Posts Tagged ‘Pricing’

Should You Be Upfront About Your Pricing?

Thursday, May 26th, 2022

A recent LinkedIn question resonated with me—”Why don’t people like to talk about pricing UPFRONT?” Why indeed?

Have you ever been frustrated when trying to make a purchase decision because you can’t get pricing information from coy salespeople or cryptic web sites? In my opinion, (more…)

General Mills Boosts Earnings by Raising Prices

Tuesday, June 18th, 2019

by Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA

 

Where to price products and services is a key part of any business’s marketing and finance strategies. Economic theory includes multiple strategies for pricing, depending on broader business goals. For example, a company looking to maximize profit will try to set its marginal revenue—the revenue received from one additional unit of sale—equal to marginal cost (the cost associated with one additional unit of sale). A company trying to maximize sales will focus on average costs and revenue. The point where they meet is the sales maximizing point.

Of course, these are economic theories, and how these strategies play out in the real world is anything but certain.

(more…)

The Power of Suppliers: Are You At Risk?

Tuesday, April 18th, 2017

Michael Porter’s Five Forces framework uses industrial organization economics to evaluate the attractiveness of an industry based on the overall level of competition within that industry. The more competitive an industry, the lower profits will be. Conversely, an industry with little competition is likely to be more profitable and, therefore, more attractive. We’ve already written on the Porter’s Five Forces generally. Now we’re looking at each of the forces individually and in greater detail. Today we’re taking a closer look at the supplier power. (more…)

Think Before You Give That Next Customer Discount

Thursday, January 29th, 2015

A few years ago I was lamenting my cable bill with a friend who told me she had recently told her cable company she wanted to cancel her service because, based on how little she watched TV, she couldn’t justify the monthly fee. Rather than lose a customer, the cable company offered a steep discount. I’ve heard of others who have used the same strategy successfully.

I recently came across a Harvard Business Review piece called “The Downside of Discounts,” which reminded me of these cable company discounts. (more…)

To Discount or Not to Discount – An Age-Old Question With No Easy Answers

Thursday, July 11th, 2013

Pricing is a complex issue for any organization or business and one of the key considerations that organizations must make is whether to discount what they have to offer. Even the “big guys” sometimes get it wrong. Consider J.C. Penney’s recent missteps with their move away from discounts under short-lived CEO Ron Johnson. Pricing is one of (more…)