Final answer:
Discount stores such as Target, Kohl's, or Walmart sell products at lower prices by focusing on efficiency and calculability in operations. Walmart's functionalist business model, which involves reducing costs by pressuring vendors, aligns with the concept of McDonaldization, promoting predictability and control. Historically, the emergence of department stores and mail-order houses marked the modern patterns of buying fixed-price goods and a standardization of consumer culture.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Discount Retail Models
Discount stores like Target, Kohl's, or Walmart are able to sell standard merchandise at lower prices by accepting certain trade-offs. These trade-offs typically involve a focus on efficiency and calculability in their operations. Efficiency is achieved through streamlined processes, where products may be mass-produced or staff may perform tasks such as slicing meats and cheese to save time and labor costs. Calculability involves methods such as selling goods by weight which allows consumers to know exactly what they are paying for, ensuring consistency and predictability of pricing.
Within the realm of a functionalist perspective, Walmart's business model of pressuring vendors to provide the lowest possible prices in order to offer discounts to customers in core nations is seen as a way of maximizing efficiency and ensuring widespread access to goods. This approach, often referred to as McDonaldization, emphasizes aspects like predictability in consumer experience and control over various elements of the business, including employee actions and store environment.
Historically, advances in transportation and communication led to a transformation in customer experience, as exemplified by companies like The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company, John Wanamaker, and Woolworth's, who all contributed to the development of the modern retail store where fixed prices and a variety of goods were offered. This gave rise to the era of department stores and mail-order houses, giving consumers across vast regions access to similar products. This standardization of consumer goods further fostered a national identity and consumer culture.
When a shopper finds a product at a price lower than expected, an economist would refer to this as obtaining a 'good deal'.