• What is pricing and pricing?
• What types of the concept of “price” exist?
• For what purposes is pricing required?
• What factors influence the price.
• What pricing principles are used for goods?
• What value creation strategies are popular.
• What categories are pricing methods divided into?

Pricing is the process of determining the cost of goods and services offered by a company. Today there are such types of pricing as market and centralized, also known as state pricing. Each manager must clearly understand which pricing path is suitable for his company. In this article, we have collected for you everything you need to know about the main pricing methods.

Concept of price and pricing

In short, price and pricing are some of the most important concepts in the entire market economy. If there are no difficulties in determining pricing - this is the name for the process of forming the cost of a product or service, then the term “price” has not yet been invented with a designation that would be accepted throughout the world. In simple words price – parameter goods from the perspective of a market economy.

Price is used in a market economy to reflect the interests of both the producer and the seller. The manufacturer compensates thanks to the price cash, spent on the production of goods or provision of services, and at the same time receives a certain amount of profit. For the buyer, the price must justify the benefits of purchasing the product. The price is determined by the costs of the manufacturer and the skill of the seller.

Varieties of prices

The first thing you need to know about price is the types into which the cost of the product sold or service provided is divided. Russian and foreign companies operate with the following types of prices when setting prices:

• Retail. This type of cost is established by the enterprise in the case of selling goods to their final private buyers. Retail prices are used primarily by retail firms.
• Wholesale. These prices are established by a contract for the wholesale supply of goods to corporate customers. The contract may determine different types prices – solid, moving, moving. More details below.
• Auction. The most objective price option, which is set during auctions. Fairness is determined by the fact that the cost depends on the balance of supply and demand for the product.
• Information. This type of cost is set for goods whose lists are published in various printed publications. The reference price can be either nominal or sales-based.

Factors influencing price

The goal chosen by the enterprise as the main one is an important, but not the only factor that has a significant impact on pricing. Cost cannot be called a constant parameter even if we are talking about short time periods lasting 3-4 days. The cost can fluctuate greatly under the influence of micro- and macroeconomic, government and foreign policy factors. factors.

Some of the factors that influence product pricing can be foreseen if you perform an analysis and make a forecast. Other factors cannot be predicted, which makes working with them more difficult. For this reason, the management of the enterprise must know in advance which factors will influence the price positively and which negatively.

Internal influencing factors

Factors influencing pricing in the market are classified according to their direction. These are internal and external influences. The first ones depend on the enterprise and management, they are predictable and can be completely controlled. The second category is not so simple - many external factors cannot be influenced in any way.

Let's consider the main internal factors, which influence the pricing of goods:

• The strategy for promoting the goods and services of an enterprise, taken as a basis.
• The company's ability to engage in rapid price adjustments.
• Possibility of implementing an objective assessment of production costs.
• Providing end consumers with related services and bonuses.

Also to internal factors, which seriously affect the formation of the cost of supply, must be attributed financial fundamentals and enterprise reserves. The same factor is taken into account when choosing a goal for the development of a company. For example, if there is a lot of money, you can focus on improving product quality and building a reputation as a quality leader. If there is little money, a strategy for preserving the enterprise is chosen.

External influencing factors

The main feature of external factors is that an enterprise often cannot have any influence on them. Therefore, some external factors are taken for granted, and the enterprise strategy is formed based on the current market situation. To the main external factors pricing should include:

• The amount of inflation, the phase of the business cycle and the level of demand are the domain of macroeconomics.
• Conditions current system taxation, the sum of costs is the area of ​​microeconomics.
• The quality of the product in the eyes of the end consumer - prestige, benefits, appearance and a number of others.
• Features of state control over the turnover and pricing of certain goods.
• Seasonality of demand, consumer purchasing power and a number of other specific factors.

Key Pricing Principles

When choosing the main pricing system for an enterprise, company management must take into account important principles of cost formation. Below we describe these principles in detail.

Discriminatory principle

It consists of establishing two or more prices for the same product, regardless of the level of production costs. Discriminatory prices can be set in accordance with the type of product, the location of the point of sale, the time of sale and the segment of the target audience.

Psychological principle

This principle is that when setting prices for goods, an enterprise must take into account not only economic, but also psychological factors. Here it is important to competently operate with those psychological attitudes that are embedded in the heads of buyers. For example, a more expensive product is perceived as higher quality. Non-round prices attract more attention than rounded prices.

Geographical principle

According to this principle, different regions of the country set different prices for the same goods. This is primarily due to an increase in transport costs for delivering products to remote regions of the state. To prevent residents of remote regions from paying for transportation costs, a strategy is chosen in which part of the delivery costs is compensated by increasing prices in nearby regions of the country.

Price formation strategies

Regardless of which pricing scheme a particular enterprise adopts, the cost formation process takes place in stages. First of all, the cost is determined goods, then - the usefulness of the product and the correspondence of its properties with the requested cost. The final price becomes known after analyzing competitors' proposals and calculating the required production volumes.

The management of the enterprise does not need to create a strategy for forming the cost of goods from scratch. It is enough to take as a basis one of the seven strategies that are in demand in Russian and foreign business.

"Penetration" scheme

This strategy is designed to quickly introduce a product to the market and attract consumer attention to it. The bottom line is that the price for the company’s products is significantly lower than what is perceived by consumers as objective. This increases sales and attracts new consumers.

