Reduce Price to Improve Revenues and Margins
CHOICE 1 OBJECTIVE: ATTRACT CUSTOMERS
CHOICE 2 ISOLATE SEGMENTS: VOLUME PURCHASED SEGMENT
CHOICE 3 COMPONENT: PROVIDE A FREE, OR HEAVILY DISCOUNTED, PRODUCT FROM THE COMPANY, OTHER THAN THE PRODUCT ON SALE
| No. | SIC | Year | Notes |
| 1 | 4512 | 1993 | Northwest responded to American's prices with a "Grown-ups Fly Free" program, which gave free tickets to adults paying fares for their children. |
| 2 | 4812 | 1991 | Nynex and other carriers are offering inducements to consumers to take service or use more. Offers include a low flat monthly fee, reduced or free weekend calling. |
| 3 | 4812 | 1998 | AT&T brought out a flat-rate monthly pricing plan for heavy cell-phone users. No extra fees are charged for roaming or long distance. 600 minutes/month for $89.99; 1,000 minutes for $119.99, or 1,400 minutes for $149.99. (11 cents to 15 cents a minute). |
| 4 | 4812 | 1999 | For a quirky prepaid service called Cricket, provided by Leap Wireless, priced at $30 a month, customers were offered unlimited calls, free voice mail, and caller ID. |
| 5 | 4813 | 1999 | For customers who sign up for IDT's dial-up Internet service, IDT offers domestic long-distance rates of 3.5 cents per minute. |
| 6 | 4813 | 2005 | Twenty-one years ago, when the government split up AT&T's near monopoly on phone service, long-distance prices were steep. In 1984, the average rate for a long-distance call was 32 cents a minute. Now, thanks to competition created by new long-distance carriers and technology, many people pay as little as three or four cents a minute–or get long distance service thrown in free with their local or wireless plans. |
| 7 | 4841 | 2000 | Satellite TV offers a number of advantages over cable. Its digital signal provides a vastly improved picture and clear, CD-quality sound. It also has virtually unlimited capacity, with providers currently advertising up to 500 channels. That means you can get expanded basic service, with everything from A&E to ZDTV, for about $40 a month, and as many seasonal sports packages and movie channels as you're willing to pay for. Satellite TV often is cheaper on a month-to-month basis than cable. Of course, you must buy the dish and the VCR-size black box that decodes the signals, at prices starting around $100 and going as high as $400. But the satellite companies, EchoStar and DirecTV, offset the cost by offering frequent promotions that rebate part or all of the equipment and installation charges when you agree to a year's subscription. DirecTV, for example offered $99 cash back and free installation in some markets where Time Warner blacked out ABC, and got more than 25,000 takers within the first 12 days. |
| 8 | 5999 | 2005 | To attract and keep customers, Amazon continues to offer free shipping on orders of $25 or more. |
| 9 | 6141 | 2006 | Automakers are offering branded credit cards which allow consumers to raise points or cash back for their purchases. The GM Flexible Earnings card gives one penny good anywhere and three pennies for GM cars per dollar. Redemption credit is up to $3,500 per car, depending on the vehicle. |
| 10 | 6211 | 2003 | Brown/Co, the discount brokerage unit of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. charges only $5 a trade, and will offer special perks to traders making at least 250 trades every six months. Track Data said it will charge half a penny a share commission, with $1 minimum. Their service is geared to traders who trade 100,000 shares a month, and also receive waivers from $99 a month software fee. |
| 11 | 7372 | 1998 | Microsoft is giving away $600 million this year in the form of free training, technical support and marketing for its database, e-mail and other business systems. |
| 12 | 7372 | 2004 | PeopleSoft, looking to build or just maintain its business in the face of uncertainty caused by rival Oracle's hostile takeover attempt, announced a credit of $100,000 for every new software purchase of $200,000 or more. It also will give customers some free software upgrades, training and technical services this year. |
| 13 | 7514 | 2003 | After trying to charge customers $50 a year to enjoy perks like priority service, free rentals, airline miles and upgrades, the big rental chains are now letting anyone into their clubs. Ford Motor's Hertz is waiving the fee on Gold Club for anyone who rents as little as four times a year.National will drop their fee for customers who call up to gripe. |
| 14 | 7841 | 2008 | Blockbuster debuted a television set-top box for delivering movies on demand over the Internet. Blockbuster's new device and service will compete with offerings from Apple and Comcast more so than Netflix, because Netflix offers video downloads as part of a monthly subscription service. Blockbuster debuted a television set-top box for delivering movies on demand over the Internet. The Blockbuster OnDemand player, built by 2Wire, costs $99 but comes with 25 video rental credits. This lets Blockbuster advertise the hardware as free with the advance purchase of 25 movies. Movies are available to rent online for as little as $1.99. New releases are generally $3.99. |
| 15 | 7999 | 2008 | As the recession begins taking a toll on the ski industry, resort operators are offering a flurry of discounts they hope will draw more visitors. A resort is offering two free lift tickets per night booked. Another resort is offering a $77-per-peron deal that includes free lift tickets. A comparable package last year cost about 20% more. |
<< Return to Choice 3