大减价，真的是大减价吗？

Walked passed Robinsons yesterday and noticed that there was another sale at the departmental store. It then occurred to me that whenever I passed by Robinsons, it never fail to hold a sale, with the only changes were to the name of the sale. There are more than 101 reasons for sale, be it the Christmas sale, the beginning-of-season/mid-season/end-of-season sale and now, it’s the Chinese New Year sale. Perhaps, I do not passed by often enough. Maybe my timing is so accurate that there is sale whenever I pass by, but it does make me wonder, is it healthy for the company to have sale almost everyday?

Though sale do generate sales, it’s often said that having too much of a good is never good, and having too much sales will eventually lead to customers getting used to them. When these discounts do really stop one fine day, there may be huge withdrawal symptoms, with customers delaying their purchases for the next sale or they simply switch to another store. In addition, should there be a need for a greater sales-boosting event, a stronger medicine in terms of deeper discounts will be required.

Sometimes, the accountancy/business grad in me makes me ponder: how are these companies going to answer for their bottom line by having storewide discounts almost every other day? Are they practising the strategy of achieving profits through volume, or perhaps they markup the prices, for example by 20% or even more in extreme case, when they give a discount, of let’s say 20%? Consumers will not notice the latter case, as they will be all too happy with the word “discount” and the companies even end up reaping in greater profits. Hmm…

I guess this “sale” marketing tactic does work well, evident from the fact that more and more stores these days (such as Courts and John Little which is under the same management as Robinsons) holding sale almost every other day. Actually, I am not a believer of sale; I believe in buying things based on a need basis, rather than on discount. To me, sale just provides a reason or another reason for people to purchase the items. It works on the impulse of the customers and people tend to feel happier when they are convinced of their purchases. Well, I guess people feel happy when they spend and especially when they buy something on discount. Different people do derive their happiness differently =)