I work at Amsterdam Business School (Entrepreneurship department) and I'm starting an independent project on Amsterdam coffeeshops. I had the immense pleasure of skyping with Lemming last spring to learn more and applaud him for this great site
.My project analyzes coffeeshops' menus, examining which strains are sold and at what price. I am using the Coffeeshop Menus website as the primary data source (http://www.coffeeshopmenus.org/CoffeeshopMenus.htm#TOP).
Being relatively new to this sector and to Amsterdam, I am of need of the wisdom of the crowd, particularly if you're a coffeeshop owner or understand some of the dynamics that go into selecting products and pricing them.
- Other than traditional economic explanations (supply and demand), what factors go into the choice of selling a particular product on the menu?
- How do you price a given item? Do you look into how local competitors are pricing it and accordingly go higher or lower?
- Do you perceive all other coffeeshops in Amsterdam as being competitors? Are you friends with other owners and willing to help each other out?
Thanks so much for any reaction to these initial questions.