Textile industry pricing: comparison with actual jute pillows

[Fellany]

Hi everyone,

I started a new game around mid-January on a regional three-city map, with the entire textile value chain integrated: fiber, fabric, and then home furnishings (cushions, curtains, rugs). Product quality is around 85, brand loyalty is steadily increasing, and yet my market share seems to hit a ceiling as soon as I move into premium positioning. I honestly don't understand why.

Anyway, I approached it the same way I would in my day job as a graphic designer: instead of looking at the unit price, I looked at the breadth of the product range.

While looking for ideas for my living room—I’m redecorating my apartment in Nancy at the moment—I came across a jute pillow collection with 29 different products, ranging from $67.90 to $135.90 depending on the model and style: kilim, braided, bohemian, etc.

Meanwhile, I was selling my in-game cushions for around $40–45...

So, in reality, my supposedly “premium” products were priced well below what you’d find at the actual high end of the market. That really put things into perspective for me.

I increased my prices by 30% and stopped trying to cover the entire market with a single product. That actually helped unlock the situation somewhat.

So my question is: does the game engine actually simulate market segmentation by product range, or are we basically dealing with a global price/quality slider?

Because in the real world, there’s a huge difference between the two when it comes to building a strategy.

Anyway, just sharing my thoughts. Keep up the good work!

[Pietro]

You should post a save game to illustrate maybe ? Prices have gone up with inflation since the 1990's the prices you are mentionning without timeline aren't really indicative.

The game have different parameters to math out the quality of products individually, while products in the same category/range usually have similar stats, it can vary, typically branding has a strong effect on all "apparel" products but even stronger on jeans than on socks. Whereas it will have a low impact on products like livestock.