Will Walmart's Entrance Signal Download Store Price Wars?
from the had-to-happen-sooner-or-later dept
I've been wondering how long the $0.99/song price for music could hold. Already, some say that the dollar a song price is too much, and basic competition would suggest that the prices will get driven down over time. The floor at this point is the $0.67 that the labels demand from each song sold. So far, the various download stores have mostly (though not completely) held the line at a dollar. Sooner or later, though, you had to know that someone would realize they could get more attention by going lower, and who else but the leader in "everyday low pricing" Walmart? They're testing their new download store with songs at $0.88 per song. Hello, price wars! Of course, they know that they'll be losing money on this offering, but they see it as a loss leader to get people to buy other stuff at Walmart.com. So, if the price war continues, at what point will someone realize that, since they're just using the music as a loss leader anyway, they don't mind paying the $0.67 themselves. For example, Apple already says they're losing money on iTunes, but more than making it up on iPods. Wouldn't they sell more iPods if the music were even cheaper? It's an optimization question of "how low do you go?" until the cost of the music outweighs the benefit of selling more other stuff. However, if the music really is acting as incentive to buy other (high priced, high margin) goods, you'd think they'll eventually be willing to go pretty damn low.
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Walmart price pressures
Still, I would like to see them try. Two forces I hate going to war is usually an amusing spectacle.
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Wouldn't they sell more iPods if the music were ev
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Point of reference for wally worlds online experiences. Everyone said their online movie rental would kill Netflix. Yesterday Netflix raised their revenue and subscriber numbers for the quarter. So far, wally world... little to no impact.
Basic reason for this, I feel, is that the netflix experience (at least for me) has been flawless. Ergo, I've had no reason to look elsewhere. In the same light, my online music experience at apples itunes store has also been flawless. Do I really want to spend the time and effort looking for a less costly alternative (10 cents) unless it has the same experience ???? I think one thing most people will agree on, is that shopping at wal-mart (brick and mortar) is never equated to the word pleasant or easy or flawless. It does = cheap but seldom anything else.
Now if wally world has that 'gee whiz' feature that itunes doesn't, it might be worth the time and effort of checking out.
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God Bless Sam Walton
How long until the general public wakes up and realizes that for every loss leader that Wal-fart touts, something else has to be sold at a higher price in order to balance this out ?
Oh wait, Wal-mart can just use slave labor in China and to hell with any responsibility. As long as the American consumer is happy, all is right with the world.
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You can buy feet? Cool... ;)
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Re: You can buy feet? Cool
Getchur feet here:
http://endolite.com/index.html
;)
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count me out, Sam
"Once you play a song you downloaded from Walmart.com, it will only play on that computer, even if you are able to transfer the song file to a different computer. This is because the license file (required to play the song) remains on the original computer. You cannot transfer this license file to another computer."
From Wal Mart's download site FAQ.
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Wal Mart Music
They don't get it. I buy - they sell - no strings attached.
I shouldn't have to be connected to the internet each time I play a song - so they can track my activity. Screw them.
They will fail like everyone else because they don't follow the basics of retail - keep it simple stupid. Keep it quick and easy or I'll go somewhere else.
What maroons!
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