The boss of Aussie department store Myer, Mr Bernie Brookes, was asked yesterday about increasing harmonisation of product prices across countries (presumed to be a response by suppliers and retailers to the exodus of customers to online commerce).
He said (with a delightfully Aussie oratory flourish):
“If you don’t do it the customer leaves you en masse. It is Darwinian shit: if you don’t do it you are not going to sell it.”
Damn the perils of actual international competition. I bet he wishes he was in Apple’s big boots on this, as they seem very capable of selling the exact same song/app etc on iTunes for considerably different prices from market-to-market. See this link for a nice bit of comparative work – Aussies really get screwed. I guess we’re the Easter Island of Darwinian natural selection.
Tags: Apple, Bernie Brooks, competition, iTunes, Myer, one price, price harmonization
International BS Blog 
November 10, 2011 at 3:52 pm |
Shouldn’t that macstories article take purchasing power parity into consideration? $1US does not buy the same thing in two different countries, irregardless [sic] of the product. Why would iTunes be any different? I’m not denying that there would still be a disparity, but perhaps the country rankings would be different.
November 10, 2011 at 7:19 pm |
You’re right that they should adjust for PPP… but given the low cost of many items in the US, the disparity in iTunes prices would be even larger.
November 11, 2011 at 10:03 am |
…although (some) Australians have found a way to adapt…to survive in this “hostile environment”: there is a very active market in US iTunes cards on eBay.
November 11, 2011 at 11:30 am |
Well, here in Australia we’ve always been paying more for Apple products, even the hardware like iphones.
November 14, 2011 at 4:26 pm |
Although this is not quite on your topic, I enjoyed this article very much:
http://www.theawl.com/2011/11/a-conspiracy-of-hogs-the-mcrib-as-arbitrage