Rudy, I used to do some retail consulting (home electronics) years ago, and the story is very complicated. Typically retailers get all sorts of incentives from the manufacturers including such things as volume purchase discounts, rapid payment discounts, dating, coop advertising, etc. Depending on how big a chain is, it may or may not use a distributor between itself and the manufacturer. I don't know the story for certain with Compaq, but I would be very surprised if the smaller computer stores don't work through distributors. After all, that's the advantage of being large (like CompUSA etc) -- you cut out the middle man and you get larger profits. Remember also, that most of these outfits pay salespeople commissions.
So while I'm extrapolating from fifteen year old experience, I would be very surprised if the landscape had changes that much.
TTFN,
CTC |