This strategy must be used carefully, as it can lead to a decline in the reputation of the product and a deterioration in its quality. The scheme shows the desired result only if there are no competitors in the niche who can respond to a price reduction with an even greater reduction. Otherwise, this scheme is not worth taking.

Skimming scheme

This is the opposite of the previous pricing strategy, which also produces noticeable results. The idea is to set a higher price for the product than consumers expect from the product. This approach instantly weeds out the non-paying audience - only those who are really interested in the product remain.

The technique under consideration must be used as carefully as the penetration scheme. It is only appropriate in a situation where the company is able to recover from major financial losses. They will appear as a result of a drop in sales volume caused by an excessive increase in product costs.

Neutral strategy

This best option for a company that cannot take advantage of the strategies mentioned above. When penetration is not suitable due to competitors who are able to respond by reducing prices, and skimming is irrelevant due to the high sensitivity of consumers to changes in the cost of the company's goods.

The neutral strategy is characterized by passivity. The company does not take any actions to expand its sphere of influence in the market. The company pursues two goals - maintaining current sales volumes and maintaining a occupied niche in the market. This pattern of behavior is also suitable in case of an unstable economic situation.

Price differentiation

An example of differentiated pricing is the introduction of numerous discounts, promotions and preferential prices for certain categories of customers. This is used to stimulate sales volumes individual species goods and services. Also, this technique attracts customers and eliminates the seasonality of the sale of goods.

Prestigious product scheme

Following this strategy manifests itself as a simultaneous increase in the quality and cost of products. It must be taken into account that the cost should grow faster than the costs of developing and producing goods and services. An increase in the price of goods must necessarily be determined by an objective improvement in product quality.

Market leader scheme

When following this strategy, the company performs an analysis of the pricing of the enterprise that occupies the position of leader in a specific market area. This approach makes it clear how to set the price for your goods and services so that the cost is objective and meets the expectations of end consumers.

Investment strategy

The only approach to pricing that is not based on the state of the market in the current period of time. The final price of the product is based on the sum of the production cost and the normalized profit level. This pricing scheme is optimal for selling technically complex products.

The types of pricing listed above can be used to sell the same product, but under different conditions.

Groups of pricing methods

The use of pricing methods begins with the selection of a group of methods that will be used to form the cost of the enterprise's products. There are 3 groups of methods, described in detail below.

Cost-based methods

The main advantage of the group of methods under consideration is that in order to formulate the cost of products it is not necessary to conduct an in-depth analysis of the market and determine the current value of demand. The company receives any information needed for the pricing process from its own accounting department.

The simplest method of pricing based on costs- This is the addition of the cost of production with the profit rate of the enterprise. This cost formation approach is used in the following situations:

• Products are sold for export.
• Goods are purchased by the state.
• Goods are sold through tenders.

The described methodology is also suitable for selling products on the domestic market. In this case, before releasing goods, the manufacturer compares the price calculated according to the specified scheme with the market value. The decision about the rationality of selling certain goods depends on how much these prices differ.

Another cost-oriented technique is control point analysis. It is applicable when the market value of a particular product is known. Based on this information, the minimum quantity of products that must be produced and sold to achieve zero profit is calculated. If the enterprise is able to produce more products than at the zero point, the product is destined to exist.

Demand-driven methods

This category includes methods of consumer evaluation, which are based primarily on the consumer’s assessment of the properties of the product offered. When following such methods, the enterprise creates an emphasis on conducting advertising campaigns, to improve the image and reputation of manufactured products. Products are divided according to consumer and technical properties, while ensuring high price elasticity.

Methods based on structural analogy are especially popular. They are used when it is necessary to calculate the cost of products that are modifications of already produced goods. In such a situation, when setting prices, the enterprise is based on the cost of the previous version of the product, at the same time adding a markup taking into account the improvement of the product. Correction factors are used for this purpose.

Competitor-oriented methods

Here competitors act as pricing objects. The company analyzes the pricing policies of competitive companies, based on which it puts forward its own prices for products. At the same time, differences in the quality and consumer properties of the company's and competitors' products are taken into account. The price is set more or less than the price of competitors' products - depending on the chosen strategy.

Methods for calculating price formation

Since you already know the definition of pricing and pricing, it's worth moving on to look at popular specific methods. They are used by many companies from Russia and other countries and have already shown effectiveness and accuracy. We invite you to familiarize yourself with them and implement them in your pricing strategy.

Full cost method

The method consists of adding up the total costs of producing a product and the planned profit. This method shows more high accuracy, if the percentage of profitability is entered into the calculation formula. In this case, the price is calculated as С*(1+ R/100), Where WITH– costs, R– standard production profitability.

Marginal cost method

This method, like the method above, is based on studying the cost of manufactured products. In this case, prices are calculated based on a study of the break-even point. This point is calculated using the formula FC/TR, where under F.C. are understood fixed costs enterprises, and under TR refers to gross profit.

If the enterprise produces a large number of products, an expanded version of the specified formula is used. She looks like this - FC/(SxTR)^A+ (SxTR)^B+(SxTR)^C+(SxTR)^D. Degrees are introduced here A, B, C And D, indicating goods. Under S The formula refers to the percentage of product sales.

Add-on method

To implement this method, it is enough to use a simple formula, which has the form Ps = Ppx*(1+m). Here under PS refers to the final selling price of a product, Pph– the cost of purchasing the goods, and m– this is the increasing coefficient as a percentage. Thus, the higher the coefficient, the greater the price premium.

