Reduce Price to Improve Revenues and Margins
CHOICE 1 OBJECTIVE: REWARD CUSTOMERS
CHOICE 2 ISOLATE SEGMENTS: LOW DEMAND PERIOD SEGMENT
CHOICE 3 COMPONENT: WAIVE, OR MAKE A ONE TIME OR PERIODIC PAYMENT, TO COVER SOME COSTS OF THE CUSTOMER
| No. | SIC | Year | Notes |
| 1 | 4512 | 2009 | JetBlue Airways Corp. said it will give full ticket refunds to eligible passengers who booked and paid for flights and then were involuntarily laid off from their full-time jobs. A spokesman said JetBlue launched the program not because customers were asking for refunds, but because the airline has noticed that passengers were waiting to the last minute to buy tickets, a sign of nervousness about their finances. |
| 2 | 4512 | 2009 | JetBlue is combating the so-called staycation trend with its "promise program." This will completely refund the cost of tickets purchased between Feb. 1 and June 1 for ticket buyers who lose jobs. Refunds will be available for up to nine people sharing an itinerary. |
| 3 | 4724 | 2008 | Orbitz Worldwide Inc. has launched a policy, called Price Assurance, to reimburse some customers who buy airline tickets and then see the price of those seats fall. The company plans to refund customers the difference in fare, if the difference is between $5 and $250. The new program is part of Orbitz's push to gain U.S. market share against other online travel agents, such as Expedia Inc. and Priceline.com. |
| 4 | 5331 | 2009 | Sears is planning to give customers who lose their jobs a break on appliance purchases, part of an effort to spur sales amid the recession. Customers who spend at least $399 on a store credit card for appliances between July 6 and August 1 will receive help on payments if they are out of work 60 days to a year after making the purchase. One-twelfth of the purchase price will be credited to their accounts for every month they are unemployed. The full debt will be forgiven for customers who find themselves jobless for more than a year, and they will be able to keep the appliance. |
| 5 | 5331 | 2009 | Sears Holdings Corp. is letting customers who lose their jobs keep their appliances, in an effort to assist them, and itself, during the recession. Customers who buy big-ticket items like refrigerators and washing machines and become unemployed after the purchase will have one-twelfth of the price—including warrantee and service charges—taken care of by Sears each month. If the job loss lasts a year, Sears will write off the purchase. The program is being run as a pilot program for products $399 and more. Sears came up with the program after hearing from customers who said they needed the merchandise and had the money but were afraid to commit because they were concerned about their jobs. The program covers customers who lose their jobs from 60 days to one year after the purchase. |
| 6 | 5611 | 2008 | Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. sells suits, but investors have been casual about its stock price. Late last year, the company offered deep discounts to encourage penny-pinching consumers to shop. It also placed ads for the first time on the ESPN sports cable network. Its number of customers rose 16% to 4.4 million last year. Bank has promotions that include risk-free suit offers, in which customers who can prove they lost their jobs would be get their money back but be allowed to keep the suit. |
| 7 | 5611 | 2009 | In March, apparel retailer Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. offered to refund as much as $199 of a suit's price and allow customers to keep it if they are laid off through early summer. |
| 8 | 5941 | 2001 | Zane's Cycles in Branford, Connecticut, is a successful independent bicycle retailer in the United States. Customers at Zane's who purchase a bicycle at Zane's within 90 days before the once-a-year sale are encouraged to return during the event for a refund based on the discounted price of their bike. The company refunded about $3,000 during the 2000 sale, but most of that money remained in the store because customers bought more gear. Zane's sold 560 bicycles during the 2000 sale—that's more than the typical one store U.S. bicycle retailer sells in an entire year. The limited duration of the sale means that Zane's sells about 85 percent of its bicycles at the regular price. |
| 9 | 7011 | 2008 | The lodging industry has started rolling out incentives that help guests offset some of the costs of hitting the road. Some offer prepaid gasoline cards (ranging from $10 to $50); others are extending cash bonuses or reducing room rates to guests who drive a hybrid vehicle, or take a train or bus to their destination. |
| 10 | 7372 | 2009 | Microsoft Corp. announced a plan to encourage personal-computer users to move to a much anticipated new version of its operating system, Windows 7. Microsoft said any consumers who buy new PCs running its current Windows Vista operating system between Friday and Jan. 31 will receive free upgrades to Windows 7. The Windows 7 Upgrade Option is designed to keep shoppers from snapping their wallets shut until new PCs come out in October preinstalled with Windows 7. |
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