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I used to eat lunch relatively frequently at this vegetarian café I like, Troitsky Most. This café offered two “quick lunch” options: the three-course business lunch for 169 rubles (about $7), or, for 103 rubles (about $4) you could get the “fitness” lunch: the salad of the day, some kind of soup, a grain/pasta dish, and a glass of juice. “Fitness” was a great deal, and wildly popular – just about everyone who went into the café around lunchtime ordered it.
They’ve done away with my fitness lunch.
Further, the fact that they did away with the fitness lunch gave me an insight into the Russian mindset. This is just an idea, so please feel free to argue with me.
I in no way pretend to be a business expert, but it seems to me that if a business has hit on a popular idea, it should do its best to develop and promote that idea – “the people have spoken” and all that. In the case of “fitness,” I think the owners of this café were unhappy with the fact that everyone ordered the 103-ruble lunch instead of the 169-ruble lunch. In America, it seems to me, business owners would look at that and try to do something either to increase sales of the 103-ruble lunch even further, or to make the more expensive lunch more attractive, or perhaps eliminate the less-frequently-ordered 169-ruble lunch. However, in the top-down tradition of Russia, the café has decided to try to force people to order the 169-ruble lunch by simply eliminating the more popular 103-ruble lunch. They’re banking on the fact that people are probably used to going there for lunch and aren’t going to stop just because the cheap lunch is no longer being offered. They’re probably right in that regard, although I’m no longer going to make a special trip all the way to that café anymore; there are cafés closer to school. But I really think their approach to this problem reflects Russia’s long history of strong, centralized power and reform imposed from above that often directly contradicts what the people are saying they want or need. Since this is what people expect to happen, they’ve stopped complaining about such changes and just say, “Well, what can you do?”
Tell me if my idea makes sense or if I sound like a crazy who’s just bitter about losing a cheap vegetarian meal.
1 year ago
4 comments:
Logichno! Pravda, chto inogda Russkie bivayut legkomyslenimi!!!
I agree, Alli. It doesn't seem a shrewd business decision to eliminate your most popular lunch option from the menu. Like you said, find a way to make it sell even more — to compensate for the fact that people don't choose the more expensive option — or make the more expensive option more appealing. It seems to me that simply getting rid of the most popular item on the menu wouldn't fly at most American establishments. People would voice their disappointment by taking their business elsewhere. You might be right that this reflects a different kind of mindset!
Oh dear, I'm sorry, Alli. I know what you have described here is a hardship...but you described it so perfectly that I'm laughing to tears. I don't know much about business either, but I think you've made a pretty good cultural observation. Again, your blog is making me get over my lover's crush on Russia. Also, you SHOWED 'em with your American power...by taking your business elsewhere...too bad that will not be enough to bring back your cheap vegetarian lunch. Yzhasnta =(
Alli
You may be exactly right on your analysis of the lunch situation. There may be another viewpoint, though.
Some businesses put out what they call a "loss leader" which is an inexpensive item often sold at below production cost (the loss)designed to get people in the door (the leader part) where they may be inticed into buying not only the cheap item, but also some of the more profitable items available.
The idea is that the profit on the more expensive item exceeds the loss on the cheap items.
If this lunch spot had such a popular loss leader that it was the only thing selling, or that consumers of the loss leader left no physical room in the building for people who wanted more expensive items, then it makes sense to torpedo the loss leader.
That said, if I had a loss leader with such popularity, I would definately consider raising the price on the loss leader rather than eliminating it and all the customers who had become attached to it.
Each business person must make such choices though. I'm sorry you no longer have a good cheap lunch.
Dadoo
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