How Low Can They Go

Take a look at your shopping list. Have you noticed how prices on many goods have plunged? Merchants are so eager to move inventory it makes you wonder how they are even making a profit. Business are working overtime trying to convince consumers to spend and in return have brutalized their profit margins. Those margins are not their biggest worries. They are afraid low prices will become the norm because attitudes about consumption and frugality have changed for the vast majority of Americans. Businesses are losing their pricing power. They know its a lot easier for prices to come down than for prices to go up.
The Recession will end one day but unrealistic profit margins will never return. In the future, service and time savings are going to be the heart of any successful business. With margins cut thin by competition on every corner a business had better take the time to baby each account or they won't be in business very long.
I've been in the service business since 1990, selling a service rather than a product so I know what I am talking about. My business has always been about service and time savings. I preform a service the customer does not want to do or does not have the time to do. Lots of times I do things for an account that I don't think fall under the job classification but I do them anyway. It puts a smile on the customer's face and a smile on my face every time I go to the bank.