If I offer a discount for stationery in my shop it’s me offering the discount. Off the bottom line. Likewise, if I produce a brochure offering the discount I pay for it myself. And, I have no exclusive product traffic generators I can use to leverage interest in the discount offering.
Compare that to our government owned Australia Post. They are offering 10% off all stationery purchases between July 1 and August 31 this year for purchases of $50 or more as long as you have one of their brochures.
Okay, so that’s a fair business practice except that it’s my government competing against me. My shop is directly opposite one of the participating Post offices.
My real gripe with this promotion is that it is promoted through a colour flyer which is 80% about postal products and that means the monopoly postal side of the business probably paid for the flyer. This is a government commercial enterprise benefiting from its government sanctioned monopoly – to the detriment of independently owned small businesses.
The Australian Government ought to divest itself of all Australia Post retail outlets to independently owned small businesses.