Final Word from Friday, April 29, 2011
Makro presents itself as a wholesaler, but it gets lumped together with the majorretailers for purposes of tracking the market. The latest figures show that of the 10largest retailers, its decline in revenue last year was the greatest, -8.2%. Part of thiswas no doubt due to its emphasis on serving the hotel and restaurant sectors, whichhave both been hit hard by the crisis. Another reason is that some shoppers whoconsidered Makro a wholesaler now realize that it often doesn't offer any price advantage,so they have shifted some purchases to other stores. Makro now plans toexpand its market by offering an internet delivery service, but this could be a mixedblessing for it, because it will be all that much easier for customers to compare prices.It will also be much more difficult to list one price on the shelf and to ring up anotherat the register. This, it seems, is where some retailers make most of their profit.
Glossary of difficult words
to lump something together with something else - to treat as alike without regard for particulars;
mixed blessing - something that has bad effects as well as advantages;
register - cash register.