Well, a 20% gross margin on a sale is still better than a non-sale - a lot of business dont realize that you can make the same profit on higher sales with lower gross margins, and that increasing sales volume can also lead to a lowering of costs (greater discounts from suppliers).

I understand the need to keep cumulative gross margins high in order to pay for opex - but applying the target cumulative gross margin to each and every sale is poor business. Airlines and hotels have figured it out, which is why they offer variable pricing.

Innovative retail shops find a way to do this - or a way to not compete on the basis of price by providing some service proposition that cannot be matched by mail order.

V.