DailyPost 217
PER UNIT COST
With transparency, information & fair business practices & regulatory mechanisms becoming the buzzword, it can be safely be presumed that the customer is in, for a better & competitive times . He can make reasoned choices based on the relevant product information provided to him. At the base of the unfair business practices is the profit margin & that is unknown to the customer. The MRP is more like a shayari, which is more emotional rather than pricing, & can be manipulated in & on every transaction, bigger deals I presume have a different story.
The per unit cost has to stripped down further & costing of each single component / ingredient should be known. The cost of process of production would be factored in, a few other essentials & the unit cost is known. Regulating the unit cost on objective lines is the key to consumer protection.
The supply chain has its own complications & so also the ever increasing number of professionals euphemistically called supervisors; their well being ought to factored in, in the unit cost. The number of supervisory levels & actual numbers are decided by the company & the customer is supposed to shell out for their upkeep. The proportion between the base & flab is not known to the customer. It is a harsh reality, the customer has to bear with. There is no succour.
Same commodity at differential pricing in the same area makes this business model even more interesting. It’s not loot & scoot but it’s loot & sustain & over a period of time ₹100 coffee becomes the norm. And you start enjoying while you are being fleeced. From the innocuous palak to tvs (?) to software & beyond is the same story. Customers are forced to pay for the quality of life of company’s employees, inefficiency, flab & greed which in business parlance is known as profit. Planted facts, gloss, welcome drinks, misrepresented facts in sales promotions, ads & such other incentives are the staple of the Indian customer.
UNKNOWN IN THIS TRANSPARENT WORLD IS THE REAL PER UNIT COST OF ANY PRODUCT.
Sanjay Sahay