A选项

问题如下：

Steve is evaluating the characteristics of the women’s retail shoes industry. He finds few barriers to new retail entrants, high intra-industry rivalry among retailers, low product substitution costs for customers and a large number of wholesale shoes suppliers. Which of the following characteristics of women’s shoes retailing would positively affect its profitability?

选项：

A.

substitution costs.

B.

number of suppliers

C.

entry costs

解释：

B is correct.

考点：Competitive Position analysis

解析：B是正确的。女鞋零售鞋业的特点是有大量的批发供应商。当行业存在大量原材料供应商时，供应商之间的竞争会限制他们提高原材料价格的能力。因此，上游原材料供应商越多下游女鞋零售行业盈利能力越强。