Pricing

The idea of big savings for consumers on Black Friday may be nothing more than a "myth," according to a firm that specializes in tracking price points on behalf of the retail industry. 360pi Corp. is an Ottawa startup that tracked and recorded the pricing of more than 8,000 items offered at mainstream U.S. retailers between Nov. 15 and Dec. 2, a period that included last week's Black Friday sales. What the firm found was that not only are prices not competitive with those online, in some cases retailers raised average prices in anticipation of Black Friday shopping mobs.

Retailer Toys"R"Us has agreed to pay more than $178,000 to settle claims of overpricing errors at its stores in San Diego and Los Angeles counties, prosecutors announced Monday. Inspections by county and state agencies checking on accuracy of prices at Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us stores in the two counties from late 2009 to mid-2012 uncovered what the San Diego County District Attorney's Office called "a significant pattern of inaccuracies." Inspectors bought more than 4,150 items in the probe. The stores overcharged in 5 percent of the purchases, authorities said. 

Amazon.com has the best price on products in its assortment about 80 percent of the time. However, the new "Amazon Holiday Pricing Insights" analysis from pricing technology provider 360pi shows that Amazon does have weak spots, and that retailers can compete with the online giant, especially if they can beat Amazon on other nonprice purchase factors. For example, once Home Depot decided to be price competitive on Oct. 26, it was instantly and dynamically able to beat Amazon prices on power drills. 

Treadmills for $33? Computer monitors for $9? The deals were even too good to be true — even for Wal-Mart. The megaretailer said a "technical error" caused certain products to be priced absurdly low or high on its website early Wednesday morning. By Wednesday evening, the discounter had fixed the glitch and decided to cancel the orders of customers who were able to snag the items at steep discounts.

Savvy shoppers across Britain are anxious to see if their Asda grocery deliveries will arrive on Friday, after cashing in £50 ($80) vouchers accidentally issued by the supermarket. The Wal-Mart-owned chain launched a deal on Thursday which gave shoppers £50 off online grocery orders. Bargain hunters were quick to take advantage of the offer, adding £50 worth of goods to their basket, paying only for the delivery charge. News of the deal went viral on Twitter — with hashtags including #AsdaGate and #SupermarketSweep becoming popular — and Asda's website crashed as a result of the traffic.

Staples is offering an added incentive to drive traffic to its stores this holiday season. Starting Nov. 3, the retailer will match prices on items sold and shipped by Amazon.com or any retailer that sells products in retail stores and online under the same brand. "Staples is committed to offering great products at the best prices," said Alison Corcoran, senior vice president of North American stores and online marketing. "Staples customers will be able to shop confidently during the holiday season and beyond knowing that we're providing them with all the right products and must-have gifts at the lowest prices."

Last week, former flash-sale site Fab.com laid off an additional 101 workers in an attempt to shed its former deal-oriented identity and to help position itself on the path to profitability. It's clear that consumers are tiring of the flash-sale model because what used to feel special no longer does and the sales these sites offer are starting to feel fishy. As one Gawker commenter points out, plenty of "deals" are nothing of the sort. 

It's difficult to think of many retailers with which Amazon.com doesn't compete. Despite what's seemed like a friendly relationship, office supplies retailer Staples may be preparing to take aim at the e-commerce giant during the holiday shopping season. An EcommerceBytes reader forwarded part of a survey Staples is conducting about the effectiveness of various advertisements. One question shows two ads and asks which one would make the respondent shop Staples more often — the ad with the words "price match guarantee" or the ad with the words "We'll Match Amazon's prices."

Apparel and accessories label Rebecca Minkoff is boosting digital promotions for its fall 2013 collection to target its younger, digital-savvy customers. The label is placing a large emphasis on its digital promotions for this collection, which it has also been sharing on social media. Promoting new collections through digital platforms can help brands reach target consumers in a cost-effective way. "It is not unusual for a brand to focus its attention on one media over another, to measure the results and adjust the

J.Crew has been plotting its U.K. expansion for a while. The company launched a U.K. website in 2011, and later this year it plans to open its first store in London. But the Sunday Times discovered something curious about the British version of J.Crew: the same clothes are offered at prices much higher than at the U.S. J.Crew. Around 40 percent higher, on average. If you browse J.Crew's website with the country set to the United Kingdom, you can see this price difference for yourself.