When Jared Fisher discovered that his main supplier of electric bikes increased its prices by 10%, he had the choice to do: eat the cost or transmit it to his customers.
“If you cut 10% on the sidelines of a bicycle, you could just as easily prepare for your outing strategy for your business because you will not be able to work,” said Fisher, who has several bike stores in Nevada and UTAH, told Business Insider. “There is no way.”
Instead, Fisher decided to be transparent with its customers on the reasons why prices increased on some of its products. He added a new line element directly to the price labels on bikes suspended in his stores. On a bike, it sells $ 7,999, the price now shows a “government pricing load” of an additional $ 300.
“I have no problem to label where this tax comes from my products,” he said. “People need to know it, so I have a chance to fight on my side.”
On April 2, President Donald Trump imposed a reference rate of 10% on all imports in the United States, as well as additional rates on dozens of business partners. Although some of the highest rates – with the exception of people in China and some in Mexico and Canada – are on a break, the 10% scanning prices are still in place. And prices are starting to increase.
Brick and mortar retailers online, many told Business Insider that prices force them to transmit costs to consumers, and it is not because they want.
To worsen things for small operations, they do not have the same negotiation power as suppliers or cash flows as the largest retailers like Walmart. Suppliers of certain manufacturing poles such as China also see increasingly stimulating margins to help absorb the price shock.
“Small businesses are essentially in danger of going bankrupt because of these high prices,” said Babson College Babson College and a venture capital, and they are trying to preserve their customers’ confidence by being very transparent about the reasons why they increase prices. “”
“Maybe they will lose customers due to higher rates, but at least be transparent will help reduce damage,” added Cohan.
Large companies may also have taken into account such transparency measures. After the information according to which Amazon will start to display the amount of prices which contribute to the price of goods on its platform, the press secretary of the White House, Karoline Leavitt, described the idea of ”hostile and political law”. The electronic commerce giant denied that it planned to display the cost of prices, claiming that its low -cost section, transporting, considered it for certain items but then abandoned the idea.
The Chinese fashion giants rapid Shein and TEMU – the most affected by 145% prices on China and the minimus exemptions canceled – have published identical customer reviews on their websites, claiming that there will be “prices adjustments” because their “operating expenses have increased” under “recent changes in global trade rules and prices.
At the end of April, TEMU began to add “import costs” to the cash register, which can double the price of the item. In May, the main website of TEMU seemed to have prevented American customers from seeing the products shipped from China, and the site is filled with products marked “local” to signify that they are in a warehouse in the United States.
“Showing pricing costs directly on product pages can provide strategic advantages for platforms like Temu and Shein,” said Bi Nasim Mousavi, assistant professor at Georgia State University Robinson College of Business. “By diverting the prices, these platforms the price of the frame increases following an external policy rather than their own price decisions.”
“This transparency can improve customer confidence, strengthen a value-focused brand image and promote the perception that the platform recommends on behalf of the consumer,” added Mousavi.
According to a survey of 1,850 American adult citizens conducted between May 2 and 5 by the economist and Yougov, 75% of those questioned think that Trump prices will increase their prices, and 61% would like companies to display the amount of purchase prices that will pay the prices.
“The obvious reason why the White House would not want companies to display tariff costs is because it is obvious to what extent their policy costs consumers,” said Cohan. “This will drive out the survey notes because consumers will be extremely aware of the more quantity they pay and who forces them to pay it.”
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