Retailer Web Services Digital Advisor Fall 2017 | Page 12

FEATURE
5
T
STEPS TO A
SMARTER
ONLINE
PRICING
STRATEGY
here are few things as important as your pricing
strategy. Get it wrong and your business won’t
survive. Get it mostly right and reaching your
goals will be more difficult than necessary. Get
it right and you will pave a smooth path to success. The
internet and smartphones have enabled consumers
to easily compare prices across dozens of retailers in
mere seconds—even while standing in your store. But
don’t despair! While it’s true the prices you advertise will
be compared, you don’t always have to have the lowest
price to win. You just have to have the smartest one.
At Retailer Web Services (RWS), customers ask for
direction on this topic daily. It’s not surprising given
that the WebFronts platform has dozens of different
options to customize the e-commerce experience with
upsells, cross-sells, delivery calculators, out-of-cart
pricing, zip code restrictions, discount codes, packages
and more. Furthermore, given increasing price volatility
in the marketplace and ever more intricate Online Pricing
Policies from product manufacturers, setting a digital
pricing strategy becomes a complex task.
Every challenging task your business faces, however,
is an opportunity to do it better than your competition.
In the spirit of opportunity, here are five important
considerations to keep top-of-mind when devising your
online pricing strategy:
Commit to price as many products as
possible. RWS’s end-consumer research
found 85 percent of online shoppers will
leave an appliance store’s website and go
to another if pricing isn’t displayed. And if
you’re afraid to show a price on your website because
it might be too high, you can set down that worry once
and for all. Consumers report they automatically assume
the price is too high when prices aren’t displayed. While
showing prices online is extremely important, it doesn’t
have to be all or nothing. You can begin in increments,
e.g., one brand at a time, knowing that showing some
prices is better than none. You can earn returns on your
efforts as you go.
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