Reduce Price to Improve Revenues and Margins
CHOICE 1 OBJECTIVE: ATTRACT CUSTOMERS
CHOICE 2 ISOLATE SEGMENTS: LOSS LEADER SEGMENT
CHOICE 3 COMPONENT: PROVIDE A FREE, OR HEAVILY DISCOUNTED, PRODUCT FROM THE COMPANY, OTHER THAN THE PRODUCT ON SALE
No. | SIC | Year | Notes |
1 | 1542 | 2009 | The owner and president of Nucor Construction Corp., a New York company that remodels office spaces, retail stores and bank branches. The owner has been providing free consultation services, such as visiting places that long-time customers are considering leasing to give them his opinion. With his customers turning more cost conscious, he is putting in more hours than before to ferret out the most affordable subcontractors. |
2 | 2711 | 2007 | The NYTimes discontinued an online paid-subscription service which granted access to columns and archives. The Times believes that it will generate more advertising revenue by broadening the site's audience. |
3 | 3571 | 2003 | Sun has suffered as users give up old-line servers in favor of cheaper models powered by x86 chips. Sun began fighting back this month with a line of blades that use those chips. Unlike its rivals, Sun is throwing in the software for free. |
4 | 3679 | 1995 | Nintendo charted a business model in which game consoles would be "given away" to consumers at cost, or even below, to boost sales of software. Virtually all of Nintendo's profits come from sales, fees, and mfg. charges on game software. |
5 | 3861 | 2000 | In web based photo services, Kodak's joint venture with AOL "You'veGotPictures" flopped. Fewer than 5% of AOL' s members use it. Sites like SnapFish and Ofoto were giving away the picture sharing for free while You'veGotPictures" charged $7 on top of the retailers $9 fee. |
6 | 4700 | 1987 | American Express introduced an Expense Management System to compete with American Airlines Capture. But American Express, which collects commissions on bookings and credit card use, will do all processing for free. Capture costs $50,000 for 5 yrs. |
7 | 4724 | 2009 | Shop for airline tickets online or through a travel agent and the price quotes you get don't tell the whole story these days. But that's about to change. Sabre Holdings Corp. and Amadeus IT Group SA, two leading airline booking companies, say they'll have tools out to travel agents, Web sites and airlines beginning later this year that will add fees consumers plan to use into ticket prices, showing bottom-line prices much as car-rental companies were pressured into showing the total price of a rental with all fees, taxes and surcharges included. |
8 | 4813 | 2008 | Both AT&T and MCI give two national listings for 99 cents, 41 cents cheaper than their older services at 555-1212. Connections are free, but after calls get patched through, consumers beware: AT&T and MCI each charge customers per minute fees as high as 3 |
9 | 5331 | 2009 | Wal-Mart is slashing the price of its reloadable prepaid Visa debit card. The company is attempting to attract new customers, specifically those who have maxed their credit cards and are being crushed by debt. It dropped the purchase price of its MoneyCard from $9 to $4, reducing the monthly fee to $3 from $5. Plus, customers who add money to the card with direct deposit or after cashing their paychecks at Wal-Mart don't have to pay a reload fee. |
10 | 5531 | 2002 | Autozone hopes to get a boost from pushing the service side of its business. It will check your engine for free and tell you what's wrong with your car. |
11 | 5734 | 2005 | Computer manufacturers and retailers have been using low prices on both PCs and laptops to lure in student shoppers and their parents. They then hope to sell peripherals, accessories or systems with more features and better margins. |
12 | 5912 | 2009 | On Apr. 1, Take Care clinics in 343 Walgreens stores started seeing existing patients free from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays as long as they show they're unemployed and uninsured. Data systems determined when the clinics weren't busy and could offer free care at minimal additional cost. |
13 | 5941 | 2001 | Zane's Cycles in Branford, Connecticut, is a successful independent bicycle retailer in the United States. It has grown its one-store business at least 20% every year since its founding in 1981, selling 4,250 bicycles in 2000 along with accessories. Zane's sells better bike brands with prices starting at $250. It backs what it sells with a 30-day test-drive offer (customers can return a bike within 30 days and exchange it for another) and a 90-day price protection guarantee (if a buyer finds the same bike in Connecticut at a lower price within 90 days, it will refund the difference plus 10 percent). Zane's also offers free lifetime service on all new bikes. That includes annual tune-ups, brake and gear adjustments, wheel straightening, and more Zane says. "Our customers trust us. They come in and say, `I am here to get a bike. What do I need?' They have confidence in our ability to find them just the right bike at a fair price and to stand behind what we sell." |
14 | 6029 | 2002 | Banks are trying hard to improve customer satisfaction and shore up profits in an environment of unprecedented competition for financial services. Much of the new effort is couched in consumer-friendly terms – Commerce Bank even has a "penny arcade" where |
15 | 6211 | 2002 | Schwab charges $400 for an analysis of client's holdings and a couple of hours worth of advice. Schwab also manages a client's money for a yearly fee based on assets. But competition is fierce. |
16 | 6321 | 2006 | Humana is relying on low costs to gain market share against its much larger competitors in the health insurance field. It is offering very low prices for prescription-only drug coverage and hopes to leverage the relations built with enrollees to switch them to comprehensive Medicare plans, called Medicare Advantage. |
17 | 7372 | 2001 | IBM and Oracle are vying for the No. 1 spot in the corporate-software world. The latest conflict is over pricing. IBM typically sells its database software at nearly a fifth the price of Oracle's. However, consulting to make the products work ups the price. |
18 | 7533 | 2009 | Driven by a reluctance to buy a new car, Americans are making more stops for repairs. A quick $20 oil change with free tire rotation is now standard. It gets customers in the door and lets the staff sell scheduled maintenance and other necessary repairs. |
19 | 7841 | 2008 | Blockbuster debuted a television set-top box for delivering movies on demand over the Internet. The Blockbuster OnDemand player, built by 2Wire, costs $99 plus movie fees. However, the deal includes 25 free movies, which normally cost $2.50, so the company says the box is effectively "free." Netflix subscribers who pay at least $8.99 a month for unlimited DVD rentals by mail can get streaming online movies and TV shows at no extra charge. Compared to Blockbuster's new OnDemand box and online rental fees, Netflix has the superior business model with its subscription offering. It's the only company with an all-you-can-eat video service. Blockbuster aims to differentiate from Netflix with quality rather than quantity. Blockbuster will start with 2,000 titles, including many new releases. Netflix has more than 12,000 movies and TV shows, but many are older movies, independent films and documentaries. |
20 | 7999 | 2008 | As the recession begins taking a toll on the ski industry, resort operators are offering a flurry of discounts they hope will draw more visitors. A drive-to resort is offering a "Monday on Us" deal that it hopes will entice travelers to stay longer. Skiers who book in a hotel from Friday to Sunday can get free lift tickets on Monday. |
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