Good negotiation is a commendable talent, but businesses need the skills to deal with good negotiators. Protecting your profitability from good negotiators requires ardent compliance to pricing policies, a flexible pricing infrastructure and the ability to say “no”.
Pricing low to gain volume is the oldest move in the pricing playbook; the laws of economics say that as you lower price, volume will go up. Therefore many companies that want to dominate a market, or are in a rush to grow in a new market, will use low prices to achieve their goals (e.g. Walmart, Dell, Private Label).
If a consumer is shopping for an exclusive brand and likes the idea of buying smart, then many would conclude they can save some money by buying online from a country that sells it cheaper. However, the truth is that they probably won’t succeed; at least not online.
An increasing number of clients have been evaluating the Groupon model and trying to assess whether it is right for their business. This is a difficult question that often leaves high-level executives perplexed. In order to make an informed decision, it is essential that you approach this decision in a process-oriented manner.
Netflix has been getting a lot of attention lately for its new pricing strategy. If you have kept an eye on the matter you will have noticed that there is an interesting paradox. Consumers hate it but analysts love it. They may lose as many as 2.5 million customers but profitability should go up.
With the recent launch of the iPad 2, much has been made about Apple’s decision to launch it at the same list price as the original iPad. Unfortunately most of what I have read has skirted what I see as the key pricing questions at the centre of this debate.
