Retailer Pushes for Price Drop
by Tim Manni
Retailers that were forced to raise their prices last year are beginning to pressure manufacturers to lower their prices as production costs have begun to decline:
Consumer-products makers raised prices last year after the cost of oil and pulp needed to make Huggies diapers, Charmin toilet paper and Kleenex tissues rose to records.
“There’s no way Wal-Mart is going to let their suppliers reap significant benefit from lower costs,” she [Grace Barnett, an analyst with Fitch Ratings in New York] said.
While it takes six to nine months before lower raw-material costs work their way through the manufacturing process, Wal-Mart is already in talks with suppliers to lower prices.
Keep this in mind: Wal-Mart has been one of the only retailers to maintain a profit during the downturn. Perhaps that fact remains because the world’s largest retailer has always been committed to providing its customers with quality products at the cheapest price.
Readers: Which products would you like to see decline in price first and foremost?
(story courtesy of ConsumerWorld.org)
