loss leader

noun

Definition of loss leader

: something (such as merchandise) sold at a loss in order to draw customers

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Examples of loss leader in a Sentence

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With no institutional commissions on his résumé, [Johnson] considered the temple a loss leader that would pad his credentials. — Alex Beam, WSJ, "‘The Man in the Glass House’ Review: Throwing Stones at Philip Johnson," 2 Nov. 2018 For Delta, domestic first class was once a loss leader with the majority of seats being filled by free upgrades, but now 60% of the passengers in those seats pay for them. — Alison Sider, WSJ, "Airlines’ Boarding Changes Reward Higher-Paying Travelers," 21 Dec. 2018 But Lowe and company see movie tickets as a loss leader to round up consumers—particularly young consumers. — Kyle Stock, Bloomberg.com, "How Two Million People Loved MoviePass Nearly to Death," 16 May 2018 The Red Sox/Yankees game is likely to be a loss leader. — The Economist, "Major League Baseball makes a pitch to Britain," 10 May 2018 Nonetheless, Spotify still faces tough challenges ahead, including but not limited to competition from international streaming players and from big tech's deep pockets that can afford to leverage music as a marketing loss leader. — Cherie Hu, Billboard, "As Streaming Fuels Music Industry's Growth, More VC & Finance Veterans Move In," 4 Apr. 2018 So, think of pennies and nickels as the Mint’s loss leader. — WSJ, "Should the U.S. Retire the Penny and Nickel?," 18 Mar. 2018 In the end, though, parents could buy the exact same playthings at rivals like Walmart and Target and Amazon, which sometimes used the hottest toys as loss leaders while making it back on their huge array of household goods and groceries. — Bloomberg.com, "Toys ‘R’ Us Files to Shut Down Its U.S. Operations," 15 Mar. 2018 Even the sale of the Japanese chain for $120 million couldn't stop the bleeding as, in addition to debt, loss leader pricing from big box stores, digital piracy and the debut of iTunes all weighed in on Tower’s problems. — Ed Christman, Billboard, "Russ Solomon, Tower Records Founder, Dies at 92," 5 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'loss leader.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.