Raise Price to Improve Revenues and Margins
CHOICE 1 OBJECTIVE: RAISE PRICE WITH NO CHANGE IN PERFORMANCE AND COST
CHOICE 2 ISOLATE SEGMENTS: CUSTOMER SEGMENTS WHO REQUIRE A SPECIFIC PRODUCT SYSTEM COMPONENT
CHOICE 3 COMPONENT: CHANGE THE BENEFIT PACKAGE
| No. | SIC | Year | Notes |
| 1 | 3651 | 2004 | TiVo was developed in 1997, allowing viewers to pause live programs and record on disc. The market quickly became fraught with competitors. Today, TiVo's overall DVR share is about a third of the market and shrinking as the market has been flooded by cheaper, more efficiently distributed products, including a set-top cable box by Scientific-Atlantic. Often, cable companies like Time Warner Cable are distributing the boxes to customers free in return for a monthly service charge that ranges from $5 to $9. Buying a TiVo at retail costs a minimum of $199 with a $13 in monthly programming fees. |
| 2 | 3711 | 1987 | For a $75 premium, buyers of 1,000 Lincoln Continentals in six cities can purchase AM-FM radios that also tune in to the audio of local television broadcasts. |
| 3 | 3711 | 2002 | General Motors Corp. has been charging up to $600 for safety features such as antilock brakes and side-impact air bags on some cars. GM has before included them as standard features. |
| 4 | 4400 | 2001 | Extras, the incidentals that don't fall under cruise lines' all-inclusive pricing banners, have long been a staple on ships, but in recent years the list has grown a lot longer – and costlier. Some lines are even charging to eat in certain onboard restaurants – an end, of sorts, to the all your onboard meals are included. |
| 5 | 4481 | 2001 | With travel in the doldrums – and cruise prices lower – since Sept.11, the industry needs what it calls on-board revenue now more than ever. While many passengers find the extras too enticing to pass up, cruise executives run the risk of appearing to nickel and dime their customers. Norwegian Cruise Line offers 10 restaurants. Some are included in the price of the cruise, but others, including a French bistro-style restaurant and a Japanese restaurant with a Benihana-style teppanyaki table, have a $10-a-person cover charge. |
| 6 | 4481 | 2009 | Inclusiveness. It's the fundamental idea behind why a cruise is a good value: Everything (lodging, meals, entertainment) is included in the fare. The concept has taken a beating over the years, however, eroding under relentlessly rising costs and fierce competition among cruise lines to keep the advertised price low. Almost every consumable liquid is extra. Light drinker? One bottled water, one cocktail and one glass of wine per day adds about $120 per person (with service fee) to the final bill. |
| 7 | 4512 | 2004 | Many major airlines recently started charging fees for bookings made through US call centers and at airport ticket counters. Airlines also are charging fees for paper tickets. |
| 8 | 4813 | 2004 | For telecommunications consumers, the pricing picture is mixed. Prices have been dropping, but the popularity of new amenities like caller ID, cellphones, second phone lines and Internet hookups means that many people are spending more than ever on communications and new technologies. Average household spending for local, long-distance and wireless service jumped to $83 a month in late 2002 from $58 in 1995, despite generally lower prices. |
| 9 | 5731 | 1991 | Most retailers make more on the warranties for an item such as a big-screen TV than they do on the sale of the TV itself. |
| 10 | 5731 | 2004 | Best Buy charges $49.99 for a four year contract on a Magnavox DVD player that sells for $39.99. |
| 11 | 5800 | 2004 | Starbucks is vying to become the first national retailer to offer CD-burning stations. The Hear Music media bars offer customers nearly 200,000 songs to burn onto compact discs. Big music sellers such as Virgin Megastores and Tower Records are also preparing to install these stations. Record stores account for a diminishing share of U.S. music sales, losing business to mass retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Each CD made at Starbucks will cost $8.99 for seven songs, 99 cents per extra tune. Earlier ventures by IBM and Blockbuster were unsuccessful because of the lack of cooperation from major music companies. Now, all four of the global music companies are in advanced negotiations to license their catalogs to kiosk manufacturers. |
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