So at a basic level, it's a situation where you lower prices without sacrificing overall profitability. But the harsh reality is that in situations like this, you're always stuck footing the bill.
In many cases, rather than sacrificing quality, a company will choose to reduce wages or working conditions to make the same amount of money at lower costs.
If you want a modern example of this, look no further than the super-competitive e-commerce industry .
Last year, the average price of an Amazon product was about 11% less canada phone number data than its main competitors. Prices ranged from a 1% difference to 17%, which means someone is losing money somewhere.
On the outside, it looks like Amazon is winning. They've turned a profit for 11 consecutive quarters and even took home $1.9 billion in the 2017 holiday season.
But in recent months, some very serious labor abuses have come to light that show where Amazon appears to be saving money. Workers report constant surveillance, being denied a proper bathroom break, and even asthma panic attacks due to the pressure.
While Amazon has since backed away from these claims, it's hard to see them as an ideal business model when you start connecting the dots.
And these trends have even begun to affect the prices set by major retailers in their brick-and-mortar stores. Just look at the price differences of major retailers in the microcosm of Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Average selling price
Average selling price (Image source: DataWeave )
The industry is completely dispersed, and even on the busiest days of the year, it's hard to get a sense of where consumers are actually getting value from these big retailers.
But e-commerce and the retail industry are not the only places where these price wars occur. It is a problem that also affects online freelance communities .
A collective and noble goal for the future
-
- Posts: 176
- Joined: Mon Dec 23, 2024 4:06 am