the book, but may add to my list!
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