--- Dwayne Monroe <dwayne.monroe at gmail.com> wrote:
> In a way, all retailers *are* using the same data
> collection method.
> Back-end database platforms may differ and some orgs
> may be smarter
> than others - i.e., some, such as WMT, are more
> nimble at collecting,
> analyzing and making swift use of data - but in the
> abstract, the
> method is the same.
>
> Large-scale retailers seek competitive advantage by
> accurately
> identifying their market segment and, at a finer
> level, uncovering
> that segment's habits and exploitable self-image
> (WMT, low income
> value seekers, Target, aka TGT, middle and upper
> income big box
> shoppers, etc). These efforts may or may not produce
> a "substantial
> advantage" but they do offer *enough* of an
> advantage to make them
> cost effective.
>
[WS:] I am not sure what your argument is here. That large scale firms are more efficient through their use of IT, and hence they gain market advantage - or that they enjoy a monoply position which they use to gain market advantage?
Your discussion of WMT seems to suggest the latter - a conclusion with which I would agree. As to the former - I would not buy it, it smacks of standard capitalist propaganda.
What you describe in relation to WMT is not that uncommon. For example. TV stations charge advert fees based on the perceived audience of their programming, which in turn is determined based on highly questionable surveys. Most reasoable people agree that the data collected through those surveys are rubbish, but media execs need some basis to determine pricing for their services, so they treast them as if they were real. But this does not mean that these execs have some superior knowledge of their audience - all they have is educated guesses which they treat as a currency in dealing with advertisers.
To sum it up, what I am arguing is that these data collection methods are simply used as bargaining chips in corporate dealings and wheelings, but otheriwse offer little if any competitive edge in addition to that the firm already has due to its monopoly position.
As I already said, I did not make it up - a simialr positon was advanced by Baran & Sweezy in _Monopoly Capital_ - which is an insightful Marxist analysis of the US brand of capitalism.
Wojtek
____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for last minute shopping deals? Find them fast with Yahoo! Search. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/newsearch/category.php?category=shopping