Sure most discount retailers are impacted by inflation; however, a lot of what is going on right now is based on supply chain issues and larger companies taking advantage of the current political and unstable health environment. As far as inflation, specifically of course, businesses that sell at the lower price levels or provide free benefits are affected because there is not much room to make up for any minor or major variables. So companies have to make a decision on how long the situation may persist and whether or not to raise prices or take smaller margins and/or losses. We've decided with our Dollar Fanatic aka DollarFanatic.com service to try to wait it out, because the current situation for us is a lose-lose proposition. We can't raise prices very much without turning off most of our customers, we can't get rid of Free Shipping on orders of $35 or more without losing most of our customers, and there is not enough margin with all the increases in Shipping & Handling cost to ride it out long enough to not damage the business.
Along with other adjustments we are adding more purchase limits to categories like personal care products that are impacted the most directly by inflation and supply chain issues. Our overall calculation is either the current environment will change soon, or we need to offset the lower margins with increased volume. We're hoping we will be rewarded by not only maintaining our prices and continuing to offer Free Shipping options, but also by customers shopping more, leaving tips, and/or spreading the word that their friends and family should shop with us.
