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This comes at the expense of quality and variety though. A market economy will not flourish if there are only a few big players. We need small businesses to be

This comes at the expense of quality and variety though. A market economy will not flourish if there are only a few big players. We need small businesses to be able to innovate.

lotsofpulp 2y ago
The buyers in the market almost always choose the lowest prices. Hence the success of Walmart/Kroger/Albertsons/Costco/Target/Aldi/Dollar General/etc. There might be room for one sort of upscale grocer on the richer side of town, but I doubt there is space for more.
- banannaise 2y ago
  That's not an iron law, though. Some consumers will always choose based on price, but for others, it is a function of experience. I, for one, am happy to pay a bit more for a higher-quality product, but my experience tells me that a slightly higher price is indicative of marketing rather than product quality. So why doesn't anyone fill that niche? Perhaps in part because the market is so consolidated. There's little incentive for the small handful of major players to cannibalize their own products. So we end up largely with two options: the cheapest version of the thing that is possible to manufacture, and an extremely high-quality artisan product costing multiple times as much.
  - danaris 2y ago
    And the more we have big businesses in charge of the economy, the more they will suppress wages, and the more people will have to buy primarily based on price.
  - lotsofpulp 2y ago
    Grocery stores sell multiple quality products (generic/branded), and you have various quality of inventory based on the market the retailer is targeting. For example, Whole Foods/local higher end store, down to Costco/Trader Joes/Kroger, down to Aldi/Winco/etc, down to Dollar General. Then you also have lower priced stores operated by immigrants that attract more price sensitive immigrant diasporas. But broadly speaking, it would reflect the disposable wealth gap between buyers. With a widening income/wealth gap, I would expect there to only be a few viable markets to cater to, maybe even only 2. The source of the “problem”, however, would be the wealth gap, not the stores. The stores are a reflection. Another issue is also technology and instant communication making it more convenient and cheaper to use fewer vendors. Shopping and checking prices is work. If someone can drive to one big box store and get almost everything that need, they will choose to do that.
throwawaysleep 2y ago
You can buy speciality meat or cheese or produce at niche speciality shops. Local butchers haven’t been displayed by Walmart unless they thought their business was pork chops over Wagyu and goat. But in general, customers don’t want variety and quality over price.

This comes at the expense of quality and variety though. A market economy will not flourish if there are only a few big players. We need small businesses to be able to innovate.

lotsofpulp 2y ago

The buyers in the market almost always choose the lowest prices. Hence the success of Walmart/Kroger/Albertsons/Costco/Target/Aldi/Dollar General/etc. There might be room for one sort of upscale grocer on the richer side of town, but I doubt there is space for more.

banannaise 2y ago
That's not an iron law, though. Some consumers will always choose based on price, but for others, it is a function of experience. I, for one, am happy to pay a bit more for a higher-quality product, but my experience tells me that a slightly higher price is indicative of marketing rather than product quality. So why doesn't anyone fill that niche? Perhaps in part because the market is so consolidated. There's little incentive for the small handful of major players to cannibalize their own products. So we end up largely with two options: the cheapest version of the thing that is possible to manufacture, and an extremely high-quality artisan product costing multiple times as much.
- danaris 2y ago
  And the more we have big businesses in charge of the economy, the more they will suppress wages, and the more people will have to buy primarily based on price.
- lotsofpulp 2y ago
  Grocery stores sell multiple quality products (generic/branded), and you have various quality of inventory based on the market the retailer is targeting. For example, Whole Foods/local higher end store, down to Costco/Trader Joes/Kroger, down to Aldi/Winco/etc, down to Dollar General. Then you also have lower priced stores operated by immigrants that attract more price sensitive immigrant diasporas. But broadly speaking, it would reflect the disposable wealth gap between buyers. With a widening income/wealth gap, I would expect there to only be a few viable markets to cater to, maybe even only 2. The source of the “problem”, however, would be the wealth gap, not the stores. The stores are a reflection. Another issue is also technology and instant communication making it more convenient and cheaper to use fewer vendors. Shopping and checking prices is work. If someone can drive to one big box store and get almost everything that need, they will choose to do that.

throwawaysleep 2y ago

You can buy speciality meat or cheese or produce at niche speciality shops. Local butchers haven’t been displayed by Walmart unless they thought their business was pork chops over Wagyu and goat. But in general, customers don’t want variety and quality over price.