Ask the CEO of Tupperware Brands, and he'll tell you Americans are cheap.
Rick Goings accused U.S. consumers of not valuing "quality" while explaining Tupperware's disappointing sales in North America, during an earnings call Tuesday....
"They buy price," Goings said of Americans. "Europe buys quality, Japan quality."My friends in import/export tell me much the same thing. Americans are interested in price and quantity rather than quality, whereas international buyers are interested in quality and are willing to pay the price to get it. But I'm not sure that this is anything that new, i.e., Wal-Mart inspired.
Rather, it's likely that Wal-Mart has been successful seemingly because Americans want inexpensive goods and don't care if they are cheap, too, since "stuff" is not expected to last long anyway.
International buyers have a different mentality, wanting high quality products that will last them for some time. In other words, non-Americans tend to be savvy shoppers, while American enjoy shopping. Utility is a cultural thing, apparently.
6 comments:
The Gladware really crushed the Tupperware ....
rsp,
Unfortunately, lower quality, less durable merchandise can be as mor more costly then quality durable merchandise due to negative externalities involving disposal. So there is little if any cost saving.
Tom,
Any indication that the Tupperware was traditionally made in the US vs the Gladware which I'll assume is sourced in Asia....
rsp,
How the hell can anyone be interested in quality when they hardly get paid any money? This guy is probably also one of these CEO's who rail against unions and the minimum wage.
right Mike I caught the guy from FEDEX on early today and he was saying that we have to get our fiscal house in order right before he was advocating for a complete corporate tax holiday...
What a moron...
rsp,
You get FREE tupperware now when you get take out chinese or buy sandwich meat. And as Matt said, Gladware is a superior value.
They just don't have a Coke or Pepsi or Cheerios type brand that people will pays a bit more for. At least not anymore.
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