And lo on Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:18:56 +0100, scott <sco### [at] scottcom> did  
spake, saying:

>> It would be interesting to know which items are their loss-leaders...  
>> ;-)
>
> Usually very common items (bread etc), also usually placed at the back  
> of the shop so that you have to be tempted by 31434 other items before  
> you get there.

They also try and pick certain items they know that people compare between  
stores so their bread might be more expensive, but their milk is cheaper.  
Oh and shouldn't that be 31415 other items :-P

>> I just find it interesting that shops of all kinds are *always*  
>> advertising that their prices are going down and down and down.
>
> Ermm yeh, it helps get people to go to that store rather than a  
> competitor.

Tcch you'd think they were a business or something.

>> So, like, why didn't you do this sooner?

Because every supermarket used to be only really competing with roughly  
one other store - M&S vs. Waitrose; Tesco vs. Sainsbury's; Asda vs. Kwik  
Save. Now add in Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi etc. and combine it with people  
suddenly needing to think about which store they want to spend money in  
and it's a free-for-all.

> (And besides, as far as *I*
>> can tell, the actual prices rise and fall more or less at random, and  
>> they only advertise the ones that have fallen. I'm surprised that's  
>> legal...)
>
> Why? There's no law that says you have to advertise your entire product  
> range or not at all.

then you get those delightful adverts which show that X had 2,000 items  
cheaper, Y had 3,000, but our store has 5,000 cheaper. Doesn't say what  
exactly is cheaper, or even how they're comparing things.

>> Does it worry anybody *else* here that when all the oil runs out in 10  
>> years' time, the nations of the world are basically going to have a  
>> global thermonuclear war over the rights to the last remaining few  
>> drops?
>
> Long before oil actually runs out there are going to be cheaper  
> alternatives.  Industries that are reliant on oil today will gradually  
> shift as prices increase.

and as scott points out elsewhere the rising prices make alternatives more  
viable; and as Darren has pointed out a while ago the estimates were made  
using the then current extraction technique and there is in fact more  
availble that wasn't being touched because it would cost more to get at  
then to sell.

As Florian states the biggest worry is in the plastics industry, as soon  
as that began to dominate the materials industry the fact that we simply  
just burn the same stuff should have registered as a teensy bit off.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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