There exists greater friction with many of the items in red than the highly automated ones.
My question is how linked is this friction to the lack of automation?
With text books and meat packing there are few players due to consolidation. This means they can avoid investing in automation and keep prices high because they face less resistance from consumers and virtually none from competitors.
In short I’m asking if market forces are to blame for lower automation. And therefore automation is not the root cause of price increases.