For many people, shopping is a pleasant experience and a nice leisure activity. Walking through shopping centers, reviewing various offers, and buying goods desired becomes especially pleasant if while making purchases, customers get a feeling that they have saved money. In the 20th century, there appeared a large number of marketing strategies that are based on this psychological effect (Gauri et al., 2017). Black Fridays, clearance sales, bargain sales, discounts, and other offers appeal to people’s desire to bargain (Pan, 2019). Using them, malls make clients buy more goods that they do not need. In the majority of cases, retailers mark up prices and then offer discounts so that the costs of goods remain the same or even get higher. The purpose of this paper is to describe my own experience as a buyer and discuss the real benefit of the sales practices of the retailer chosen.
First of all, it is important to talk about the nature of discounts because they are the most widely used means of attracting customers and marketing. It can be assumed that a discount is the sale of goods at a formally or discounted price (Ertekin et al., 2019). With several reservations, discounts can even be considered a kind of economic dumping. Moreover, it should be noted that discounts are closely connected with the expansion of the market and the need for a unique selling point. In the second half of the 20th century, there appeared a vast variety of goods offered to customers (Pan, 2019). Therefore, manufacturers and shops had to find a way to make potential clients pay attention to their products and choose them among others. The set of peculiar characteristics of the product that can help attract buyers is called a unique selling point. The most popular kind of realization of a unique selling point is offering discounts.
Speaking about shops that I like to visit because of the bargain I receive, it is Ross Stores. It is a chain of clothing shops under the brand Ross Dress for the Less. At clearance racks of shops of this chain, I always see brands at significantly lower prices in comparison with other malls. For example, Vionic sandals cost there only half the price they are offered at by the majority of shops. Clothes and accessories by Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, and Dooney & Bourke also cost less at Ross. Moreover, the shops offer loyalty cards for standing customers that allow receiving further bonuses. Hence, it might be stated that the retailer gives more people an opportunity to wear high-quality clothes that are usually regarded as pricy.
As for my attitude towards the discounts offered by the clothing shops chain, I believe that my purchase of the Vionic sandals was a bargain deal. The ground is that I compared the prices for them at different stores and found out that I would benefit from buying the sandals at Ross Dress for the Less. Therefore, I feel that I have saved money and received a high-quality item.
Nevertheless, in my opinion, Ross is not sacrificing its revenue for the benefit of its customers. Offering brands at lower prices is, first of all, a bargain deal for the shop chain itself. By reducing prices at Calvin Klein clothes and goods of other brands that are usually expensive, Ross Dress for the Less attracts more customers with different financial opportunities. They might be wealthy people who do not want to overpay or clients with lower incomes who just cannot afford to buy big brand clothes or accessories without a discount. Thus, Ross acquires a large number of loyal customers who regularly buy goods at the stores and recommend their relatives, friends, and acquaintances to shop there, too. Hence, low prices are compensated with the number of clients and goods bought. In my viewpoint, despite the fact, that the retailer sells brands at half or even a third of the prices, Ross receives high revenue which lets the chain remain successful in the American market.
From an ethical point of view, in my opinion, the sales policies of the chain under analysis are ethical and beneficial. Ross does not use misleading practices by offering clients fake discounts or low-quality goods under brand names like several other retailers might do. I am sure that Ross Dress for the Less is fair towards its customers and justifies its name. Shopping at the stores of the clothing chain is truly beneficial for buyers because the retailer does not use discounts, coupons, and other marketing strategies to deceive people and manipulate them. I believe that Ross just offers big brand goods at lower prices from which both the chain and purchasers benefit.
In conclusion, it is important to press the point that shops began to use discounts and other marketing strategies to attract buyers in the 20th century when the market expanded greatly. Knowing people’s desire to save and get a bargain, some retailers use misleading strategies and fake discounts to manipulate people. However, there are also shopping chains that treat their clients fairly. One example of such a chains is Ross Dress for the Less, a retailer that offers big brand products at lower prices and uses real discounts which is beneficial both for the stores and buyers.
References
- Ertekin, N., Shulman, J. D., & Chen, H. (2019). On the profitability of stacked discounts: Identifying revenue and cost effects of discount framing. Marketing Science, 38(2), 317-342.
- Gauri, D. K., Ratchford, B., Pancras, J., & Talukdar, D. (2017). An empirical analysis of the impact of promotional discounts on store performance. Journal of Retailing, 93(3), 283-303.
- Pan, L. (2019). The impact of retailer price strategy on consumers’ choice against the background of uncertain price. In The 4th International Conference on Economy, Judicature, Administration, and Humanitarian Projects (JAHP 2019). Atlantis Press.