The calculation of the increasing coefficient requires special attention. It can be calculated in two ways. In the first case, two formulas are used: mp = (Ps - Pp)/Pp And mp = M/(Ps - M). Here mp is a multiplying factor S– selling price of the product, WITH– cost of production, M– margin, that is, the level of profit.

The second method of calculating the increasing coefficient is used using two formulas: ms (%) = (Ps - Pp)/PS And ms (%) = M/(Pp + M). Under ms (%) refers to the increasing coefficient in relation to the sale price.

Specific parameter method

This technique is used when there is a need to calculate the cost of small groups of goods that are united by a common parameter. This parameter greatly influences the cost of production. Within the framework of the method under consideration, the formula is used P' = Pb/Nb. Here P' denotes the unit price of the product, Pb– the cost of the basic product, and Nb– this is the value of the key parameter that the basic product has.

Conclusion

The concept of pricing and prices are of serious importance for any business - small, medium and large. The management of the enterprise should take a responsible approach to the choice of pricing strategy and to setting prices for specific products. It is recommended to entrust pricing calculations to specialists competent in this matter in order to avoid mistakes when creating prices and get only good results.

A study of pricing methods for printed products was carried out, taking into account the influence of the price elasticity factor and the level of competition. Pricing for two types of products was considered: publishing and non-publishing. During the research, a contradiction was revealed between the theoretical foundations and practice in the field of pricing for printed products. Non-publishing (letterhead) products, having a low price level and high importance for the consumer, should have low elasticity of demand, which would allow the manufacturer to increase the price level without loss of income. Products belonging to the group of publishing products, on the contrary, having a high price level and low importance for the client, should have a high elasticity coefficient. Practice has shown the inconsistency of such conclusions, since for blank products the main factor influencing pricing is regulation and a high level of competition, and for products using color printing, the development of marketing and product differentiation.

pricing

elasticity of demand

competition

printing production

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Pricing policy is an important element of both the marketing and overall strategy of an enterprise. She affects everything financial indicators activities of the enterprise: income, profit, profitability, ensures its viability and financial stability. In the long term, the entire activity of the production and sales complex depends on the pricing policy. Pricing strategy multifaceted, it includes many aspects and should be considered in the context of all enterprise activities.

Pricing is a multifaceted concept, with different functions for the manufacturer, seller and consumer. The pricing strategy influences both the company's income and buyer behavior. The scope of price functioning is considered primarily from the point of view of the enterprise and its strategies, and then from the position of the consumer, but often the interests of the buyer take priority.

The producer and the consumer are not the only participants pricing process, other factors must be taken into account: competitors, government actions and legislation. Only if all factors are taken into account can different pricing policies be considered and how best to implement these strategies and how pricing tactics will affect buyer behavior and the organization's revenue.

The goals that an enterprise sets in the process of developing a pricing policy are different, these include: maximizing income; increase in sales volumes; achieving the target rate of return or receiving excess profits; expansion of the enterprise's market share; ousting or preventing competitors from entering your sales market; conquering new consumer segments; promotion of new products; loading improvement production capacity and etc.

The problem of determining prices in reality is solved based on three approaches:

Each enterprise must economically ensure its existence;

Along with covering costs, the enterprise aims to obtain maximum or sufficient profit, so it is necessary to check what price individual market segments are willing to accept;

In a market economy, sellers, as a rule, compete with each other, for this reason the price that the consumer is willing to pay depends significantly on the offer of competitors.

There are three main groups of pricing methods:

Cost-based pricing: full cost method; marginal costs; turnover income; based on break-even analysis, etc.;

Competition-oriented pricing: following current market prices; following the prices of the leading company;

Pricing based on consumer demand: methods of consumer assessment; pricing based on regular prices; setting prestigious prices, etc. .

The printing industry is a set of printing enterprises engaged in the production of printed products for both personal consumption and industrial consumption.

A characteristic feature of printing production is the production of a wide range of printed products, which is constantly expanding. Printing enterprises produce newspapers, magazines, books, brochures, calendars, prospectuses, posters, posters, labels, forms, tickets, advertising publications and other products.

All products produced at a printing enterprise are divided into publishing and non-publishing. Publishing products are, as a rule, new goods (books, magazines, newspapers, brochures, etc.) printed independently, which have undergone editorial and publishing preparation, prepared and published by the publishing house. Non-publishing products include packaging products, forms, reporting and accounting documentation, white goods and some cultural and household products.

The main task of pricing policy is to find the optimal price for a product. It is clear that the optimal price will be different for different criteria. A given price level has a different impact on different target parameters, such as profit, turnover or market share. Determining the optimization criterion thus becomes the most important step in pricing policy.

The printing market typically uses cost-based pricing. Initially, material costs are calculated, which are subsequently increased by the share of overhead costs that cannot be attributed to a specific type of product.

However, printed products can be divided into two types: letterhead products and complex color printing (books, magazines, flyers). Each type differs in the degree of consumer reaction regarding the volume of purchases in the event of a price change, this phenomenon in economics is called elasticity. Price elasticity of demand is the degree of quantitative change in demand under the influence of a change in price.

Price elasticity of demand is one of the most important factors in pricing and is used to:

Identifying the buyer’s reaction to price changes;

Choosing the direction of influence on the price to improve the financial results of the enterprise;

Identification of trade brands that are insensitive to price increases;

Effective modification of prices within the range;

Forecasting the switching of demand from one brand to another.

