Re: Consumer choice is reducing

I dont think consumerism is over at all Annie's
I think that consumerism is at the core of uks problems.
We currently consume considerably more than we produce,
Our whole economy is based on consumer confidence,
Code for spending more than we can afford
Surely a recipe for disaster.
So where does the money come from for this spending
Credit!
The banks lend us the money, via credit ards, loans etc
The banks charge interest on these loans, to make profit
for the banks
A very simple concept
But, a fly in the ointment! The uk has, over 4 decades
Past, been selling of our industries to whoever would buy
them.
We have no real exports to use to replace our credit or
Borrowings as we did before we deindustrialised
We, now are almost entirely dependent on our banking
industry
For me, not a good place to be
Just take the 2008 banking crisis,which led to the austerity
Programne we are still suffering from today as the public
are compelled to pay the debts of risk taking banks
None of this is sustainable

Best Regards Donkeyman.

PS, all this from underpants.

Re: Consumer choice is reducing

I have an investment portfolio that includes shares in a number of companies and my ONLY interest is that providing shareholder value is the number one objective of any management board of a business that I have invested in.

The customer is king is an outdated principle, indeed once out of direct contact with the customer it has to be set aside.

Customers are a resource.

A resource of cash that can be exploited by exchanging goods or services for cash. But decisions have to be made involving market value and targeted market share.

Look on it this way.

If I can capture 90% of market target share by offering a product that delivers 50% of possible options then why bother in effect wasting money in order to reach the 10% that I am missing?

Re: Consumer choice is reducing

That's rubbish because if you have no customers you have no market. I realise that's the way shareholder led businesses have been going but really they are eating their own tail in the process. You end up with companies opening themselves up to new entrants that can deliver quality and choice. That's why so many businesses in the west are going belly up. They are forgetting who butters their bread.

Re: Consumer choice is reducing

It's bigger than the Uk Donkeyman. It's capitalism for you which Marx predicted would fail eventually. Amazing vision in hindsight. But there is no alternative. We don't have big enough brains to ever work out the consequences of actions and whatever crank model someone else comes up with can never replace the market. It will just drive the market underground as was the case with communism.

Credit has been allowed to go crazy. But no government will admit that or solve it.

What is really happening right now is that Asia is taking over the World economy. Reviving our industries won't stop that. But it does mean we will have less choice in dishwashers!

Re: Consumer choice is reducing

I think you are missing the point that what is of vital importance is to target the highest percentage of customers within a market that can be reached at the lowest cost. If a business can reach 95%of customer opportunities at a cost of 50% of that which would be needed to reach 100% then it makes no sense to spend more than 50%, just write off the 5%.

Business is about maximising long term profit - nothing else unless an existing business is taken over with the intent of asset stripping.

Re: Consumer choice is reducing

Before asia, Annie, it was Japan and Taiwan, and before that
it was uk and America,
Next it will be China
Where to after them
What will decide where the invstment goes is cost of labour
mainly.
South America could be the next candidate, if it can get the
unrest under control, as it has unlimited cheap labour and
the Germans allready have a foothold there
But after that, where will the cheap labour be
IMO, it will be in europe, as trends here seem to be high
unemployment leading to lower wages, so it is possible
in time, for europe to be recycled back to being a competitve
area again.
The fly in the ointment will probably be robots, which will
mean a complete change to all societies

Lot to think about eh!

Best Regards, Donkeyman.

Re: Consumer choice is reducing

Yes the robot revolution will change everything. Even currency will be obsolete. it will be like "the machine stops".

Re: Consumer choice is reducing

Seems to be where we are heading, Annie, but l have a
couple of points which may change the prognosis.Will the
Super rich multi billionares be happy if currency becomes
redundant
If robots become widespread to carry out manufacturing
processes, what becomes of the now redundant people
once employed those industries, how will they be disposed of?
Which then begs the question, who will whoever owns these
robotic manufacturing centres sell their wares to?
The redundant people will have very little worth, & robots don't
have needs, and so will be unlikely to want to puchase
anything.
So for me it is abit of a catch 22 situation for the now
redundant multi billionares.
What do you think Annie?

Best Regards Donkeyman.

Re: Consumer choice is reducing

Which echoes very neatly Karl Marx's prediction of the crisis in the capitalist system as evidenced in "Das Kapital".

Re: Consumer choice is reducing

I think it will be the worst thing to happen to humanity since slavery. Robots will do the work but we will have to give up our identity and freedom to be part of such a society. Human "progress" always seems to lead us back in time as we lose parts of what made us humans to start with.