Importance of Pricing for Consumers & Businesses

In the mind of the consumer there’s always a question — am I going to get enough value out of this product/service if I pay X amount of money for it. Alternatively, consumers can often be presented with the price of a product and think to themselves — if only it was just a bit cheaper. Interestingly enough, the price increase can cause consumers to perceive the value of a given product significantly higher, which is explained in this study from 2015. Another report states that 85% of consumers find the price to be the primary factor when deciding on a purchase. Therefore, the importance of pricing is evident and it’s understandable why business owners need to pay attention to this issue.

The examples above illustrate the fact that price is in most cases the main, if not the only, factor based on which a purchasing decision is made. It is important to answer why this is the case, so you can set your prices in a way that will benefit your business the most. Otherwise, disregarding the importance of pricing can lead to loss of consumers and decreased revenue.

The importance of pricing

The key answer lies in perceived value. To put it simply, if a customer believes spending their money on your product/service will provide them enough value based on their needs, they’ll be happy to make a purchase. This is why, for example, increasing the price of medicines doesn’t decrease demand for them in a major way. The perceived value for a customer’s health is so high that they essentially don’t put a price on it. This also explains why branded apparel can maintain relatively high prices — consumers perceive the brand as a highly valuable status symbol.

Another important thing to have in mind is the fact that many consumers primarily filter goods and services by price when shopping online. This is especially important during times of crises when people resort to much stricter budgeting than usual. Considering the importance of pricing and your customer’s needs should therefore always be on your mind.

Another piece of this puzzle are your competitors. The perceived value of their product may be the same as yours but if their prices are lower, chances are you’ll see your customers spending their money not on your product or service, but rather somewhere else. Understanding consumer behavior and the importance of pricing will enable you to set up a competitive and successful business model.

Bottom line is that pricing is as important as it is complex. It’s a meeting point between businesses and consumers where the needs of both sides need to be taken into account to have a completed purchase.

Three ways to determine the price of your products or services

Essentially, there are three ways you can set up your prices:

1. Cost-based pricing — you base your prices primarily on production costs and desired profit margins. This approach is very simple (and mostly cheap), but can be very risky. There are cases where you could not be making enough sales because you didn’t have consumer’s perspective or competitor’s prices in mind. In other words, you dismissed the importance of pricing while running your business. Or, you could be in a situation where you are missing out on potential profit because you are not aware of the perceived value your product or service has in the eyes of the consumers.
2. Strategic pricing (Competition based) — this approach means that you’ve done some research about your competitors’ prices and that you are using that data to set your prices. At first, this may seem like a good enough approach, but you need to have in mind the fact that even the slightest differences in price may lead customers to the other side. This is especially important in today’s eCommerce era when information is readily available both to consumers and businesses and price comparison has never been easier. This means that more likely than not, you’ll have to find an additional way to persuade consumers to buy your products or services.
3. Value-based pricing — the perceived value of your product in consumers’ eyes is the key concept of this approach. It’s what you base your prices on, so the consumers feel they’ve gotten enough or more than enough value for their money. This pricing model is most appropriate for unique products or services, where market saturation is low. It also requires a solid knowledge of your customers’ wants and needs, and enough creativity to answer them in a way that exceeds their expectations.

Conclusion

It is clear how important, but also difficult, it is to set your prices right. More often than not you can’t be certain if you succeeded in understanding your consumers until your profits start decreasing.

This is why the research and tools which you use are important. One of the most important tools you can use is a price monitoring tool. Decisions you make need to be based on relevant data and a well-grounded understanding of your consumers.

Price2Spy is exactly the tool that fulfills those needs. It is an online service for monitoring prices on various websites and by doing that it does a large amount of work instead of you, thus saving you time and money.

The key hides in knowing your competitors well and knowing the value your product or service provides. Only then will you be able to profit from your value proposition.