Great piece today on R4 on the "team shopping" phenomenon in China: individual consumers team together, to negotiate discounts on things they all want to buy (e.g. decorating materials).
Made me think 3 things (it's always 3 isn't it?)
1. How asian cultures are more happily collective
2. How we've assumed folk from such cultures need "liberating" with democracy (and our other cultural totems)
3. How the trick that Costco etc have missed is getting their "members" to see and connect with each other...now that would be powerful (even for us I-obsessives...)