It makes me smile when I count up the years it's been since I've shopped Walmart (just over 7 now 🙂 ). There's many reasons why I stormed out of there for the final time in October 2004 and today I read an article on Grist.org that totally hit one of those reason. I've not been able to put this into words myself, but Grist certainly did in Is Your Stuff Falling Apart? Thank Walmart. This is a MUST READ article. Go now. Read it and come back here and share your thoughts, it'll open in a new window for you.
Where once we measured value when we shopped, Walmart trained us to see only price.
Not this girl! I'm so glad to have broken that habit. I used to shop that way. I'd buy things on clearance because, hey, it's cheap. I'd go for the cheaper item because, hey, it's saving money. In the end, that money saver would need to be replaced much sooner than the pricier, well made counter-part.
Since 1995, the number of toasters and other small electro-thermal appliances sold in the U.S. each year increased from 188 million to 279 million.
Well of course! You can get that cheap-o toaster and when it breaks and you replace it, you're still spending less than the more expensive one. Sadly, in this day, you can't guarantee that the higher priced item is going to last any longer than the cheaper one. How sad is that?! And it's all due to Walmart and the other stores that have had to stoop to their level just to survive.
Walmart is also a master at getting shoppers to buy more than they came for.
Think about it. You know you leave that store (and a few others, Walmart is not only at fault) with way more than you go in there for. Interesting little study in the Journal of Marketing.
I saw the light, I guess you could say, and I've broken my buy cheap, buy more habits. I wish that more companies would refuse to give in to that way of thinking. I'm currently in the market for a stand mixer. I could run to Target and buy a cheap one, but I want a more expensive one that will last me several years (I'm thinking KitchenAid, even though the quality seems to be less than it used to be or Cuisinart). I wish more people would wake up and stop trying to spend less and get more and go back to valuing their hard earned dollars and spending that money on items that truly have value. How about you? Do you shop for price or value?