Offline vs Online Pricing Strategies

7/30/2019 Offline vs Online Pricing Strategies

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Freelance Copywriterwww.biancamarieta.com

facebook.com/marietasblog

Bianca Marieta | www.biancamarieta.com

Offline vs. Online Pricing Strategies

First of all, please excuse my less-than-

basic Fireworks skills… This black

beauty over here is my lovely Mitzuraand she is very keen on using my

laptop. Not to make online purchases,

of course. She likes it because it’s

warm. And because of all the action

going on on the screen.

But I still thought she’s a great link between online and offline pricing techniques.

We are all familiar with offline shopping sprees, but the rules don’t apply on online

marketing. So let’s see what makes the difference in price when you shop online.

Shopping offline. Universal payment.

With Christmas holidays being just around the corner, I’m guessing everybody is

thinking about the best gifts for their dear ones. You know that and stores know that

too. So they want to convince you to buy from them by offering you some great

deals on their products.

When you enter a store you already know that the price you see is the price you pay.

If there is a sale on it, then you are even more likely to buy that product. You win, the

store wins, everybody is happy.

There are three main prices for a product, and you have to keep all of them in mind

when you buy something:

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the manufacturer’s price – this is usually the lowest price of a product. The thing

is, manufacturers only sell their products on a reduced price if you buy a goodnumber of those products. They will not give you a pillow at $0.5 a piece if you

only want to buy a single piece. But they give you the pillow at that price if you

are willing to buy some couple of hundreds – this usually only happens with big

companies which re-sell that product.

the store’s price – they bought that pillow at $0.5 a piece but of course they want

to make a profit. You will be amazed that a $0.5 pillow bought from a

manufacturer is then sold at $20 in a store. But hey, everybody needs to earn

some extra money…

the sales price – this is the price that all buyers like (ahem, love). When you see a70% off price sale your eyes become onion-shaped at the thought ‘Oh my God!

Imagine the REAL price of this pillow if they can afford to apply 70% sales and

STILL make a profit!’ – yes, exactly.

The reason why so many stores afford to apply such a great increase on price on

their products is that people who buy from them don’t usually check lots of other

stores. It takes time and yes, if the store is in a mall, then they might check 2 or 3

similar stores, but that’s it with the competition.

Another important aspect of offline shopping is that you know exactly what you pay

for. When you get to the POS you have XYZ products whose shape, material, size and

quality you are aware of. So you are calm and pay in cash.. or use your credit card…

Now, things change a bit when we talk about online pricing strategies…

Buying online. Payment …. ?

Again, the three prices are present: manufacturer, store, sale. But what makes a

difference with online payment is that people can (and will!) check on a multitude of

other websites for the same product and for a better price. And even a $10 discount

on a $200 product will make a difference. Don’t get me wrong, your mistake as a

salesperson is not that you are charging too little for a product, it is that YOU as a

seller only have ONE price for your product.

Then, when you try to sell your own products on a website (let’s say your own

website), people will immediately compare your product with another one which is

similar. So let’s say you want to sell an e-book and you are asking $40 for it.









First thought in people’s mind: ‘It’s an ebook’

Second thought: ‘No printing costs, no delivery costs’ Third and most dangerous thought: ‘I know similar printed books worth $20′

Ooops!

This mistake can cost you a large amount of profit… and your book, as valuable as it

might be, will not sell.

What can you do?

You’ll laugh at how simple it is… but the solution is to offer people at least two

prices for the same product. ‘How could I do that? Why?’, you may ask.

Well, it is all about price psychology. If you are offering only one price, people will

not have something else to use as a comparison, so they will compare your e-book

with another (e-)book.

But, if you work on two levels, two prices, then you are offering people something to

make a comparison. You have that superb piece of content which you want sold. So

why not add another product (a spreadsheet / infographic / etc) and make a SET (e-

book + second product).

So you say to your audience: ‘Here, I have this e-book with lots of testimonials and

positive reviews and I’m selling it at $40. BUT I also have another offer for you: why

don’t you buy the book AND this great (infographic?) for only $70?’

Now they have something to compare your e-book to.

They don’t think about other books, but about the first price and the second price.

‘Should I buy only the book or the set?’, they are asking themselves. They might end

up buying the set because it offers more information/includes more products, or

they might decide that the book is cheaper and is (after all) the main character in thissale.








Either way, you have a sale, and you can practice the price you want without having

to worry that people are going to shrink from making a purchase because they ‘know

something similar from Seller X which is cheaper’.

Payment…?

Yes, when online you have to worry about payment. I mean, not you, but your

customers. And they do, they worry a lot about payment, especially when it comes to

them having to use their credit cards.

‘Uhm… ok… what if XYZ? And then what if ABC?’

Make sure your prospects haven’t reached the pay page on your web site and then

refused to make a purchase because of whatifits.

People have two possibilities when they make an online purchase: they either pay

using their credit cards or they pay at delivery (the courier takes the money and

makes sure the money reach you). If you want people to pay only by using their

credit cards, then boy, you have some work to do.

You will have to assure them that your paying method is safe and that their card

details will not be used for other purposes.

How can you do that?

If you don’t have testimonials from previous customers, make sure you get some –

you’ll not survive without. In video format, written format, every format. Include

these testimonials on the page where people are asked to pay for the product/s they

want to buy.

Then, put yourself in their place. Design the page and have a 30 min break from it.

Come back to your computer and look it over: are there any questions left

unanswered? What are these? Make sure youprovide an answer to them.











The next step is to have your auntie or great-grandmother (or mother for that

matter) check that page. Ask them if they would make a purchase from that website.

If not, ask them why. Answerthose questions on your page.

So you have your book, you have an offer, you have a comparison, you have a secure

and trustworthy payment method… What do you need more?

Just like with offline selling techniques, you need to promote your product.

To do this, you will need an opt-in page, a solid social media marketing

campaign and a bit of patience.

That’s it for today! Thanks for reading my veeery long article, and I’m looking

forward to seeing you again in the next post!

Hugs,

Mari.

Thanks for downloading and taking time to read this document! I am waiting for your

opinions on my website.

I look forward to meeting you on social platforms! Let’s connect and grow our

businesses together. You can find me on:

http://www.biancamarieta.com/



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Offline vs Online Pricing Strategies