ecommerce, should we price match?

we have a brick and morter store but also have an online business. We have found that we are getting requests to price match. Some of the price match requests are for internet only shops which of course have less overhead.

What are your thoughts on price matching. We are having a heated discussion over this internally. Some say we offer better service so don't price match. Others say we must price match because the internet competition is not going away. My thoughts are if we price match, we will get the orders instead of the competition plus if we keep this up, the competition will not survive because we are getting the orders.

What are your thoughts?

 

Well, one thought is if you can still make a profit and match lower prices, then go for it.

Another thought is, especially if they're big ticket items, emphasize the extra service, special care given (if it's true), and tell the customer they are paying a little bit more, but that they're getting all these extra benefits (list them) along with that.

 

I agree to emphasize on the service. Set your prices so that they are competitive and then aim to give your customers the best experience possible. There will always be someone that prices products lower, but if you can set yourself apart for the best service, shipping prices, shipping speed, customer support etc. people will come to you. Make sure your website design and usability back up the idea of you being the best.

If you really want to talk about tough pricing, we have several competitors that price products so that they will loose money on them, in an attempt to get a businesses service after the purchase is made. That's a hard one to compete with on a straight price level...

 

I do not like price matching. I never pursue it from a seller because it is a hassle. I expect the retailer to put their best foot forward. If they do not, I shop elsewhere, plain and simple.

I also think that if you are selling something which does not require much, if any after market service, you need to be competitively priced to attract business on the internet. Similarly, if your internet market is to more sophisticated consumers of the product, you need to be price competitive.

If the product needs after market service, I prefer to shop at a brick and mortar store.

The more unique your product and service, the less need there is to be competitive. In my market niche, I sell my product at double the price of my main competitiors. IMHO, their products are less than a quarter as good. If I match their price, my business will not double. It might only go up by 5% or 10%.

One reason, is that not everyone is my customer. Even at zero margin, those people are not my customer. They may use my price to try to get the people they prefer to deal with to lower their price, but they will never shop with me. Some will not move even though I refuse to price match. I have the package they want, the others do not.

 

thanks for the info. Please keep it coming...

In my market, my products are not unique. My competitors sell the same exact items we do.

Now we can push our customer service and fast shipping. Many of my competitors only drop ship, they stock nothing. They are using some of the big distributors for drop shipping and it gives them the apperance of a large inventory.

Some of these competitors do not even list their address and phone number of their website. Yet they still get orders.

 

Most of the larger companies do not price match over internet prices. I would say don't price match because you have much more overhead as a brick and mortar business than an online business.

And most people realize that

 

Well, a lot of people don't care about phone numbers or addresses. They care about finding the cheapest price possible.

Sometimes it ends up nipping them in the butt, yes.

 

sknydave,

I call this the walmart mentality. They want the cheapest price. But they will also be the first to complain if their is a problem with the service.

It's a double edge sword. If we don't price match, we don't get the order and the competition does. If we do price match then we don't make enough profit to cover the overhead.

That said, if you get 1000 small profit orders, it might make it worth doing.

Still unsure which way to go here.

 

Here's an idea, create another store on another domain and let it be "find the cheapest price possible with absolutely no customer service" and advertise it on your main store. That way if people come there and have the "walmart mentality" then they can go over and by it at the cheaper store. Some people want cheap & no service and others want service & a decent price. You might be able to make something like that work and get orders from people with both mentalities. That's what major brands do, they have their top-notch product, and they themselves make the knock-off product too, to try to satisfy everybody. Think Craftsman - Black & Decker.

 

I wouldn't price match internet prices. I know that here, where I am, companies that price match will only match the prices of other local stores and I think it might be the same just about anywhere you go. That's because they know a little secret: Shoppers want instant gratification. If we didn't, we would have just placed the order for the cheaper product online and waited patiently, right? So.. just say no, offer excellent service, and be sweet even when they leave, because often they'll be right back.
(I learned that in a marketing class from a company I used to work for )

To ease your customers pain from failure to negotiate, you might offer a coupon for a certain percentage off (like what you might normally mark something down to, if you were having a sale). That way, if they don't purchase right away, they have your coupon as a reminder that you're there, helpful and ready for their business.

 

I do not think we should price match. Afterall the most important thing is visibility to our clients. For example a great writing service like Writings Bay is not that popular, while some are popular just because of hier SE position. And the price does not matter.