Amazone Unit Price
Curtis DVD1041 DVD Player $ 19.99
Curtis DVD1046 Progressive Scan Auto Loud Compact DVD Player $19.95
Toshiba DVR620 DVD/VHS Recorder, Black $106.23
Sony BDP-S590 3D Blu-ray Disc Player with Wi-Fi (Black) $88.95
As a consumer, what concerns might you have in clicking on the “buy” button?
The first concern when clicking a buy button on an online store is the legitimacy of the store. It would be my desire to find quality for my money and for me to click on buy; I need the assurance that what I click on is available and that the store will deliver it to me as described. Price is an issue that I cannot ignore and that will influence the products I choose to buy. That means that as I click on buy, I must first ascertain that it is the best deal on offer that I can find in the market. That does not compromise my keenness to quality and with every purchase; all my focus rests on the possibility of receiving quality for the product I choose to buy.
Why might a consumer want to purchase a unit from a retailer that isn’t offering the lowest price?
Consumer interaction with product prices differ and it is always upon retailers to make every effort for to hit a balance for attracting customers. However, customers may not fall into the low pricing strategies of some retailers who would do anything to get buyers for their products. High prices reduces demand leading to sale of few products but on occasions it also leads to nurturing trust from customers. This means that as much as low prices for units may raise demand, not all customers find it enticing for concerns of quality, efficiency and reliability. Consumers associate average pricing with quality and fair value and that may leave them questioning low pricing and might never buy from the lowest priced stores. Consumers may net from low priced retailers for the reason that the pricing does not meet their demands as much as they may have the capacity for buying the products. This makes the price quality hypothesis a significant determining factor in the buying decisions of consumers, and they become ready to pay higher as an assurance of going for quality. Therefore, the customers looking for prestige, flawless performance of a unit and good quality may have an inclination to higher priced retailers than those with low prices.
What implications does the existence of these sites have for retailers?
The existence of shopping robots online is for the advantage of consumers, while costing heavily on retailers. For consumers, costs of searching become low. On the contrary, shop robots just make differentiation of product units difficult on the part of retailers driving their margins to the extreme lows (Jacso, 1998). This occurs because the speed at, which shopping robots conduct product searches on multiple of websites leave retailers with the challenge of beating competitor prices. The effect of shop robots also depend on the trust customers have in their retailers. Retailers with faithful customers have the opportunity for setting up higher prices and still maintaining reasonable sales, while the faithfulness of their customers act as attractions to new clients. Apparently, shop robots have significant influence on retailer margins though is still possible for retailers to retain various strategic options for the mitigation of the pressure.
References
Jacso, P. (1998). Shopbots. Online, 22(4), 14.