Currently, there are a number of characteristics that affect the price elasticity of demand:

High importance of the product for the consumer;

The price of the product is insignificant;

Availability and accessibility of substitute goods on the market;

Share of expenses for goods in the consumer budget;

The degree of market saturation with a product (the number of product options on the market).

In accordance with the characteristics discussed above, the demand for blank products should be inelastic. Blank products are of high importance for the organization of current production and financial activities enterprises and is strictly regulated by law. An additional argument in favor of inelasticity is the low cost of this type of product.

But, despite the above signs, the demand for letterhead products for a particular printing enterprise is elastic, this is due to a number of factors:

Despite the fact that the unit cost of blank products is low, the batch cost is significant, since customers prefer to order in large quantities;

Blank products are strictly regulated, so it doesn’t matter much to the consumer which manufacturer to purchase it from;

In the production of letterhead products, risography can be used, which is quite widespread and is available in almost any enterprise engaged in copying documents.

The high elasticity of demand for blank products for a particular enterprise turns out to be associated more with the influence of competition than with the importance of the product for the consumer.

It is high competition that makes the demand for blank products elastic. An increase in price in such a situation may lead to a decrease in sales volumes, since the consumer will prefer to purchase forms from competing companies.

In this regard, pricing on the basis of competitive parity prevails in the market for the production and sale of blank products; price increases are possible only simultaneously for all manufacturers. Individual price increases threaten the enterprise with serious financial losses. However, a long-term price reduction by one of the market participants is also not possible, because it will entail a massive price reduction by all manufacturers in order to maintain their market shares. None of the competitors will be able to obtain high profits through price maneuvering; income growth is possible only by reducing costs.

When analyzing the demand for color printed products based on traditional views, it can be assumed that the demand for it is elastic, since the products are expensive and have low need. But studies have proven that the demand for brochures and leaflets, on the contrary, is inelastic. This is explained by

The production of color printing requires the organization of printing activities in a full cycle based on offset printing, therefore it is available only to specialized enterprises;

Expensive production makes manufacturers virtually monopolists in the color printing market of a particular region, which in turn allows them to increase the price level by controlling production volumes;

Product differentiation, this type products have individual characteristics: quantity of colors, paper quality, page size, circulation volume, etc. A differentiated product is a product that is similar but not identical to other products and therefore is not a complete substitute for them;

The rapid introduction of marketing into the economic activities of domestic enterprises makes advertising costs an integral part of costs. As a rule, even during periods of unstable financial situation, advertising costs increase in order to activate the consumer.

Inelastic demand allows the manufacturer to set high prices and periodically increase them, without regard to market conditions.

Thus, a study of the printing products market suggests that the price elasticity of demand is strongly influenced by competitive conditions and marketing development. Setting prices based on competitive positions can bring visible economic effect for enterprises of the printing industry.

Pricing in the printing industry, as in other industries, requires further improvement; the main direction of this process is streamlining and optimizing the price level. The basis for this should be not only the social utility of the product and the necessary labor costs, but an assessment of the level of elasticity of demand for the product.

Bibliographic link

Title: The change in the pricing methodology for petroleum products as an effective mechanism for priority development of oil refining in Russia Title Changing the pricing methodology for petroleum products as an effective mechanism for the priority development of oil refining in Russia

11.04.17 Chuvasova Anna Alexandrovna Chuvasova Anna Aleksandrovna

The article examines the possibility of the pricing mechanism influencing the structure of the Russian oil industry. The main factors influencing prices for oil and petroleum products on the domestic market have been identified. Based on statistical data, an analysis of the impact of world prices on the prices of oil and petroleum products sold to domestic consumers is presented. As a result, a conclusion was made about the extremely negative impact of the existing pricing mechanism on the development of the Russian oil refining industry. Proposals were given regarding changes in pricing policy oil companies in the domestic market based on the works of the most famous economists (D. Ricardo, P. Heine). The article considers the possible impact of pricing mechanisms on the structure of the oil industry. The main factors affecting the price of oil and oil products on the domestic market are identified. The article is based on statistical data and it presents the analysis of the impact of world prices on prices on oil and petroleum products which are supplied for domestic consumers. The result of the study shows the extremely negative impact of the existing pricing mechanism for oil refining industry of Russia. The proposals regarding the changes in pricing policy by oil companies in the domestic market based on the works of the most well-known economists (D. Ricardo, P. Heine) are given.

The change in the pricing methodology for petroleum products as an effective mechanism for priority development of oil refining in Russia Chuvasova Anna Aleksandrovna Chuvasova Anna Aleksandrovna Candidate of Economic Sciences Associate Professor of the Department of Childhood Pedagogy, foreign languages, computer science and private methods Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after. V.P. Astafieva Krasnoyarsk [email protected] The article examines the possibility of the pricing mechanism influencing the structure of the Russian oil industry. The main factors influencing prices for oil and petroleum products on the domestic market have been identified. On the...

Keywords price, oil refining, pricing, economic crisis, monopoly. Keywords: price, oil-refining, pricing, economic crisis, monopoly.

