Forum Moderators: buckworks
After a lot of research Im sure my prices are already amongst the lowest on the market and I offer free shipping so Im pretty confident that I wouldn't have a customer use it often if at all but has anyone who has tried it actually seen an increase in sales? Does it make any difference at all?
Yes, it made our lives miserable. Years ago we tried this and we were swamped with people making claims they found it cheaper here or there. Of course we had to take the time to research to see if it was cheaper, 99% of the time we were already cheaper when you factored in shipping which was clearly stated on our policy. But the time we spent on all this was not worth it, at least for us.
Prospect: My local store will give me a 10% discount - will you match it?
Me: Nope.
Prospect: Okay...well...I'm going to order from you anyway. I just don't trust the local guy.
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Always remember that money is NOT everything...and the people who think it is tend to be headaches after the sale.
However, OP already has lowest pricing in his market, and the question was:
has anyone who has tried it actually seen an increase in sales? Does it make any difference at all?
"we will not be undersold" guarantee does work to make 'em click the holy buy button.
But, try it yourself, either by running two separate campaigns (one with guarantee and one without), or run campaign for a while and compare sales vs. traffic.
Split test it... each niche is different.
We just implemented a Price Match Guarantee not long ago to combat a MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) challenge. We had our first match last week. But, ours is a little different. Read on...
We're forced into MAP by the manufacturer and we are one of the more prominent Mom and Pop distributors. The manufacturer wasn't enforcing it's MAP policy to the level required. So, to combat this issue which has affected sales, we now let the consumer find the offending distributors not adhering to MAP restrictions.
Has it worked? Too soon to tell. We have uncovered another distributor who is violating the MAP, that was part of the Price Match Guarantee solution, weed out the MAP violators and level the playing field. We offer Free Shipping in the Continental U.S. on those MAP products which usually equates to a 12-20% discount depending on the item. It's a tough sell although the Free Shipping has been proven to be an effective selling tool. Especially when prices are NOT padded to recoup shipping costs, that is foul play if you ask me and many do it.
Does it make a difference? Personally speaking? Yes. I've called Circuit City on their Price Match Guarantee a few times. Before they went out of business. ;)
If I find widget xyz at company B and come to you and ask you to price match it, That says I want to shop with you in preference to company B. If you already have that kind of company awareness maybe a different type of guarantee not based on price would be better.
I think when offering a guarantee you have to be able to back it up in all cases otherwise it looks as if you are trying to scam me out of my hard earned money. Fine print is always a big turnoff.
As another poster said testing is the key to find out what works best.
maybe you have 20,000 purchases a month and if 3% or even 10% took you up on the price match, what would that mean to your bottom line?
Another thing to note, it is far easier to keep a customer then it is to get a new one.
Another thing to note, it is far easier to keep a customer then it is to get a new one.
I had a sneaky one of these recently which I did not realize what was going on until afterwards.
You don't buy everything from office depot, sometimes quill is preferred.
Granted there will be exceptions such as you had a bad experience for one reason or another but if you had a satisfactory outcome you would shop at that location again. Would that be a fair assumption?
I know some who tried to target repeat customer bases, in vain
I can see that in some fields where the products are long term purchases. For instance if I buy a water softener I expect that to last for atleast 10 years. As a business you have to get a new customer tomorrow so you can eat. If however you also sell the salt for the water softener then I will make monthly purchases from you because of the previous trust that has been established.
imo once you get a customer you have passed the litmus test so-to-speak. Somehow in your message you have made them trust you to the point they are willing to give you money. Once you have established that trust it is easier to maintain it then to try and build trust with a new prospect or client.
You will find yourself or your company having to constantly look at your profit margins and keep up with research on the web so you can keep the calls to a minimum (I imagine they would become annoying if you were taking calls for price matching or refunds while other people were attempting to call telephone orders in).
Will it attract customers? Yes it will, but on the flip side (what we do) is to monitor sales by item. If an item stops moving (Because someone is selling it for less) we just put it on sale at a lower price and move it. A lot less work when you do things that way and people love to look at sales specials online for deals.
Are the telephone calls and the credit card fees for refunding people really worth it and do you have the extra staffing to handle it? That is what you really have to ask yourself. A large business such as a walmart, kmart, etc.. have the staffing to do it, but a smaller business might not.You will find yourself or your company having to constantly look at your profit margins and keep up with research on the web so you can keep the calls to a minimum (I imagine they would become annoying if you were taking calls for price matching or refunds while other people were attempting to call telephone orders in).
Will it attract customers? Yes it will, but on the flip side (what we do) is to monitor sales by item. If an item stops moving (Because someone is selling it for less) we just put it on sale at a lower price and move it. A lot less work when you do things that way and people love to look at sales specials online for deals.
And this is the exact reasoning as to why we would not offer price guarantees. Many of our competitors do and we have notice that they have needed to lower pricing to a level that is at or below cost. Seems like a recipe for disaster but what do I know...
Could you give me an example of the niche this type of model works for?
It's google (or Bing ?) that will provide (to at least 50% customers) a list of 10 vendors (page 1) from whom to buy.
Yes, If the original seller will be in the list, he would have a better chance to get the deal again.
Funny thing is that they are not the lowest price on a lot of things. Makes me wonder.
The secret about selling is not about how well you are priced on the internet, it is about how easily your company and website is found on the internet and how much web traffic you get.
However, this strategy might not work so well if your brand is not known.
As was said above, just test it to see what happens!
