Pricing

The balance of power has shifted dramatically away from retailers and firmly to shoppers in recent years, and retail pundits are abuzz with predictions, prognostications and prescriptions for anxious retailers: Focus on in-store experience! Keep prices consistent across all channels! Match competitors’ prices instantly or risk losing your customers! Beware of relying on automated algorithms…

Picture yourself at a farmers market shopping for tomatoes. It’s not something you absolutely need at the moment, and you know your local grocer sells them for much less than the vendor you’re talking to, so you haggle and get a lower price. Alternatively, imagine you stop to purchase apples but you don’t know how…

As virtually all consumer product manufacturers and brand owners by now realize, the world is becoming increasingly e-commerce driven. While this paradigm shift has ushered in numerous opportunities for businesses, it also presents significant challenges. One of the most significant challenges businesses face in this environment is how to effectively enforce minimum advertised price (MAP) policies and uphold brand value in the face of a constant assault from diverters and unauthorized marketplace sellers advertising their products at prices that harm brands. What's becoming clearer each day is that even the most iconic brands must act swiftly and aggressively to preserve downstream sales and overall brand integrity.

Consumers daily purchase decisions are influenced by a number of factors. One of the primary factors is price. From social media to digital ad buying, faster mediums are driving the way consumers are reacting to price. Finding the right price is an age-old discipline in retail, and has evolved over time to incorporate the changing…

Neiman Marcus is taking a step back from its discounting strategy and closing 10 of its 38 Last Call outlet stores. The upscale department store chain wants its Last Call stores to stand out by offering consumers more merchandise from its full-line stores in proportion to the made-for-outlet merchandise that offers higher margins, but isn't…

Neiman Marcus is taking a step back from its discounting strategy and closing 10 of its 38 Last Call outlet stores. The upscale department store chain wants its Last Call stores to stand out by offering consumers more merchandise from its full-line stores in proportion to the made-for-outlet merchandise that offers higher margins, but isn’t […]

Amazon.com may be in hot water over the cost of water. Many consumers are accusing the retailer of price gouging as Hurricane Irma makes its way toward Florida. CBS News reports packages of Nestle water selling for $25 on Amazon, yet the price for the same case of water in the Northeast was $18.50.  Amazon…

Amazon Prime Day marked the marketplace giant’s largest sales day ever, surpassing last year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday. With the growth of online marketplaces such as Amazon.com comes the proliferation of pricing violations. A new study from ORIS finds that third-party sellers on Amazon are undercutting minimum advertised price (MAP) by 13 percent, while…

As technology and globalization continue to fuel mass disruption, a new breed of consumer has emerged — one that's driven by speed, value and experience. This hyperempowered customer has created an array of unique challenges for retailers, many of whom are desperate to capture the attention of the generation who spearheaded this transformation: millennials. With…

As part of its review of Amazon.com's recent purchase of Whole Foods, the Federal Trade Commission is looking into allegations that the retailer misleads customers about its pricing discounts, a source told Reuters on Thursday. The FTC is probing a complaint brought by the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, which reviewed some 1,000 products on Amazon's…