Smart pricing is one of the most important tools for increasing the efficiency of e-business. On the price formation process in ecommerce and Internet marketing are significantly influenced by the psychology of buyers. This is explained by the fact that the reaction of buyers to prices is determined not only by the assessment of the usefulness of the product and its price, but also by the general purchasing situation. Therefore, it is important to present prices in a way that influences the buyer's price perception to the benefit of the seller.

The purchase decision is influenced by the “percentage difference effect,” which is the fact that buyers perceive price differences differently in percentage terms and in absolute terms relative to the base price level. Let us demonstrate the influence of this effect using a hypothetical example. The buyer ordered product “A” at a price of $100 and product “B” at a price of $160 in the online store “21vek”, and a little later discovered that prices for similar products in the online store “shop.by” were offered at priced at $80 and $140 respectively. Will the buyer refuse to order goods in the 21vek online store? Logically, the buyer should refuse the order, since the absolute difference in prices is the same for the two products and is $20. However, according to the results of research, most buyers would refuse product A, whose price is $100. This is explained by the fact that the relative price change for product “A” - 20%, and for product “B” - 12.5%. Thus, if an enterprise uses a competitive pricing strategy, it must set prices so that the relative percentage difference in prices is significant from the buyer's point of view.

Another effect that influences how consumers perceive price differences is the “non-round price effect,” which is based on the fact that consumers perceive prices with non-round endings to be lower than round numbers. According to the results of various studies by William Poundstone, the use of this effect increases product sales by 24% compared to the nearest “round” prices.

Also of interest is the “price perception effect”, which consists in the fact that when making a purchase decision, buyers make their choice not on the basis of the utility they receive from the product and the price they will pay, but on the basis of the difference between the actual price of the product and the price that they consider what is called a “relative” price to be fair. Due to the fact that relative price is of great importance in pricing, it is important to understand what factors influence the level of relative price and what determines them.

According to the research results, the level of relative prices formed in the minds of buyers is influenced by the current prices at which the buyer is offered the product. This impact can be reduced by using a tool called a capstan in pricing. An enterprise, when developing an assortment pricing strategy, can introduce a product into a product line at a price higher than its nominal value, which will reduce the relative price level and, thus, increase the value of less expensive goods from the product line and influence the switching of buyers of these goods to the purchase of more expensive ones models. Online retailers can also reduce the impact of current prices by using the anchor effect. For example, placing old prices (may not always be “true”) next to new prices, thereby creating the illusion of a good deal for the buyer (“the price was $999, and now it’s $799”). It is advisable, due to the fact that most buyers view the page from left to right, to place the maximum price on the left of the online store page. This price is involuntarily deposited in the buyer’s head, and all other prices will not seem so high to him.

The relative price level can be increased by using the “useless price effect” or the “decoy effect,” which is based on the fact that when making a choice between two purchase options, the consumer faces a problem, the solution of which, as a rule, is not in favor of the seller. To facilitate the process of making a purchase decision and change the situation in favor of the seller, you can introduce a third, obviously unprofitable purchase option, by rejecting which, the buyer will more easily decide in favor of one of the other two options. For example, an online bookstore offers to purchase a magazine using one of three options: 1 ? Internet version for $20; 2? printed version for $40; 3? an online version and a printed version for $40. At first glance, it seems that the second option is useless, since it is more profitable to buy two versions of the magazine than one for the same price. However, if you remove the second option, then the contrast in price between the first and third options will immediately be visible, and, obviously, the buyer will give his preference to the first option, turning away from the paper version. When choosing between three options, will the buyer compare the second and third options, and will he feel that he is being offered a real good deal? for the price of the paper version, he will receive both a paper and an electronic version. Thus, online stores, using this effect, can successfully implement a product bundle strategy.

Does the “price order effect” have a big impact on the relative price level? the sequence in which prices for goods are presented. Research confirms that when forming relative prices, buyers assign more weight to the prices they saw in the first row. Therefore, when presenting a product on the pages of an online store, it is advisable to place them in descending order of price in order to increase the relative price, and thus increase sales of the product with a higher price.

The relative price level can be reduced by using the “time value effect,” which is explained by the fact that time is the most scarce, non-renewable resource, and therefore, for most buyers, time is more important than money. Mentioning time goods in a slogan or online advertisement will allow businesses to sell them at higher prices.

In conclusion, it should be noted that understanding and taking into account the characteristics of buyer psychology will allow e-commerce and Internet marketing enterprises to learn how to manage prices in such a way as to increase the value of the purchased product for buyers, and, as a result, ensure high profitability of sales.

I believe that most of these methods have already exhausted themselves as the consumer is accustomed to this type of marketing tactics. To more effectively increase product sales, it is necessary to introduce and test completely new strategies. These may include directional sound systems in stores, which are used to create the illusion of individual communication with the consumer.

Different people assign different values ​​to a product or service. One is ready to pay twice as much as you ask, while the other thinks that your product is worth a fair price - five rubles on market day. How to sell without selling it short?

The idea has become ingrained in the minds of many entrepreneurs that for most goods and services (especially those they sell) there is a certain “market price” - a certain “standard” within a narrow range of how much they should cost. Above this range they will not buy or will buy very little, and below this range the profit will be too small or it will be completely unprofitable to work. And because If this price develops “thanks to” the market situation or a tough price war between competitors, then there are no levers of influence on it. In this article I will show the fallacy of some ideas about pricing.

Most ideas about a “fair” market price are myths. Stereotypes that have developed under the influence of many factors, including personal experience. However, just because you have seen only white swans and not a single black one in your entire life does not mean that black swans do not exist.

