Retailers Face Impossible Demands

Today, an article about how Black Friday ads are full of "dirty secrets."

First, a man complains that the fine print says how quantities are limited.

Now look here, America is a capitalist society. Retailers aren't cutting prices because they're in a jolly holiday spirit and feel like giving everyone a discount. They're trying to lure consumers into stores and make money. The reason why companies provide "customer service" is not because of humanitarian reasons, it's because they want you to come back for more business. If you can't even grasp that simple concept you might as well move to North Korea or something and see how you like it there. If something is advertised on a Black Friday and it's actually a good deal, I don't expect it to be left on the shelves half an hour after the store opens. I suspect I might not be able to grab it even if I'm standing in line at 4:00am. That's just how this game works, so stop the bickering.

"'I am old school,' said Johnson. 'If a retailer is advertising a juicy deal and they are not prepared to have in sufficient quantity, don't advertise it. Or give consumers a raincheck.'"
Right, you're old school. Get in tune with the times. This is not the "good old days" where people wore top hats and rode in horse carriages. It's not even the other "good old days" where the TVs advertised in the Black Friday ads were black and white and not 1080p.

Imagine, for instance, if next year, all the retailers got together and said, there will be no Black Friday deals this year because some people find that it is unacceptable to place quantity limits on items. You'll hear the same people arguing that retailers are anti-consumer for not offering discounts to shoppers for the holidays.

A man then complains about something called "derivative models."

"Dworsky cautions that retailers usually don't advertise these models as derivatives. 'There's no way the average consumer will know that the TV model they are buying is not the standard one unless they are savvy enough to compare their model numbers,' he said."

Consumers, it's time to get savvy, then. Fortunately there's a novel invention called the internet which will give you all of this information if you bother looking. This is not the "good old days" when each manufacturer only offered one TV model.

He then complains about some deals being offered online, but the manufacturers won't disclose which ones. Again, retailers would rather you come to the store than shop online.

And then a word of caution for those shopping online.

"Case in point: Sears. Last year, one of Sears' hottest Black Friday doorbuster deal was on a Kenmore washer-dryer pair for $600.
Even though the retailer advertised that deal to be in 'limited quantities,' the company decided to honor every customer order made on that deal last Black Friday.
Big mistake. The manufacturer could not ramp up production fast enough. Some customers waited months before their order was shipped. Others were sold a substitute model, that was 'comparable or even better' for the same deal price, said Sears' Aiello."

Right, so people like old-school man at the beginning of the article complained, so Sears goes the extra step to actually sell at a lower price even beyond the limited quantity that they had on hand. Perhaps they were in a jolly holiday spirit. The result? More complaining, this time because they sold things they didn't have.

So let's recap. If you're going to put something on sale, it shouldn't be in limited quantities because consumer advocacy groups will complain. However, you damn well better make sure you don't sell beyond the unlimited quantity that you don't have because then consumer advocacy groups will complain.

I used to work in retail. It's a job where most people complain at you because "the customer is always right."