Category Archives: Pricing

Is your price too low?

Posted on March 27, 2012 by

Pricing strategies are a challenge … especially in today’s hyper-competitive and transparent marketplace. Using price to induce trial is a subset of an overall pricing strategy. Many people believe that you can make an “offer they can’t refuse” to induce … Continue reading →

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Where’s the value add?

Posted on December 6, 2011 by

A recent article in the November 28, 2011 issue of Business Week, “Even Better Than the Real Thing,” focused on the rise of private label sales in retail grocery during this downturn, and the increased focus these house brands are … Continue reading →

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Niches in stiches

Posted on August 4, 2011 by

What can customers buy from your company they can’t buy, or at least don’t think they can buy, from anyone else? Most companies can’t answer that question and still want to charge higher prices than their competitors. Scott Morrison, of … Continue reading →

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If people were rational, prices would be too

Posted on May 12, 2011 by

Despite the beliefs of economists to the contrary, Kahneman & Taversky proved convincingly that human beings were not rational when it comes to prices. This point was driven home to me again when looking at Vodka. The U.S. Government defines Vodka by code as … Continue reading →

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More money than brains x2

Posted on May 10, 2011 by

Microsoft is buying Skype for $8B or more. Why? eBay bought Skype (well most of it) in 2005 for $3.1B and sold most of what it owned fo $2B in 2009 after losing money. Skype has lots of users who generated 95 … Continue reading →

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It’s simple if you think about it

Posted on April 5, 2011 by

Several years ago I read about two candy stores that were across the street from each other. Both sold pretty much the same things and most of their sales were bulk candy to kids. The kids referred to one of … Continue reading →

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The recession has returned to normal

Posted on November 24, 2010 by

The recession which started at the end of 2008 was different from almost all earlier downturns in that consumers at all income levels cut back spending dramatically. Both high-end stores and mid-range stores lost sales, while the low-end held up for the most part. … Continue reading →

Posted in Down economy, Pricing | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

About that Staples Warranty

Posted on July 27, 2010 by

Well, I finally RTFM (or brochure – I have an excuse: I’m a guy; we don’t RFMs) and it turns out that you get your Warranty purchase price back, not in real (that is cash) money, but in a Staples … Continue reading →

Posted in customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, Pricing, retail | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Free Warranties

Posted on July 25, 2010 by

My wife bought a new computer today at Staples.  When the sales person offered the 2-year extended warranty, she was ready to turn it down, but then he said that Staples has a new policy: if you don’t use the … Continue reading →

Posted in consumer electronics, customer service, Down economy, Innovation, Pricing, retail | 1 Comment

To bundle or unbundle: that is the question

Posted on April 7, 2010 by

Spirit Airlines announced yesterday they are going to charge for carry-on bags. Horrors, is nothing sacred? At first glance this approach might seem harsh. Or mercenary, or stupid. On further observation, maybe not. The goal of most air travelers is … Continue reading →

Posted in airlines, Pricing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment