Competitive Pricing Meaning, Advantages and Examples

Competitive pricing is charging a price that is comparable to other vendors selling the same item. Brands in that category want to be perceived as high-value and status products. To reach this goal, they will always want to be priced exceptionally high in comparison to similar items. Although the quality is often better than cheaper fashion brands, the increase in price is not persé equal to the increase in quality. Competitive pricing can be cost-effective and easy to implement, especially for small businesses that don’t have the resources to perform extensive market analyses. By pricing products the same as larger entities, you’re benefiting from the competitive intelligence gathered and market research performed by industry leaders.

At times, loss leader prices cannot be officially published as a minimum advertised price has been set by the manufacturer. Be sure to download our Pricing Strategy Guide to get the complete picture on your pricing options and decide on the right strategy for your business. The difference between price and cost always depends on the context of the transaction, and where it occurs within the supply chain.

How competitive pricing affects consumers

With competition-based pricing, companies make three types of pricing decisions — to set prices above, the same, or below their direct competitors. An effective pricing strategy is vital for maintaining and growing profit margins and market share in today’s highly competitive markets. Build a comparison table that pits competitors’ comparable products against your own, but don’t be afraid to price higher than them. So long as you can prove yours is worth the extra money, your profit margins don’t have to shrink to remain competitive. Looking at competitors’ prices helps you understand the options in the market. From there, you can evaluate how your product is positioned across those sets of options.

For example, a wheat farmer sets a price that’s paid by a food wholesaler. After buying wheat, the food wholesaler will set a price to sell to a bakery. Learn a full definition of pricing, how it compares to cost, and some common pricing strategies. But you also need to consider your indirect competitors too and how much weight you should put into their pricing when developing your own strategy.

Understanding Competitive Pricing

In a competitive market, prices are largely determined by supply and demand. Market comparables help businesses create boundaries of how much customers will pay for its products. Vendors who are not market leaders can use the accepted price as a starting point. From there they can opt to charge slightly more on the basis of factors such as superior customer service or an extended warranty on a product. Retailers must be fully informed of the prices their competitors charge and also know how discerning their customers are on price alone. Once price is established, sales volume must be monitored to see if the strategy is working.

• To maintain this price position you need to continually innovate and stay ahead of the curve.
• There are many different strategies that a business can use when setting prices, but they are all a form of pricing.
• Implementing a competitive pricing strategy is the first step to deploying a dynamic pricing strategy.
• Once the product is part of a mature market, and fighting with a relatively high number of substitutes and competitors, the pricing actions of your competitors could well be a factor driving your profit.

Finally, competitive pricing can also help to build brand loyalty among customers. Customers who feel they are getting a good deal from a company are more likely to stick with that company in the future, leading to repeat business and higher levels of customer satisfaction. Although the two are often used interchangeably in informal conversations, formal business discussions should never confuse price with cost. Cost is the seller’s investment in the product or service that’s subsequently sold.

XM Marketplace

This can be a very effective way to ensure that the company sets the best price for its product or service. Being the Lowest Cost Offering is a viable choice for some companies, but you need to either establish how you eventually migrate customers to higher profit options or be careful that your margins don’t disappear. If you want to compete on price alone, you can set your own prices in line with your competitors. Do they alter prices in line with seasonal changes and how do they deal with offers and promotions that could impact your own pricing if you’re trying to stay competitive.

• Thanks to powerful branding, consumers are willing to pay much more than they would for a competitor brand.
• Selling a well-established product at a similar price to competitors is an option for small retailers who want to draw customers to their businesses.
• This approach responds primarily to movement in demand—whether it’s waning or growing.
• We recommend taking the following steps to implement a competitor-based pricing strategy in SYMSON.
• Easily connect Flintfox to your ERP, use existing POS systems, and access what you need on any device in real-time.

A lot of effort goes into the process of establishing the price based on competition. According to a recent survey, minor variations in prices can lower or raise profit margins by more than 20-25%. Competitive price analysis is essential to competitive pricing strategies. Let’s look at some competitive pricing examples, to get a better understanding of this process. However, other companies may not be able to enter the market due to another barrier to entry, intellectual property (IP) rights. The drug company may have a patent on the new formulation, barring competitors until the patent expires unless they can license rights from the IP owner.

Penetration pricing strategy

We hope that this article helped you clear all your concepts pertaining to competitor pricing. We have tried to cover all the aspects in a very simple and lucid manner. Different customer groups are willing to pay different prices for similar products. A common mistake many merchants make is constantly matching or sometimes beating competitor prices, especially when not required. Creating a table of prices and features often helps clearly articulate how your product is different from and similar to a competitors’.

You can’t position yourself as a more expensive, but better quality product or service, without a barometer of where your price sits against the competition. But a bigger risk is severely underpricing your product and potentially losing profits. The concept of competitive pricing is best understood when there are only two competing parties.

PRODUCTS

Competitive Based Pricing (or Competition Based Pricing) is a pricing model where your price points are heavily influenced by those of your competitors. This approach focuses outwardly on the market, rather than inwardly on your costs (Cost Plus Pricing). competitively priced meaning It is often used when you have a similar product or service to competitors. An effective pricing strategy is essential to help a business maintain competitive pricing, such that it may set and offer prices that are in line with competition.