WHAT IS A MODEL STOCK?
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Four basic principles govern the whole subject of BB’s in
the Model Stock Plan. They are:
1. There shall be at least one BB in each full line.
2. Theoretically, at least, there should be in each class of
goods a BB so distinctive that a customer will not be forced
to buy another class as an alternative, so distinctive that we
shall not lack a real measure by which we can build up the
rest of the line of this special class of goods.
3. Following Rule 2 may at the beginning, at least,
necessitate so many BB’s as to make the management doubt-
ful whether they may not cause losses—that is, may not
sell too many goods at too close a margin of profit.
4. Tt should first be determined, therefore, whether a BB
must necessarily be sold at too close a profit. If the type
of competition is such that it must be sold at too little
profit, then the number of BB’s can be limited, with a mini-
mum of one for each full line, and with a clear understanding
that Rule 2 is to be applied to the fullest practical extent if
the greatest total profit is to be obtained.?
A BB cannot be had for the wishing nor, as a rule, merely
by scouring the market for bargains. Competition can
seldom be profitably outdistanced so easily as that. Con-
structive thought must be put into the development of each
real BB, a sympathetic understanding of customers’ probable
wants, a thorough knowledge of what competitors are offer-
ing, a fair comprehension of the conditions under which
the store so much better that goodwill is built that will probably attract the
customer to the store every time she goes shopping. Also, it makes it
possible for the manufacturer to increase production by reason of our larger
purchases, and thus to pull down his prices and still make a good profit on
his sales to us.
? This question of reducing the number of BB’s must be handled with some
care, because if we maintain a BB in one full line it may have no effect at
all on the other classes of goods in that full line. The buyer should have in
mind that a BB gives a standard by which to shop and to measure all the
other goods in that line; that, also, it is better advertising to get a BB intoa
customer's possession than it is to spend increased sums in bargain adver-
tising; that getting such a BB into the home where it is shown to friends and
other members of the family is really the most effective form of advertising.
Thus we see that the BB opens up advantages that make up for the occasional
necessity of having to sell it too close. We can help our manufacturer make
such savings in waste that we can undersell our competitors without too
small a profit.
