Comment by Telaneo
20 hours ago
Given that every store (and damn near every establishment for that matter) has been understaffed for the past 20-ish years, can you blame them?
20 hours ago
Given that every store (and damn near every establishment for that matter) has been understaffed for the past 20-ish years, can you blame them?
Yeah, actually I can. Understaffed just means you’re not paying well enough.
Look what happened recently in new york. $30/hour to shovel snow got them a lineup out the door of people wanting to work.
Those companies made the choice to prioritize profit margins above staffing.
You're blaming the store, which I agree with. My question was whether you could blame the GP, or the consumer in general. They have little control over how much the staff of their grocery store is being paid.
Ah, yes i did misunderstand. No i don’t blame them, but i am confused about their preference because it doesn’t match my own.
1 reply →
Retail business profit margins have always been low single digit percentages. More staff can only mean higher prices. I'll gladly scan my own stuff to have lower prices and be able to get out quicker.
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/KR/kroger/profit-m...
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/ACI/albertsons/net...
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/WMT/walmart/profit...
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/COST/costco/profit...
https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/TGT/target/profit-...
> Retail business profit margins have always been low single digit percentages.
And yet overall profits remain high - they’re high-volume low margin businesses.
> More staff can only mean higher prices.
When you’re talking about massive chains that are prioritizing profits, usually on behalf of shareholders, that is true. For smaller businesses, coops, or even gov run grocery stores - things that aren’t as focussed on rates of return for investors - it can just mean less profits for the owners.
> I'll gladly scan my own stuff to have lower prices and be able to get out quicker.
It hasn’t matched my experience that prices fell as self checkouts were installed. I think profits went up, prices didn’t come down. Maybe the “quicker” bit… except only if I have just a handful of items.
1 reply →