Online Pricing Tips
Price is always important, but does mean that you can’t sell a product unless you sell at a
low price? No, not necessarily. It means you’ll have trouble with sales channels that compare
your product with others based on price, such as eBay, the shopping directories, and merchant
sites. But it’s possible to position your business—on your own web site—in ways that are not
directly related to price. The lowest price does not always get the sale.
- The big merchants have a real brand advantage. Many buyers buy everything at
Amazon, under the (not unreasonable) assumption that it’s a pretty good price, if not
necessarily the best.
- Selection holds value. Web sites that have a wide selection have an advantage; if people
discover a hard-to-find product on your site, they may stop looking.
- Focus is important. Sites that focus tightly on a particular type of product—and have a
wide selection of a very small range of products—have an advantage, too, for the same
reason. It makes the unfindable findable.
- A classy site trumps a trashy site. Trashy sites make buyers feel uneasy. Classy-looking
sites make them feel more comfortable. Even if your product, in your trashy-looking site,
is listed in one of the shopping directories above a product from a really classy-looking site, it probably won’t matter how cheaply you sell; the classy site is getting some (much?) of the business.
- Recommendations count for a lot. If a buyer recommends your site to someone because
they’re so happy with buying from you, you’ll get sales regardless of price.
- Simplicity is good. Making it easy to buy helps turn visitors into buyers. AllAboardToys
.com, for instance, sells products you could buy on Amazon.com if you wished, but they
make it much easier.
- Brand differentiation matters. Look for ways to make your business stand apart.
ShaneCo.com, for instance, a national jewelry chain, doesn’t compete on price directly; it
competes on value and unique designs. They’ve positioned themselves as the price leader
for high-quality jewelry, so they don’t have to compete head to head.
|