The same applies to prices - repeated personal experience that cheaper goods and services are sold more does not disprove the possibility of the opposite situations. There are many ways to influence the situation so that price is not the limiting factor for profit growth or the determining criterion for purchasing decisions. But before we get to them, let’s look at the most common pricing myths.

Myth 1. All buyers perceive price the same
It is a mistake to think that if the “fair market price” for a product is 1000 rubles, then all buyers will perceive it equally. Depending on personal experience, income level, social status etc. different people will perceive the same price differently. To some it will seem cheap, to others – just right, to others – overpriced.

Why is this happening? If you don’t follow the lead of economics textbooks and remember the famous expression of the founder of semantics, Alfred Korzybski, “The map is not the territory,” then it becomes clear that the “market price” is just an abstraction, since the level of this price is in the head of an individual person.

Moreover, more often than not, clients judge prices—whether they are “too high” or not—based not on their idea of ​​what they should be, but on how you present them.

That is, the level of “fair price” for each individual person is quite flexible and can change quickly and greatly depending on various factors:

due to the inherent irrationality of many people when making decisions,

due to objective factors that the buyer may not have known about before, but learned before the purchase, thanks to your efforts to change the buyer’s perception of price, both before and during the purchase.

The relativity of a “fair price” is especially noticeable when the buyer first encounters a certain offer. At this moment, he does not have an established level of “fair price” for this product or service, which means the seller has a chance to formulate it to his benefit.

A typical example is tourist prices. When arriving in a new country, tourists, as a rule, do not understand local prices for goods and services, which is what entrepreneurs take advantage of, initially setting them too high, at which local residents simply will not buy.

Myth 2. All buyers spend money equally economically
In the minds of many business owners, their customers are models of rational thinking who do nothing but choose the best price available to them on the market. Almost every buyer will definitely compare a dozen offers from competitors; when they come to a store or office, they will definitely ask for a discount, and they will not buy it right away either, but will first consult with all family members, friends and pets.

But this, of course, is not true. Based on the principle on which people make purchases, they can be divided into three categories:

The cheaper the better
The bottom 10-15% of buyers, for whom the main criterion when purchasing is price. The lower it is, the better. It doesn’t matter that the quality is worse, it’s not as beautiful and aesthetically pleasing, that you will have to wait longer for delivery than usual, that the range of functions and options is very limited. The main thing is that it is cheaper.

Simply put, if such a buyer is faced with a choice whether to buy cups, mugs or glasses for the house so that there is something to drink tea from, then the choice will fall on the cheapest option. Why pay more if there is no difference? – You can drink from any of these vessels.

Best quality at the best price
The majority of such people are 75-80%. And when purchasing, they follow one of two behavior patterns (between which they can dynamically switch):

Get the maximum for the price they are willing (or decided) to spend on a particular product or service.

Find the lowest price for that set of options, characteristics, degree of convenience, etc. in the sentence they have defined for themselves.

For example, a person wants to buy a laptop. Following the first model, he decides that he is ready to allocate 25,000 rubles for this, and tries to find the most profitable proposition for this price. Beneficial according to the criteria that he has defined for himself - reliability, hard drive or RAM capacity, brand, etc.

Following the second model, he first determines the options and functions he needs, and then tries to find a laptop that meets these criteria and suits him at a price, not necessarily the cheapest.

Price is not a problem (premium segment)
The top 5-10% of customers, for whom price is not at all the determining factor when purchasing. In a conventional sense, one could say that she did not matter to them. But in reality this is not entirely true. It matters, not as a limiter, but as a level of prestige that they can afford or want to live up to.

The determining factors for them are convenience, saving time, effort and nerves, quality of service and products, elitism, exclusivity. And only after all this – the price.

Some representatives of this category, by the way, have a “price floor” (instead of a “ceiling”) - this is the price level for goods and services below which they simply cannot afford to buy. Because it is fundamentally at odds with their image and the impression they want to make on others.

Because In principle, they do not buy cheap, then some sellers make the mistake of trying to offer them something from this price category or focusing on the discount that they can offer.

One interesting consequence follows from this: having only cheap offers in your assortment, you automatically lose the most paying customers who simply will not come to you, no matter how you advertise. In most cases, premium customers simply won't buy from the same place as everyone else, and separate ones need to be opened for them. outlets, organize VIP areas and even launch new brands.

And now the most interesting thing: the same person in different areas of life can behave like a client of any of these types. For example, he may not skimp on his hobby and buy all the best, without looking at the price. When buying clothes, be a buyer of the second category. And when it comes to food, be completely unpretentious, eating at fast foods and buying food at the market.

This also needs to be taken into account because with some effort, you can encourage these people to behave in a shopping pattern that is more beneficial to you when they come to you.

Myth 3. Cheap means attractive
Yes, in most cases, low prices really are a kind of magnet for buyers. But in some cases, on the contrary, they can do a disservice.

If a person is not yet particularly well versed in the product or service he or she wants to buy, does not know the criteria for assessing his or her quality, or does not have accessible way to determine them, price often becomes the criterion for the right choice. Moreover, the only criterion. “Expensive means good (quality).”

A clear example of this is given by Roberta Cialdini in his book “The Psychology of Influence.” His friend, who opened an Indian jewelry store, was faced with a problem: a batch of turquoise jewelry was practically not sold, despite all the efforts of the sellers or changes in the display of goods (moving racks with them to the center of the sales floor).

