Big Retail Secrets and Why Prices Keep Increasing.
Corporate Control
Big retail is all run by huge corporate offices far from the actual stores. The people who work for "corporate" make all the decisions. The local manager or franchise owner have no real input on inventory or cost control.
Automated Inventory & Purchasing
Big retail has algorithms that compute exactly how much each square foot of the store is making and which items need to be removed because they are not meeting their profit guidelines. It then orders and replenishes everything based upon those figures. That is why some of your favorite products disappear suddenly.
Huge Logistical Costs
Shipping, warehouse, and trucking costs are rising constantly making big retail raise costs accordingly.
One Way Order Fulfillment
Big retailers warehouse systems are set up to move one way - from the warehouse to the consumer, so they are not designed to take back customer returns, inspect them, restock them and send them back to their inventory. Their system to handle these returns is to and sell them off to third party companies that in turn sell off these items by the pallet to bin stores, and online action sites. Most of the time no one knows the condition of the actual merchandise or what is on each pallet.
Huge Staffing Costs
Staffing costs are constantly rising with different states creating different wage rates and the cost of benefits big retail has to increase costs across the board to offset these increases. Productivity and engagement are at an all time low, which means they need more people to do the work.
Retail Fraud & Theft
Most retailers and Distribution companies do not inspect returns when they accept them, or they have third parties take and process all their returns. They don't see when people "get creative" with what they send back for a refund. They also have a large amount of shoplifting. This has become a huge cost for traditional retailers.