Quote Originally Posted by dirge View Post
True enough. Many of us are voting with our wallets as far as TRU is concerned, and making a habit of dealing with a competitor is the most powerful statement a consumer can make.

I suspect TRU make their money on large margins and low staff costs, and they're entitled to do so. Big W (as an example) on the other hand have lower prices and while the margins are likely to be lower, they rely on a larger net sales volume to make their money. Each company will make their business decisions, and will live and die by those.

You've only got to look at how much traction JB HiFi has made in recent years to see how these decisions can affect the fortunes of a retail chain.

A deep catalogue and low prices - even on the deep catalogue stuff - have done wonders for their CD/DVD base. On the other hand, Brazin (owners of Sanity & Virgin, as well as Bras & Things) bought HMV a few years back. They promptly cut away the catalogue depth and have since then HMV stores have been closing at an alarming rate as they can no offer the deep range of stock. Consumers will check JB HiFi first because 1) they have a broader range and are more likely to have the item desired and 2) the perception is that their prices are lower anyway.
Yeah I kind of agree. I think the thing with the cds is that importing laws were changed and that changed the whole $29.99 rrp that the industry had established. Also the technology took some time to take off and is now almost redundant... so they are strengthening their presence in the electronics part of the market.

There are a couple of points here with regard to TRU (Australia)... I don't think they want toy collectors as customers, G1 coloured Jazz was $50, sure it was an exclusive and it sold... but come on. I believe they want to concentrate on selling to parents, that's why the 'nappy' strategy and the fact that I get way more babies'r'us than toys'r'us catalogues in the mail. It just makes sense.