A new topic for tonight – have you seen the latest K-mart ad? I have to say, something about it just isn’t quite right.
Have a look: http://www.kmart.com.au/kmartok#topimage
Fun, right? How much do you want to race on those tiny-sized bikes?? Wait, that’s not the point.
The thing is, these products have to come from somewhere. Aussie Mums are estimating already low prices for products because logic tells them that a microwave takes a certain amount of material, skill, and labour to produce. Those jeans that have been dropped down to ten dollars each were sewn by a person. Have you ever sewn clothes before? If you haven’t, I have a surprise for you. IT’S HARD. I once spent an entire summer in Mum’s rumpus room wreaking total havoc and torturing her 30 year old sewing machine. Want to know the end product? A pinafore. One simple, corduroy pinafore that I probably could have bought from K-mart for ten dollars. The only difference would be that the person swearing and slaving over it probably has a family to feed and is only getting paid a tiny fraction of the ten dollars you oh-so-generously doled out for it.
I don’t mean to be a total downer about this. I don’t know a huge amount about economics, I don’t know a huge amount about K-mart and its ‘ethical sourcing code.’ All I know is that the small amount of information K-mart does provide about its ethical sourcing uses a lot of elusive and vague language. Looks a lot like my resume – leaves you with the feeling that they’re doing a good job even if there’s no proof of it.
What do you think?
“Our aim is to ensure [our suppliers] meet the requirements of the [ethical sourcing] code over time…”
“We aim to audit key vendors once every two years…we recognize that many of our vendors and factories may have already been assessed according to non K-mart audit formats and it is not our intent to conduct audits of their facilities unless we see benefit in doing so.”
“…we rate the risk of our vendors in line with our strategy of providing families with everyday items at the lowest price.”
So…there’s some audits of some vendors…some years. Nice. Providing these products at super-dooper low prices is a priority that’s affecting the basic importance of where they’re coming from.
I guess all I want to say is that while these Aussie Mums were bouncing around on the trampoline and celebrating the surprisingly low prices, I wonder if any of them asked, why? How can K-mart provide me with products at such low prices that it defies logic? Maybe the question hasn’t been asked because some people don’t have the luxury of worrying about families on the other side of the world – they have their own to clothe and feed. I’m certainly not denying that. Maybe some people simply haven’t thought about it. And maybe there’s some out there that KNOW there’s something wrong with this type of commerce. That somewhere, sooner rather than later, there’s going to be a whole bunch of people that lose, big time. Which one are you?
This is the most promising thing I found in K-mart’s ethical sourcing section.
“The expectations of our stakeholders are increasing, and as our business continues to grow we recognize the importance of having sound ethical sourcing standards and practices.”
Stakeholders – that’s us! I don’t know about you, but my expectations sure are increasing. If this quote is true, and K-mart is trying to listen and keep its customers happy – as any savvy business does – we can make a difference. Speak up, and next time you pop into K-mart, or Target or any one of those big brands, just stop for a minute and ask yourself – how? How can the prices stay so low, and who is losing out?
sarahsmeth 