The concept of retail has at its basis the presentation of goods or services to a consumer base in the effort to entice the customers to make a purchase. In all the time that capitalism has been in effect, despite its many forms and regulations this basic tenet has not changed. What has made a significant change is the cost related to this shipping of products to retail facilities.
Adjusting the costs for inflation, a gallon of gasoline in 1970 would cost approximately $1.60 compared to its current price of over twice that. But more important than the outright cost of fuel is the inconsistency and inability to control that cost. Unlike most products that adhere to a supply and demand interaction with regard to price, fuel is unique in the introduction of international politics to the equation. In the early 1970s the so called oil crisis was not the result of inadequate supply, but a conscious decision by members of OPEC to reduce production and delivery to the US as punishment for American support to Israel.
In addition to the obvious increase in costs due to gasoline and diesel, packaging products have also increased in price because many of them are made from petroleum as well. Expenses due to paper products have also increased as has the cost of labor. In all, it is simply a much more expensive endeavor to move product than it ever has been in the past.
From the beginning of the nation the notion of delivering packages and mail was an especially important process. The postal service was a mammoth enterprise with a truly nation building impact. Benjamin Franklin became our first postmaster general in 1775, earlier than the signing of the declaration of independence. Unfortunately, mail delivery was not equally available to all Americans.
As things develop, the easiest methods were harnessed first, so people who lived in the cities began receiving official free mail service in 1863. It would be three decades before an organization representing the interests of the farming community could coerce congress into officially launching rural free delivery. But even this new service did not reach all Americans, the west was largely without service.
The quest to provide truly equal delivery of the mail to every part of the US continued as Congress designated first the waterways, then the railways official postal service. The effort was dynamic but disproportionate. Even for the areas East of St Joseph Missouri which marked the end of the early phases of the railway cities received free mail delivery, but farm areas did not. It took the effort of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry a farming advocacy group started in 1867 and 33 years to get the service started.
As it turned out, everyone survived the concept and it became so famous it appeared regularly in TV with the program known as Mayberry R. F. D. Though most fans were unaware of the meaning behind the letters. The concept of free mail delivery began to crumble in 1847 with the introduction of the postage stamp. The young nation realized they needed to find an equitable way to pay for the service and made the use of prepaid postage compulsory in 1855.
In the modern world, anyone thinking about starting up as an entrepreneur had better do their research and cost analysis before they begin. Those that underestimate the expense related to getting whatever their product or service is to the consuming public does so at their peril. Shipping will remain an integral and significant cost to business until we find an alternative to fossil fuels.
Adjusting the costs for inflation, a gallon of gasoline in 1970 would cost approximately $1.60 compared to its current price of over twice that. But more important than the outright cost of fuel is the inconsistency and inability to control that cost. Unlike most products that adhere to a supply and demand interaction with regard to price, fuel is unique in the introduction of international politics to the equation. In the early 1970s the so called oil crisis was not the result of inadequate supply, but a conscious decision by members of OPEC to reduce production and delivery to the US as punishment for American support to Israel.
In addition to the obvious increase in costs due to gasoline and diesel, packaging products have also increased in price because many of them are made from petroleum as well. Expenses due to paper products have also increased as has the cost of labor. In all, it is simply a much more expensive endeavor to move product than it ever has been in the past.
From the beginning of the nation the notion of delivering packages and mail was an especially important process. The postal service was a mammoth enterprise with a truly nation building impact. Benjamin Franklin became our first postmaster general in 1775, earlier than the signing of the declaration of independence. Unfortunately, mail delivery was not equally available to all Americans.
As things develop, the easiest methods were harnessed first, so people who lived in the cities began receiving official free mail service in 1863. It would be three decades before an organization representing the interests of the farming community could coerce congress into officially launching rural free delivery. But even this new service did not reach all Americans, the west was largely without service.
The quest to provide truly equal delivery of the mail to every part of the US continued as Congress designated first the waterways, then the railways official postal service. The effort was dynamic but disproportionate. Even for the areas East of St Joseph Missouri which marked the end of the early phases of the railway cities received free mail delivery, but farm areas did not. It took the effort of the National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry a farming advocacy group started in 1867 and 33 years to get the service started.
As it turned out, everyone survived the concept and it became so famous it appeared regularly in TV with the program known as Mayberry R. F. D. Though most fans were unaware of the meaning behind the letters. The concept of free mail delivery began to crumble in 1847 with the introduction of the postage stamp. The young nation realized they needed to find an equitable way to pay for the service and made the use of prepaid postage compulsory in 1855.
In the modern world, anyone thinking about starting up as an entrepreneur had better do their research and cost analysis before they begin. Those that underestimate the expense related to getting whatever their product or service is to the consuming public does so at their peril. Shipping will remain an integral and significant cost to business until we find an alternative to fossil fuels.
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