Then, before leaving for another city, in desperation she left the seller a note “Multiply by ½ the price for all turquoise” in the hope of getting rid of the “turquoise”, even at the cost of a loss. When she returned a few days later, she was surprised, not that all the items were sold, but that they were sold for twice the price, since her seller read “2” instead of “½.” The buyers, mostly wealthy tourists with little knowledge of turquoise, were guided by the standard stereotype: “expensive = good.”

Another classic example is the phenomenon of the Chivas Scotch Whiskey brand. Sales of this brand of whiskey increased sharply after it was priced significantly higher than the prices of competing brands. At the same time, the whiskeys themselves remained exactly the same.

The myth of the attractiveness of cheap when selling is especially dangerous. professional services. Most people are sure that a good specialist in his field, an expert, simply cannot be cheap. Low prices are only available to beginners or not very in-demand specialists who have nothing to attract clients other than a low price for their services. The high price for the services of some professionals is perceived as an indicator of their high demand, and therefore their professionalism.

Myth 4. Selling more expensive is more difficult than selling cheaper
Another fairly common myth that has little to do with reality. In fact, it's the other way around. There are three factors that refute this myth.

At the top there is less competition. Those who are trying to compete on price and attract as much as possible due to this a large number of There are always many more buyers than those who sell at high prices. Therefore, there is less competition among the latter by default.

Or rather, it goes not by price, but by other categories. For which, by the way, it is no longer worth competing, but being different. And it’s much easier to do this, because the company has money to create differences – buyers don’t skimp.

Fighting only for the lower strata of the market, you not only have to compete fiercely on price, but also deal with buyers who really save money. And getting them to pay more is much more difficult than premium customers.

Finding a customer for a product that is 5-10 times more expensive does NOT cost 5-10 times more.
A maximum of two, and often the same or slightly more. At the same time, the profit from sales is significantly higher. That is, for that matter, you can easily afford to spend more money on attracting more lucrative clients, because it pays off handsomely.

Selling in person is easier.
Agree, it is much more interesting not to work through the buyer’s objections to the price or bargain with him about the size of the discount, but to select from your assortment a suitable option for a product or service for a buyer who will not stand behind the price.

Myth 5. At a high price, there is less demand, and therefore less profit for the company.
The myth arose because of the well-known graph of the price-demand curve, based on which, the higher the price, the lower the demand. In reality, this is not always the case. The example with turquoise jewelry clearly proves this.

But even if this is true in your case, there is another point that some people miss. Using the Price-Demand chart, you can find the largest sales volume, but it does not show at what price level the company will have the greatest profit.

Let's give a simple example. You buy goods for 700 rubles, sell for 1000 and make 400 sales per month. The sales volume will be 400,000 rubles, and the profit (before tax):

(1000 – 700) × 400 = 120,000 rubles.

The next month you decided to raise the price to 1100 rubles, and sales dropped to 350 units. Sales began to amount to 385,000, and profits:

(1100 – 700) × 350 = 140,000 rubles.

It would seem that sales have decreased - and we will clearly see this on the Price-Demand chart, but profits have increased - you will not notice this on the chart. If we take into account that this will reduce the costs of warehousing and transporting goods, technical or warranty customer service, etc., it turns out that selling at a higher price is even more profitable than the initial mathematical calculation shows.

Of course, this example is given for clarity. It may also happen that with the next price increase, demand will drop so much that profits will also noticeably decrease. And here the only way out is to test prices on your customers and empirically find the optimal price-to-profit ratio.

These are not all the myths and pricing errors that exist in the minds; you yourself can continue this list. However, it is also worth considering ways to ensure that price does not play a decisive role for clients when choosing a supplier.

How to get out of price competition

Of course, there are quite a few ways to do this, and any competent marketer should know more than a dozen of them. I will only focus on a few that are relatively easy to implement, not yet completely “cluttered” and applicable even if you do not sell premium products.

Start testing different prices

Analyzing the 5th myth, we found out that low price- not always the best option. You can empirically find a price that will bring more profit without being the lowest. Of course, experimentation will take time, but it's worth it.

At the same time, it is not necessary to change prices for the entire assortment at once - you can test different categories of products one by one. And it is not necessary to change them for a long time - depending on the number of customers, statistically significant results can be obtained even after a week or several days.

In this case, possible lost profits should be treated not as losses, but as marketing expenses. And this is more profitable than advertising costs, which must be made regularly, because once the optimal price levels are found, they will generate profits for a long time without additional costs.

Implement Frontend and Backend

Unfortunately, there are no analogues to these terms from the practice of American marketers in Russian. However, almost everyone has seen them used in at least several businesses.

Frontend is the product that is most advertised and whose main task is to get a client: most often to attract him with a price or a set of attached bonuses, to “get the client hooked” on a certain product or to “tie” him to the company. The backend is the product on which the bulk of the profit is earned. It is rarely advertised or not so actively, because it is sold mainly to those who have taken the bait on the front end.

There are different types of backends:

1) More advanced or more efficient version of the frontend

Having used a simpler version, a certain part of clients will want more. That’s what we’re counting on: these customers will both recoup the costs of the frontend sold at a low price and bring profit to the company.

Example: a book on NLP (FE) and training on the same topic (BE). The information in the training may be the same as in the book or even less, but it costs several times more.

