Embracing the competition

[coxengines]

I have often posted that one should embrace competitors, forget the "old school" thinking and implement the "new school" one.

Sometimes those posts have led to some pretty heated replies; implying that I "don't get it".

Following is a partial copy and paste from an e-commerce newsletter I subscribe to.

1. Embrace competition

The first step comes in acknowledging and embracing the competitive nature of the online marketplace. This may seem obvious, but you'd be surprised at how much energy online sellers invest in wishing the competition would disappear. It won't (and neither will you), so it's time to accept and embrace that competition is here to stay. And learn how to use it to your advantage!

[parent_family]

Thanks for the post.

[femmefan1946]

In the trendy Westboro neighbourhood of Ottawa, the gentrification of a tired area really took off when not only did Mountain Equipment Co-op build a store on the main drag, but another four or five similar businesses moved into the same neighborhood. The sports equipment retailers were followed by coffee shops, high end clothing and furniture sellers, bakeries, travel agencies (including one specializing in over-60 tours) and restaurants.

House values have also soared.

There is added value to being in the same neighbourhood (even the same virtual neighbourhood) as your competition. The customer may not find the exact item in his shop and cross the street to yours. Your customer can see that your apparently high prices are actually the market norm.

And all of you get better at your job by having the competition to keep you moving.

The one pitfall is the "race to the bottom" where competitors start cutting prices. Not only does this make it difficult to make a living, but customers lose confidence in the value of your products.

[pierrelebel]

"customers lose confidence in the value of your products."

That is why I do not offer "Best Offer" nor do I ever entertain an offer for less that the stated price.

[fatdane]

Some of the best days for the stamp business in Toronto existed back in the 70's, when Jim Sissons had his stamp auctions in the King Edward Hotel. Out the hotel door and up Victoria Street and George Wegg & John Talman were in the first block facing each other, with Jim Hennok on the corner to the north, Maresch & Sons a short walk away on Temperance Street, and Arcade on Yonge Street. If I were hunting for something for a customer it was nice. There were a few other dealers around as well but I can't remember their names. They certainly competed with each other but there was a lot of material available. The more stamps available the better the chance of a sale.

There are some stamp dealers that do try the pricing race to the bottom, but they soon find it is impossible to replace what they sold. Good stamps are harder to find than they are to sell.

[westernstargifts]

The one pitfall is the "race to the bottom" where competitors start cutting prices. Not only does this make it difficult to make a living, but customers lose confidence in the value of your products.

Exactly! And when sellers constantly put their prices & shipping up and down and have duplicate items listed at different prices at the same time they also lose buyer confidence. I tend to purchase from the same sellers online and would certainly not deal with them again if I saw this happening in their stores.

[momoftwingles2]

In the trendy Westboro neighbourhood of Ottawa, the gentrification of a tired area really took off when not only did Mountain Equipment Co-op build a store on the main drag, but another four or five similar businesses moved into the same neighborhood. The sports equipment retailers were followed by coffee shops, high end clothing and furniture sellers, bakeries, travel agencies (including one specializing in over-60 tours) and restaurants.

House values have also soared.

There is added value to being in the same neighbourhood (even the same virtual neighbourhood) as your competition. The customer may not find the exact item in his shop and cross the street to yours. Your customer can see that your apparently high prices are actually the market norm.

And all of you get better at your job by having the competition to keep you moving.

The one pitfall is the "race to the bottom" where competitors start cutting prices. Not only does this make it difficult to make a living, but customers lose confidence in the value of your products.

Oh, I just LOVE the Westboro area of Ottawa! It's quite unique!

Susan

[dipmicro]

Sellers often do not realize that price is only one factor when determining where to buy the item.

Example: a dark, dusty, cramped store with owner wearing his jeans with half butt sticking out for $9.99 vs. Sears for $19.99. Where do you buy? Depending on the item, I'd may go to Sears. Conclusion - appearances do matter.

It does not work like this on everything. After recent experiences, I will pick the back-alley dirty garage owner charging $55/hr over shiny dealerhip service dept. charging $85/hr anytime. Of course, you need to be careful with back alley garages or you may end up with some unnecessary replacements - although I also heard about Canadian Tire service dept. manager trying to upsell brake job to a guy who had the brake job done month before ad manager simply walked away when confronted with the fact.