Holding our noses for all those high-risk lenders of last resort — the paper boys bundling and bungling debt — now in a mad rush to an deserved vacation on an island of shame.
No-no-no is debt on arrival, as a wicked wheedling and cheap marketing trick, backfiring on hollow-the-lender merchants swatted severely by Adam’s Smith invisible hand. Ouch!
No-no-no is costly credit few are buying that will hasten its dying. Rest in Peacelessness.
Clearly, know pain is slow gain. So what are the marvelous merchants manqué to do without gritty and grimy gimmicks? For starters, they could become the real intrepid rugged mercantile individualists they have pretended to be.
On the dole of trick-down marketing for all the years, many merchants eagerly followed the false prophets of doing the least to get the most from perpetrating a thin boast. Now, many of them are toast, or at least, a ghost of what they thought they were.
If I seem mildly sardonic, even tamely sarcastic, you are right in grasping a firm grip of the obvious. Too bad most merchants didn’t get a grip but now have a gripe.
The way out is to weigh in with innovation to get an ovation from people (consumers) scared and scarred from the economic effluence deposited by Wall Street’s financial angels fluttering wings of wax rapidly melting from despairing heat.
Now is the time to earn market share, with feel good merchandising methods that transport consumers to comfort.
Think of home furnishings, especially decorative accessories as mercantile cosmetics. Not so much as a cover up, but an affordable antidote.
Fall promotions need to be just that, falling for small to create big changes with color, sparkle, function and fun. That’s wall décor, table top, lighting and rugs, all presented as simple ways to savor the change of seasons and changes for sustainable business.
The new mercantile mantra for consumers is to know, know, know you is to love, love, love you with enduring and endearing comfort.
What about articles on what I perceive to be the cause of one of the industry's greatest reliability negatives...manufacturer's suggested retail price lists.
When you shop autos, cameras, etc. the stated price is the same. Deals are made, to be sure, but the starting point is the same. MSRP's have long been demanded by retailers who use them to confuse and bamboozle the consumer...or, at least, those dumb enough to believe you can sell at 80% off to perpetuity and still stay in business.
I raised this issue at one of F/T's conference and was lucky to get out of Florida with my life. Sensitive issue but, in my opinion, the industry's dirty little secret which totally undermines it's crediblilty.
Posted by: doug brackett | September 18, 2008 at 11:45 AM