CVS Is Turning Locked Shelves Into an Excuse to Make You Download Its App

[randomcruft@lemmy.sdf.org]

Make profit machine go brrrrr!

[villainy@lemmy.world]

It took Valve years to build Steam into the juggernaut it is based on maximizing customer value and minimizing friction. Years! Like multiple of them! Who has time for that! I need my profits this quarter!

[partial_accumen@lemmy.world]

I remember Service Merchandise! That conveyor belt delivered magic.

[theminions@lemmy.world]

As someone who has a BS in Business, yes they taught this in business.

Similarly we had case studies on Wal-mart’s absolute domination of the logistics game which made them a powerhouse in the “before Amazon” times.

[lumelore@lemmy.blahaj.zone]

Please use local drug stores. The chain stores are absolutely ripping you the fuck off.

[john89@lemmy.ca]

Why do people buy anything besides drugs at a CVS?

[john89@lemmy.ca]

Are they?

I think using goodrx.com has given me the best results to save money on drugs.

[taladar@sh.itjust.works]

They got killed by making it inconvenient to use legally purchased media by adding unskippable trailers, copy protection, things like the Sony rootkit,... and also empty boxes on the shelves with the actual media hidden behind the counter.

Making life harder for people trying to buy your product is never a good idea.

[taladar@sh.itjust.works]

Oh, don't get me wrong. Aldi's owners still very much got rich off it (they are among the richest people in Germany) so they are not great in that respect either.

[lennivelkant@discuss.tchncs.de]

I don't think local drug stores can afford to be cheaper than a big corporate chain. But the pricing isn't the point, it's fostering competition against corporate monopolies.

Remember that the single purpose of corporations is to make more and more money. By their mandate to their shareholders, all measure of humanity is pushed into the background in favour of growth. The ultimate goal in that pursuit is monopoly: Being the sole supplier for their customers would allow them to dictate sales prices while being the biggest or even sole customer for their suppliers would give them leverage to shift prices in their favour. Their capital backing allows them to cushion out fluctuations in revenue and take losses, so they can afford to underprice and drive out competition, then crank up the enshittification to extort more money from their customers.

A (comparatively smaller) local store has less leverage to enshittify and exploit. Investing in their higher prices is an investment against that enshittification.

[etterra@discuss.online]

I didn't know they sold cocaine.

[sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works]

Wow, three strikes, one after the other. If I have to use my phone in a store, I'll be looking up directions to a competitor. I'm not jumping through hoops to buy stuff.

[byteonbikes@slrpnk.net]

They do. It's the secret aisle, behind the store. Ask for Kenny.

[byteonbikes@slrpnk.net]

(me wishing CVS/Rite aid/Walgreens didn't destroy all the mom and pop drug stores)

[wooki@lemmy.world]

Its 2024and you go to Mcdonalds drivethrough. First thing you hear:

Whats your order code

No good morning. Its straight to whats the order code for the app on your phone.

Thankfully you can be equally rude back and place your order.

Next year though? Dont expect the human to stay around for long.

Line mus go up!

[john89@lemmy.ca]

I don’t think local drug stores can afford to be cheaper than a big corporate chain.

Sure they can! It's not like their owners are surviving off of beans and rice, lol.

[lennivelkant@discuss.tchncs.de]

No, but their owners don't have the bulk buying power to negotiate for better prices with suppliers, the centralised management making the per-store-overhead more efficient, the employment power to push wages, the capital backing to run low prices without risking a bad month leaving a noticeable dent in their liquid assets or even run at a loss for as long as it takes for "lowest price" customers to flock to their stores and drive the local stores out of business.

[slampisko@lemmy.world]

To be fair, if you're buying drugs in the US, you're probably getting ripped off by default

[slumberlust@lemmy.world]

These still exist in Ireland. Argos is a big one.

[grumpyduckling@sh.itjust.works]

The strategy for these drug stores was to make themselves the closest option in a lot of neighborhoods. It didn't work, but they thought it would.