Availability - Real World - Articles about Israel

Most things are "available in Israel, but the concept of availability has to be understood differently. Anything is available in theory, but not necessarily in the color, size, style or the time that you want it.

The system works as follows: The importer orders a container of your favorite product. He distributes it to various retailers. When one store runs out of an item, a size, a style, he doesn�t replace his stock. He just announces to customers that it doesn't exist. Sometimes, if he feels like it he'll admit that he doesn�t have it. So one retail outlet may have a certain style in stock longer than another. When they do reorder, there�s no guarantee that the same style will be available. After all, the manufacturer may create a different style. So, when you see something that you want you grab it on the spot. You might put it aside until you�re ready to use it, but the product that you need is waiting for you.

Of course, you may never use that item. Yes, in the United States you would buy a product only when you need it because the product will be available whenever you want it. In Israel you buy it whenever it is available.

Then again, there is a different way to achieve a similar goal in the United States. The United States has major sales during certain times of the year, and they encourage consumers to buy things that they do not necessarily need. There is also an issue of conspicuous consumption which affects buying habits, causing people in larger countries to buy things now, even though they will be available later.

In other words, the bottom line might be the same, but for different reasons. In Israel you buy an item because it is available and it is not likely to be available in the same style or design later on. In the United States you buy it because of the way that it is marketed.

Perhaps this also explains why marketing less important and less needed in Israel. You buy things when they are needed. In the United States there is an abundance of products that are readily available, so people might wait until they really need the product. They might realize that they don�t need the latest technological gadget. For that reason the United States places an emphasis placed on marketing.

Marketing affects the price. In effect, the consumer pays for the marketing. If there would be no marketing then there would be a lower price on the product. On the other hand, in Israel there is far less marketing and advertising so that is not an element in the price. Why, then, are prices higher in Israel? There are several reasons:

There are many taxes placed on items, especially those that are imported.
Quantity. An importer is going to buy a limited number of the product for distribution in a small country.

The less he buys, the more he pays per item. Israel is a small country, so wholesalers and importers never buy much of any specific product. The price per item is therefore higher.

At the end of the day, issues of marketing in the United States are more than balanced by Israeli issues of small quantities and taxes.

There�s one more factor.

Greed.

That�s right. In the United States loss leaders might be sold at a low price. The idea is to get people into the store. After people are in the store, there are other marketing considerations, so people may be willing to make a lower profit.

Not so in Israel.

In Israel the people will often set the price high in order to make a greater profit per item. In some cases, since it is the Middle East, people can bargain down the price. In other cases consumers just pay more, and, indeed, some of the richer people in Israel run retail establishments. The people who sell fruits or vegetables in the open air markets like Machane Yehuda can be very rich because of their high profit margin.

Mail order is an option for people in many other countries, but (for various reasons) not every supplier ships to Israel.

Some items are not stocked at all. For example, the importer for high-level digital recorders only imports the inexpensive products. He claims that there's no demand for the expensive ones. I argued with him about his faulty logic and about self-fulfilling prophecies, but to no avail.

Consumers therefore have to settle for inferior recorders or get nothing at all.

As of the time of this writing, transcription units are unheard of in Israel. Major stationery supply houses have never heard of them. For this reason, Israeli transcriptionists have to ask somebody to bring in the equipment from the States.

Similarly, clothes are rarely available in Big or Tall sizes. Have you noticed how tiny and svelte most Israelis are? Well, there are exceptions. True, a slowly growing number of stores may carry an occasional odd lot with some larger sizes, but not everything, and rarely in the style that is needed. Again, people from the States bring clothes as needed.

Those who cannot compromise about a particular item or size must get it from somebody whom they know in another country. That is why some Israelis depend on close contacts, relatives, or friends for gifts - or to help them bring in needed items.

Where do you want to go now?