Now that the year is almost over and the last minute rushes are underway, will you set time aside to review your pricing strategies over the past year?
As with many businesses, the New Year brings an opportunity to reflect on what went well and what didn’t. As we’ve seen from many surveys pricing is still one of the top decision criteria for on-line customers, but how do you factor this into your on-line business model.
One consideration is how do you evaluate how to go forward in 2017 without the proper analysis and data. Historic data from your 2016 pricing tactics, margins, stock movement, all need to be understood so that changes can be discussed and incremental changes made for 2017.
Sometimes it’s best to get a small team together and act like CEO’s (no matter what role you play in the business). Asking simple questions and answering them honestly is usually the best approach.
- Did real growth happen – and was it where you expected?
- Did you achieve your target margins?
- Did you track your price points in line with the competition?
- Did your price changes bring in new business?
Developing plans on assumptions or gut feel, sometimes lead to bias in any planning. It’s best to develop plans based on facts. That’s where pricing data and historical trends along with ecommerce data are essential.
In planning for 2017, being specific on your target pricing strategies are key to success. Along with your value proposition, pricing agility is a key element of profitability. However keeping an eye on the market, the competition and forecasting trends will be even more essential in the coming New Year
