On 1/30/2016 12:29 PM, Opinicus wrote:
> Paraphrasing from the recent "Supermarkets: The tricks of the trade"
> episode of "Tonight":
>
> A supermarket sells two kinds of wine, one for £ 3.79 (Brand A) and
> another for £ 4.49 (Brand B), which differ only in quality. On
> average, about two-thirds of customers buy Brand A and one-third buy
> Brand B. Problem: Increase total turnover on these items without
> cutting or raising prices. Solution: Introduce a third and better kind
> of wine (Brand C) selling at £ 9.99. It turns out that even though
> very few customers will buy Brand C, about half of those who used to
> buy Brand A will shift to Brand B, thereby increasing total turnover.
>
> http://www.itv.com/news/2016-01-21/s...trade-tonight/
>


I don't see it as a trick though. Adding a premium brand attracts more
customers, adding those that care for the lower end stuff. It did move
a few people from the low to the now mid price. The shift did not
increase total turnover, adding a third option did.