Reduce Price to Improve Revenues and Margins
CHOICE 1 OBJECTIVE: ATTRACT CUSTOMERS
CHOICE 2 ISOLATE SEGMENTS: LOSS LEADER SEGMENT
CHOICE 3 COMPONENT: PROVIDE A FREE OR HEAVILY DISCOUNTED PRODUCT FROM A THIRD PARTY
| No. | SIC | Year | Notes |
| 1 | 4841 | 2004 | 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 a monthly programming fee. |
| 2 | 4841 | 2004 | Satellite companies are snaring more subscribers, but are paying for their growth. Satellite is stealing growth from cable due to price and added features. With cable's rate hikes, satellite companies are easily selling their services for about $10 a month cheaper than their cable rivals. Also, DirectTV and EchoStar are bringing in customers with offers like free set-top boxes, inexpensive TiVo-like digital recorders, and three months of free service. |
| 3 | 4841 | 2004 | By signing people up with Freesat, a service that offers television channels for free with the proper satellite equipment, BSkyB isn't just selling them satellite dishes but it gains extensive customer contact information and every opportunity to market additional products. People who sign up with Freesat will likely be bombarded with advertisements to upgrade to the company's paid services. |
| 4 | 4899 | 2000 | The Bells and cable-TV companies are fighting to sign-up Internet customers. Many have cut prices and waived installation fees. A number of companies offer almost free PCs in exchange for a sign-up. Customers who sign up for a new SBC deal will receive a new Compaq Presario PC, worth $1,000. |
| 5 | 4899 | 2004 | To capture high-speed Internet customers, telephone companies are offering free or discounted Wi-Fi equipment to subscribers. Customers who install the complicated wireless setup are less likely to switch to other providers. Cable Companies have been less aggressive in the market. In addition, this will keep cable modems out of people's homes, making it harder for cable companies to sign up customers for voice-over Internet protocol. |
| 6 | 5812 | 1993 | McD's prices its videocassettes for promotion and not profit. In 1992, Orion Pictures gave McD's the rights to sell "Dances with Wolves" over the holiday season. Video stores were excluded. Retail price was $99.98, McD's sold for $7.99. |
| 7 | 5812 | 2009 | Restaurant chains are offering more aggressive promotional deals as they try to tempt diners in lean times. Wendy's/Arby's Group's Wendy's chain is running a so-called reverse auction online through April 3 in which consumers can get flat-screen televisions and Xbox game consoles for 99 cents. The bidding starts at the retail value of the item, and decreases in 99-cent increments every time someone places a bid. The person who places the last bid wins the item. |
| 8 | 5942 | 2002 | Early in 2002, Amazon waived delivery charges on orders of $99 and above. Later in the year, the minimum order size for free shipping dropped to $49 and then to $25. Online buyers cite shipping discounts as more likely than any other price change to encourage them to use online retailers. As a result of this change, Amazon's third quarter revenue jumped by a third from a year ago. And the company is now generating positive free cash flow. |
| 9 | 5999 | 2009 | For Zazu, an Ashburn, Va., specialty gift store, the economy is also demanding that it think creatively about promotions. In the second half of 2008, the store's owners noticed that regular customers were buying less each time they came in. They (the people who run Zazu) dropped their ads and, as part of a new promotional effort launched a blog. Periodically, Zazu posts a giveaway on the blog- say, jewelry, scented candles or a stationery item. Anyone who leaves a comment on the blog is entered in the contest. Each giveaway costs the company between $10 and $30. But shoppers are drawn to the featured item of the week and the buzz generates more sales. |
| 10 | 6531 | 2008 | Free cars and speed boats, gas cards packed with thousands of dollars, personal-training sessions — homeowners are trying to reel in potential buyers. A real-estate agent offered an all-expenses-paid trip for two to France to the agent who delivered the home's next owner. |
| 11 | 6531 | 2008 | Free cars and speed boats, gas cards packed with thousands of dollars, personal-training sessions — homeowners are trying to reel in potential buyers. One seller is offering to install a pool, a patio, and a professional grill should a new buyer want them. If they don't he'll knock $100,000 off the $1495000 price tag for a home built in 2006 with 6 bedrooms, 6.5 bathrooms, and a three-car garage. |
| 12 | 6531 | 2008 | Free cars and speed boats, gas cards packed with thousands of dollars, personal-training sessions — homeowners are trying to reel in potential buyers. The seller of a $700,000 three-bedroom home will professionally maintain the yard for six months. He'll also throw in a new washer and dryer. "A lot of people don't have their own lawn mowers until they can get set up for a while." He's also considering sweetening the deal with flatscreen TVs and furnishing the home for the new buyer. "Saving people a little time is pretty attractive." |
| 13 | 6531 | 2008 | Free cars and speed boats, gas cards packed with thousands of dollars, personal-training sessions — homeowners are trying to reel in potential buyers. A real-estate development company ORE International LLC offers buyers 10 personal-training sessions at any of its developments with gyms. Additionally new owners will receive a $500 American Express gift card and a romantic getaway to the Old Drovers Inn, a historic upstate New York bed and breakfast. In one project near Prospect Park Brooklyn buyers get free bicycles. |
| 14 | 6531 | 2008 | Free cars and speed boats, gas cards packed with thousands of dollars, personal-training sessions — homeowners are trying to reel in potential buyers. A real-estate development company ORE International LLC offers buyers 10 personal-training sessions at any of its developments with gyms. Additionally new owners will receive a $500 American Express gift card and a romantic getaway to the Old Drovers Inn, a historic upstate New York bed and breakfast. In one project near Prospect Park Brooklyn buyers get free bicycles. |
| 15 | 7372 | 2003 | Linux, the free operating system software burst on the scene in the late 1990s. Thousands of developers worked Linux code as companies like IBM began servicing Linux-based systems. Shift in system is apparent in Wall Street where "big boys" like Merrill Lynch are switching from Unix to Linux in droves. Linux servers have a 7% market share, up from 0.5% two years ago. |
| 16 | 7375 | 2006 | The software company has used financial incentives before to lift its share in the market. In 2006, it started a sweepstakes-like search service through which users could win prizes if their search terms matched those on a random list. |
| 17 | 7375 | 2007 | The software company, Microsoft, has used financial incentives before to lift its share in the market. In 2007, it started its Live Search Club, in which users earn prizes for completing puzzles that involve searches. |
| 18 | 7900 | 1988 | Mt. Reba is issuing game cards to any visitor to the ski area; the scratch-off cards reveal prizes ranging from subscriptions to Powder Magazine and a free soda pop in the lodge to ski vacations and lift tickets. |
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