Whereupon Consumer Reports reports to elightened consumers the problem and informed consumers buy whatever is the best valueThis forces those producing lower valued products to improve or go out of businessUltimately rhe best buy is commonThe people dance in the streets in joy
Lowering costs by lowering quality sounds bad, but what if you get a 30% cost reduction by lowering a product’s lifespan from 50 years to 40, and you know that most people will throw it out after 10 anyway?
Layoffs are always bad for the person being laid off, but if the company can’t afford to pay everybody what they’re earning, the only other options are pay cuts for everybody or close the company. Nobody lays off employees just to be mean.
Safety standards sound good on paper, but everything has a cost. Something that doesn’t cost much and reduces injuries by 50% is wonderful. Something that costs a fortune and requires a team of lawyers to deal with mandatory government paperwork, and only reduces injuries by 1% is probably not such a good idea.
But hey, we can’t expect people to understand these things. We live in the age of the sound bite. Nobody will listen if you can’t finish your thought in 10 words or less.
There are actually numerous examples of vendors that sell better quality items than Walmart does, and sometimes for better prices.But they tend to be specialty stores that sell a wide variety of one category of product. E.g., you can not buy a decent radio-control model airplane at Walmart. The market isn’t large enough. So you go to a specialty hobby store that sells radio-control model airplanes, boats, cars, and all the radio parts.Walmart does not specialize. Their strength is selling a lot of a little bit of everything. To compete against Walmart, you have to sell a lot of just a few things, and be better at those few things than Walmart can possibly aspire to.
Aussie Down Under over 10 years ago
Now this is clever!!!
Michael Jones over 10 years ago
Oh, man. That is so true!
JoeStoppinghem Premium Member over 10 years ago
Wow, going after the corps.
David Huie Green LoveJoyAndPeace over 10 years ago
Whereupon Consumer Reports reports to elightened consumers the problem and informed consumers buy whatever is the best valueThis forces those producing lower valued products to improve or go out of businessUltimately rhe best buy is commonThe people dance in the streets in joy
HonoBear over 10 years ago
Looks like Whole Foods to me.
shamino over 10 years ago
As with all things, context is critical.
Lowering costs by lowering quality sounds bad, but what if you get a 30% cost reduction by lowering a product’s lifespan from 50 years to 40, and you know that most people will throw it out after 10 anyway?
Layoffs are always bad for the person being laid off, but if the company can’t afford to pay everybody what they’re earning, the only other options are pay cuts for everybody or close the company. Nobody lays off employees just to be mean.
Safety standards sound good on paper, but everything has a cost. Something that doesn’t cost much and reduces injuries by 50% is wonderful. Something that costs a fortune and requires a team of lawyers to deal with mandatory government paperwork, and only reduces injuries by 1% is probably not such a good idea.
But hey, we can’t expect people to understand these things. We live in the age of the sound bite. Nobody will listen if you can’t finish your thought in 10 words or less.
unca jim over 10 years ago
@shamino; I agree.
Tin Can Twidget over 10 years ago
Some of the so-called “experts” claim that Walmart is heading the same direction as Montgomery Wards, Sears Roebuck, and K-Mart.
Phatts over 10 years ago
There are actually numerous examples of vendors that sell better quality items than Walmart does, and sometimes for better prices.But they tend to be specialty stores that sell a wide variety of one category of product. E.g., you can not buy a decent radio-control model airplane at Walmart. The market isn’t large enough. So you go to a specialty hobby store that sells radio-control model airplanes, boats, cars, and all the radio parts.Walmart does not specialize. Their strength is selling a lot of a little bit of everything. To compete against Walmart, you have to sell a lot of just a few things, and be better at those few things than Walmart can possibly aspire to.