Internet Bed Sales Complaint
We received an e mail last week from an internet bed trader complaining that we are unfairly stealing their business.
A warm glow effused our Head Office. For almost 10 years internet traders have been stealing the food from our bed sales consultants’ mouths. So was that not nice to hear one of them complaining about us?
It is true I have often wanted to e mail our internet competitors to explain the benefits of selling above long run marginal costs. At one time every week another nutter would appear on the net selling beds at daft prices. But it is a free world and I knew the invisible hand of Adam Smith economics would prevail in the long run.
The unexamined answer to why internet prices appear lower is because the internet trader has lower rent and rates. But let’s make a closer inspection:
Internet delivery costs add about 30% to the cost of the beds they are sending. Our retail delivery costs are less than 10%.
In order to get access to the internet many traders offer a fee to 3rd party web marketeers (affiliate marketing web sites). This fee is most often about 20% of the product cost.
They also pay Google to appear on page one of search results independent of whether Google recognises them as being an authority for the users search. This is called pay per click. Typical costs are 50p per click and at 2% conversion adds another 50% to the cost of their goods.
You getting the picture?
And on top of all this, these traders set up numerous web sites that appear to be competing with their main site but are more likely aimed at squeezing out their competition. Believe me, they are not under cutting themselves! And setting up and maintaining web sites is not a free activity.
Then as a finale, hundreds of thousands of junk PR articles are being written and disseminated throughout the world wide web to create a false authority for their web sites. It makes me weep every time I read one. Total manure.
Am I bitter and twisted? Of course not! The internet cowboys may have killed off the buffalo, but us Red Indians have learned to live on smaller mammals.
Have a look at our Silentnight single mattress and double mattress prices. We have brought in containers of unbeatably priced sofa beds – the Isabella and the Daytona. And very shortly we will be selling mattress toppers and feather pillows at prices you just won’t believe: Robert has done a deal with the Snugfit administrators and is unloading the lorries back in Beith as I write.
Must rush off and help him… sorry Robert, the internet boys need me to help with our internet price match queries.
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