Amazon is slowly eliminating suggested retail prices on many of its items, reported The New York Times this week, leading some to speculate that the online giant will start raising its prices.
In fact, we checked out several car radios for sale on Amazon, and five out of five showed no suggested retail price.
Manufacturer’s suggested retail prices have served online discounters as a benchmark to judge how steep a discount they provided. And Amazon had established itself as the price leader, sometime selling at a loss.
But now Amazon may be ready to cash in, said Time.com this week.
“…after first establishing itself as the place shoppers should turn to for nearly every purchase, Amazon is now pushing the idea that shoppers should make their purchases at the site at whatever price is there…. what the company really hopes is that shoppers keep turning to the site for everyday purchases, regardless of whether the prices are discounted at all.”
It’s the ease of shopping at Amazon that many consumers respond to at this point.
“More than anything,” says Time, “Amazon wants consumers to be members of the $99-per-year Amazon Prime program, because Prime subscribers shop with Amazon far more than non-subscribers; they’re far less likely to do price comparisons with other sites, or to be price sensitive on purchases.”
Last month TWICE’s annual Top 100 retail registry determined that Amazon surpassed Walmart as the number two retailer in consumer electronics after Best Buy.
Also, a recent Walker Sands study found that 98 percent of respondents had bought something from Amazon in the past year. The next closest single retail competitor was eBay at 61 percent.
Additionally out of all consumer goods, electronics is the most-shopped for category online. Walker Sands also found that more consumers report shopping online for electronics in the past year than for any other category, even books.
Source: Time via The New York Times
