[Grammar] "Risk" in doing something

[Kengo]

Hello people,

I have a question about this following sentence that I read at my language school today.

"The marketing planner pointed out the risk that merchants face in depending on discounts to attract customers."

My teacher (Japanese, not a native English speaker) interpreted it into my language like:
The marketing planner pointed out merchants face the risk of depending on discounts to attract customers.

I once thought her translation was correct, but thinking it over, I've come to wonder now.
Does this sentence say exactly what "the risk" is?
The original sentence sounds to me like the risk could be anything that happens in the situation where merchants depend on discounts as their only way to attract customers.
So the way I see it, the risk could be anything like excessive discounting, very little profiting, or sacrificing product quality.

Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Kengo]

Merchants face the risk of depending on discounts to attract customers.
The risk the merchants face is depending on discounts to attract customers.

Hi Gillnetter,
Thanks for your response.

As you agree with my teacher, I see those two sentences match each other.
I've taken out this sentence in question from a longer article so I had some more information to imagine further from. (Sorry if my mere imagination caused unnecessary confusion)

Let me simplify my question:
Is the original sentence grammatically good to mean the same as the two sentences?

One reason why I don't feel clear is that I've always learnt the word "risk" should be followed by the preposition "of".
And "in" makes me think of the circumstances in which the merchants have to face the risk. That way it doesn't seem to be clarified what the risk is...

 

[Kengo]

Hmmm....who taught you that rule? Let's go into risk first.
If the day is warm I'll risk it and go swimming.
It's not really a risk to go underwater.
Do you want me to risk all of my money on that deal?
It may sound like a risk but your money will be secure.
It was a risk that he could take.

Thanks for the examples. I understand them all fine.
But they all appear to be different sentence patterns and I can put the original sentence into those patterns myself.

To pinpoint what I don't understand... What does the "in" represent?
I cannot be quite convinced that "the risk = relying on discounts" in the original sentence.

 

[freezeframe]

"The marketing planner pointed out the risk that merchants face in depending on discounts to attract customers."

My teacher (Japanese, not a native English speaker) interpreted it into my language like:
The marketing planner pointed out merchants face the risk of depending on discounts to attract customers.

I see where your reservations are coming from. It can very well be argued that these sentences mean somewhat different things. One way to interpret this is:

The marketing planner pointed out the risk that merchants face in depending on discounts to attract customers = by depending on discounts to attract customers, the merchants face certain risks

The marketing planner pointed out merchants face the risk of depending on discounts to attract customers = the merchants are at risk of becoming dependent on discounts to attract customers

 

[Kengo]

I see where your reservations are coming from. It can very well be argued that these sentences mean somewhat different things. One way to interpret this is:

The marketing planner pointed out the risk that merchants face in depending on discounts to attract customers = by depending on discounts to attract customers, the merchants face certain risks

The marketing planner pointed out merchants face the risk of depending on discounts to attract customers = the merchants are at risk of becoming dependent on discounts to attract customers

Hi freezeframe
Thanks for your response.

Yes, that's exactly what's concerned me...!! I learn how to ask a question here.
So, my view is that my teacher's translation is not either 100% wrong or correct as the the risk(s) the merchants face is not clearly identified and the only given thing that can be risky is their dependence on discounts.

Any other opinions would be great to hear.