Personalised pricing, the future of dynamic pricing

18/10/2018

Angela de la Vieja

Future or today’s reality? Personalised pricing is the ultimate goal for digital shoppers. It’s not just us who say this, current trends and new consumer habits also point directly at personalised pricing. In general, it seems that for potential clients personalised prices is right up front on their list of needs. Brands, however, are complicated when it comes to implementing the technologies that allow the implementation of this type of pricing strategy.

From a historical point of view, it seems that personalised prices would be almost a natural ideal. After all, it's all about the pure negotiation between seller and buyer and this is fixed to the universal idea that a product is not worth its asking price, but rather to what a shopper is willing to pay for it.

In the digital arena, price personalisation goes a step further and focuses on the interests of the potential buyer, their interactions with the product, the page, etc. The maxim is to ensure that price variations, which are necessary to meet the user's expectations, can make use of the dynamic pricing tools available in the market.

Evolution dictates that this technology not only uses seasonality or competitor price monitoring, but also take into account the user's history. For this, it will be essential to analyse their digital fingerprint: what they buy, how they buy, through what device, and even from what point on the globe.

Of course, other fields of technology such as big data will be key. At first, especially the most modest online stores, it is difficult to recognise how to apply this type of technology in an online store; so, to start with personalised pricing are a good example of it.

Additionally, personalised prices can become an innovative way for manufacturers to sell directly to the end customer. In this way you can analyse, using your own experience, what the buyer’s perception is regarding your products price point.

As is pointed out in this article from BBVA Research regarding personalised pricing, the possibility of pricing freedom will make certain products more accessible to those who have lower purchasing power or value the product less, this is something which will generate a clear opening of the markets.

On the other hand, offering prices adapted to the level of each user can pose two challenges:

1. Dealing with the disappointment (and annoyance) of those customers who will pay more for the product.

2. Balance the possible losses and gains derived from the different prices.

One of the proposed solutions which some experts agree on, is to include extra elements at the most expensive price point; that is, a kind of premium service. In the same way that loyalty actions are established for customers, why not benefit from a unique user experience when paying more for a product? Here you could consider shipping times and methods to the proposal of certain additional elements such as upselling.

In either case, it is necessary that both retailers and manufacturers analyse the impact of this type of pricing strategy on their brand image.

Consumer history and privacy issues

A priori, it seems that personalised pricing can generate considerable controversy for a mere economic issue. However, the subject of user privacy is not left behind in the various reports and analyses regarding this trend.

Now more than ever, with the new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), the information gathered about the users must be safeguarded. This poses serious difficulties to access all the necessary data required to efficiently offer personalised pricing.

Also, while it is clear that data processing will be able to collect information, how will brands justify its storage for offering discriminatory prices? The regulation will be key in this aspect to avoid the control and abuse by manufacturers of the will and capacity of the users. Thus, until controls and good-practice guidelines for these types of strategies are developed, for the moment one should tread with utmost caution.

11/11/2022

Consumer behavior: How can behavior tracking be effective for setting the right pricing strategies?

Behavior tracking is becoming massively popular today. As a result, pricing strategies born from studying consumer behavior are a merchant's dream come true. If done right, it can conquer every market for the business quickly. With abundant data available, the strategic makeover of the pricing models is becoming easy for companies.

What is behavioral tracking, and how is the data beneficial in pricing?

For a quick understanding, behavioral tracking refers to gaining in-depth knowledge and insights into consumers through their web data. Their browsing habits, spontaneous decisions, shopping interests, and preferences come under behavioral tracking.

How can enterprises use customer behavior data?

Companies can use customer behavior data as a tool to strengthen their hold on the market. A customer’s preferences, values, and tendencies allow businesses to work in sync with them through the collected data. Apart from this, customer behavior can also aid in:

Tailoring customer needs for customer retention

Personalization is becoming the heart of a company’s growth. No matter in which area an enterprise is functioning, tailoring the services, products, and solutions is becoming increasingly crucial. Uniqueness and personalization attract the crowd like no other.

Increasing the overall value

One of the best ways customer behavior data affects a business is by upgrading the value of customers for the business. The customer’s characteristics allow the company to target the people that match the business prospects well.

Optimizing every type of content

Everything that is up for digital display requires content. You must have seen companies unveiling their products or services through advertisements and making the initial public appearance. Two essential sales strategies – upselling and cross-selling comes through content optimization.

Pricing Strategy

Last but certainly not least is the influence of customer behavior data on the pricing strategy. The pricing strategy essentially constitutes content derived from data analysis. Companies need to have a dynamic approach to the pricing system to attract the right customers.

17/02/2015

Saint Valentine’s Day, always a good opportunity

V-Day is looming, a long-awaited date for all and also a good occasion for the eCommerce. According the study conducted by Prosper Insights and Analytics, it is forecasted the average consumer expense that day will be the highest in last years. Furthermore, 25% of them will buy online, which means an increase of 4% regarding 2014 (The US department of Commerce). This is, therefore, a key date where market competitiveness increase and which could be assumed as a big opportunity for our business or, a big fail if we do not adopt the correct strategies.

How to turn this event into an opportunity? To achieve this goal, we need to adapt our prices to this hostile environment, i.e. we need to develop an appropriate Dynamic Pricing strategy that allows us to adapt our prices to the variations produced in supply and demand and to position us ahead of our competitors. In V-Day, the frequency in changes will be higher, carrying it out each hour or even each minute. It is estimated that 65% of leader retailers have the ability to respond quickly at these variations, such Amazon. For this reason, it acquires great importance the correct use of a software specialised in price motorisation of competitors. Do not miss the time and adapt your business to new adversities.

28/12/2022

Which are the best footwear marketplaces to sell on?

Footwear marketplaces are booming. The last decade has seen the launch of new specialized marketplaces with millions of different users. Among them are Spartoo, Sarenza and Farfetch, portals with international reach. Their main value is that they unite hundreds of footwear brands, as well as offering clothes and accessories. Although each has its own characteristics, they are all vertical marketplaces, i.e., they focus on a specific area, and their sales categories are interrelated. For sellers, these portals provide an opportunity to expand sales channels and drive the globalization of their e-commerce business. We explain how to sell on these footwear marketplaces so that you can assess whether they align with your plans for the future and then start defining a possible pricing strategy.