…a good product at a fair price? Instead these days we seem satisfied with short life span crap that not surprisingly comes at a cheap price. But what of the costs? Anna is the daughter of a local family business and a Journalism Student at UQ. In her article below she looks at the situation. It was a project that she was doing for Uni, so please let here know your thoughts in the comments section or by emailing her. The article follows:
“Oh What a Bargain!” By Anna Cochrane
University of Queensland, Bachelor of Journalism Student
“Oh what a bargain!” seems to be a statement of the 20th century that is today considered socially taboo. Retailers now have such large mark-downs on stock that a ‘bargain’ is a thing of the past. The time of small retailers getting quick cash injections from a $50 sale of old stock that has been lurking in the corners for the past year are over. The bargains of the 21st century have been developed by large conglomerates such as Myer and David Jones. These bargains consist of new and next season stock discounted by 20, 30 and sometimes even 50 percent off. These big retailers are developing unsustainable marketing techniques that are driving small retailers out of the industry and even tarnishing their own reputations with all consumers now waiting around for “Massive Clearance” sales.
This form of retail marketing is getting out of control. A sale is now considered by consumers what all retailers should do for them because they are buying their stock. ‘Sale’ is no longer a word used for special times throughout a year when a retailer can afford to give a little back to their customers. Christmas, Easter, and half yearly sales are not what they used to be. Once upon a time, sales included old stock, possibly faulty, that retailers no longer wanted wasting space in their stores. This type of ‘genuine’ sale has become obsolete. Small retailers simply cannot compete when their recommended retail price on new and next season stock is immediately under scrutiny by savvy consumers, for example, who have been shopping at Myer where they saw the same garment discounted by 30 percent when it hit the shop floor.
This domino effect has been very detrimental to many retailers including Judy Norvill, manager of a Paddington, Brisbane retail store. Judy says “It is just not fair trading; we cannot compete because we simply don’t have the resources to try. They are killing small local retailers who don’t have a leg to stand on.”
This is a David and Goliath fight that Goliath will surely win. A form of new trade regulations imposed on all retailers by the Australian government is an option that should be seriously considered. It will likely help to prevent small retailers being squashed by the continuing pressure to sale, and discount new stock. Small retailers are struggling now, and continued doom and gloom is being forecast by media all over the country. How are they too, in this pressing time, expected to be able to slash prices like the big fish? It is simply not a feasible business strategy to cut prices when they are barely making ends meet as it is.
At present there is not much likelihood that anything will be done about this pressing issue. Instead it has been left up to the small retailers to figure out where they go from here. Do they stay and compete with the big fish, where the likelihood of them getting into dire financial problems is high? Or do they close up shop and walk away from their businesses now, potentially saving themselves thousands and hundreds of thousands in debt? The only available solutions to small retailers at present are not viable options. It is necessary that changes with marketing techniques happen soon. It is driving small businesses out of the water simply because the big fish want to push up their profits to unrealistic realisations for the month. Just because they are large business and get special discounts for buying in bulk it does not mean that it is fair to sale it out just because they can.
