Reduce Price to Improve Revenues and Margins
CHOICE 1 OBJECTIVE: ATTRACT CUSTOMERS
CHOICE 2 ISOLATE SEGMENTS: INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMER SEGMENT
CHOICE 3 COMPONENT: ALLOW THE CUSTOMER TO SET THE PRICE
| No. | SIC | Year | Notes |
| 1 | 0 | 2008 | Bartering is gaining popularity as a creative way to fight higher costs. The rise of bartering for goods and services means that consumers are now trading for such things as wedding services, tombstones, breast augmentations, and Botox treatments. The cash-free transactions are often facilitated through the Internet and barter exchanges, which are third-party record keepers that coordinated trades between business owners. Depending on the site or barter exchange, consumers choose whether to trade directly or to "bank" their credits and use them at another time. Online bartering Web sites—including U-Exchange, BarterYourServices.com, and Barter Bucks—are seeing significant growth. Craigslist is seeing its barter postings grow. In the past two years, membership in trade-exchange businesses has climbed 10% to 15% annually compared with 5% to 8% growth prior to that. |
| 2 | 1929 | 2007 | The top-selling British rock band Radiohead said its new album will initially be available only as a digital download on the band's Web site. Fans are free to name their own price for a digital-download version of the 10-song album "In Rainbows." |
| 3 | 2834 | 1991 | Most European governments bargain prices down to levels that cover companies' manufacturing and distribution costs, but much less of their research. Americans pay an avg. of 54% more than Europeans for 25 commonly prescribed drugs. |
| 4 | 2834 | 2002 | Prices for pharmaceuticals are largely determined by governments and the U.S. often sees a rise as European profitability falls. This has created huge disparities in prices; a patient taking Prilosec in the U.S. would pay $3.69 per pill while in France users pay just $1.22. In response to this disparity, pharmaceutical companies are under pressure to reduce prices for those that need it most. There are also efforts to allow the purchase and resale of drugs from foreign markets. |
| 5 | 2834 | 2009 | To buy equipment for its drug researchers, Pfizer is using reverse auctions in which suppliers submit, via the Internet, the lowest price they are willing to be paid. After years of paying high prices for raw materials for its catalysts and chemical sealants, W.R. Grace is filtering out the ranks of its suppliers and pressing survivors to offer discounts or agree to get paid several days later. |
| 6 | 3300 | 1985 | Because stainless-steel producers are living hand-to-mouth they are reluctant to sign quarterly supply contracts, and instead are buying relatively small lots of nickel on the spot market. |
| 7 | 4512 | 2005 | United Airlines is auctioning off prizes such as a new Chrysler Crossfire, the services of a gourmet chef, adventure trips and tours. However, these products cannot be bought and must be bid on with United Plus miles. |
| 8 | 4724 | 2006 | Sites like Priceline and Hotwire operate with an opaque pricing system, in which the customer does not know the name of the supplier or the schedule before a nonrefundable reservation for airline tickets, hotel rooms or rental cars are made. |
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