The Retail Jungle!

If you are in the retail business, whether in a brick and morter store or online, you know there's a constant battle for customer's money. As soon as one competitor makes an offer another comes back with something better. Many of them just fight on price because they don't have much more to offer. They think people will always buy the loewst price which is certainly not true. People buy the Best Value which is what they are receiving for the money they spend. They feel that there's more than a product/service involved in the purchase and look at the perceived value.

Your job as a retailer is to increase that perceived value and be the seller of choice without regard to the lowest price. Many companies have built a good business just selling the low price but their margins are small. If anything goes wrong on a purchase it can eat up all the slim profit and more. It is better in my opinion to be a fair price and provide more value. Ask customers what they really want when they buy your products or service and provide it to them. When a customer is completely satisfied they will not keep looking for the lowest price but come right back to you. The savings you get on less promotion of a low price should more than pay for the increased value.

Barry is a speaker on customer satisfaction amd marking, www.idealetter.com.