2) An addition to the frontend or an integral part of it.

Typical examples are printers (FE) and cartridges for them (BE); razor (FE) and replaceable cassettes (BE); hamburgers at McDonald's (sold almost at cost) and fries with cola (the price of which is several times higher than cost). Almost everyone buys cola, because few people want to eat hamburgers dry.

3) Periodic payments, subscription fee.

They will be willing to give you a product, instrument, device for free, even if they are not cheap. But it pays off if the client becomes a regular user of any service.

Example: many Internet providers and almost all mobile operators are ready to give you a generally expensive modem just to “get you hooked” on regular use of their Internet.

You can find or come up with front-end and back-end offers in almost any business - the main thing is not to be blinkered and think “this won’t work in my business.”

Make it impossible to compare by price

Most The best way for this – packaging, the formation of packages and sets of your products. This one marketing strategy at least three pluses:

1) Impossibility of price comparison

Pack several compatible products and services into one offer so that competitors don’t have anything close to similar. Then customers simply won’t be able to compare you by price, because they won’t be able to estimate how much each of the components of the set costs.

If you also give each set a “catchy” name and position it for a specific category of your customers, then you will not only stand out in the market with such an offer, but will also significantly shorten the purchase decision-making process. When the client sees that this set is exactly for him and about him, the issue of price may fade into the background and even into the background.

2) Increased consumption of package-forming products

Some clients will buy packages mainly because of one or two components that are most attractive to them. At the same time, other components of the package will also be consumed “so that the money does not disappear.”

3) Generating additional income both from customers who can pay more, but normally pay a fixed price for products, and from customers who are not willing to pay the set price.

Let's imagine that you are selling a subscription to Gym for six months for 6,000 rubles. They buy a subscription, you make a profit - everything seems to be fine... but not quite. Because there are two problems:

1) Exists a certain amount of people who would buy a subscription if it cost 4,500 rubles, but don’t buy it for 6,000 because they think it’s too expensive for them. Even at this price, you would make a profit (albeit less than at the regular price), but you simply cannot individualize the price for each client.

2) There are also buyers who would buy a subscription at a higher price, for example, for 7500 rubles, but they buy only for 6000. That is. in principle, you did not receive the profit that you could have received.

Bundling avoids this variability in resets, reaching more customers than with a fixed price for different products. How is this achieved?

Let's say you have two clients. Sidorov is ready to pay 5,000 and 8,000 rubles, respectively, for six-month passes to the gym and swimming pool. And Ivanov - 3,000 for the gym and 9,000 for the pool (perhaps he’s just a big fan of swimming, but he’s not averse to stretching his muscles at the gym, but for little money).

If you combine these two services into a package worth 12,000 rubles, then you can sell it to both Sidorov and Ivanov for a total sales amount of 24,000. Interestingly, each of the two clients will consider that he paid more for the product in the package that he needed , and less - for additional. If subscriptions were sold individually for 6,000, then neither Sidorov nor Ivanov would become clients, and you would lose profit.

Gaining trust

There are many businesses whose clients are willing to pay more just to provide consistent quality. In fact, people are willing to overpay a little (and sometimes a lot) for confidence in a high-quality result, because correcting a low-quality one will cost many times more than the savings. Examples at every step - car services, beauty salons, consulting, legal services, etc.

At the same time, there is no point in advertising quality, because clients expect it by default and from everyone. Quality must be shown and delivered. To initially “lure” a client to your company, you can use test drives, a Frontend and Backend strategy, attractive prices for the first purchase, etc.

Urgency and speed

Many are ready to significantly (sometimes several times) overpay just for the fact that they will receive the sold product or service provided faster. You can introduce such an option separately or make it your main business model (like DHL or FedEx, which charge 10 times more than regular mail, performing essentially the same functions).

Guarantees

The presence of guarantees for a product or service removes a very large layer of customer doubts and greatly facilitates the sale. After all, a guarantee is taking the risks of a purchase from the client to yourself. Especially the money back guarantee.

However, for some reason everyone tries to keep silent about guarantees or mention them modestly, in small print, only because the law obliges them. And in vain, because even if, due to active PR, a guarantee that your competitors do not have or about which they are silent like a fish, the number of returns increases, then the increase in losses from this is more than compensated by the increased profit due to the flow of customers to you.

It’s hard to believe in words, but after doing simple calculations, many are surprised that it’s actually much more profitable.

Individual program, customization

If in a business with relatively similar products and services it is possible to customize something for a specific client or category of clients, it is worth doing. Sometimes people are willing to pay many times more for individual solutions than for standard ones, although such customization does not require many times more time, money and other resources on the part of the seller.

There are also such interesting ways to make the price not the most important factor when purchasing, how narrow specialization, closed sales, unique experiences, providing comfort, comparing apples with crocodiles and others, but the length of the article simply does not allow us to talk about them all.

Conclusion

One of the laws of pricing is that different customers assign different values ​​to your product. Understanding this allows you to get rid of most pricing myths. And one of the important tasks of a company’s marketing should be adding value to the product using various methods (for example, those described above) and competently presenting it to the client. Then the company is guaranteed a good flow of profit and the availability of financial opportunities for further development.

In other words, the description of reality is not reality itself. Or regarding human psychology: people's beliefs about reality and their knowledge of phenomena (the "map") are not reality itself or all the phenomena that they might know about (the "territory").