Reduce Price to Improve Revenues and Margins
CHOICE 1 OBJECTIVE: ATTRACT CUSTOMERS
CHOICE 2 ISOLATE SEGMENTS: INTRODUCTORY OFFER 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 | 3577 | 1987 | Panasonic offers a free mini copier if you buy its large FP-4650. |
| 2 | 4512 | 1986 | Continental Airlines is temporarily offering 1,000 bonus flier miles for each 40-mile hop between Houston's two airports. In the past 3 months, airports have tried to jazz up their frequent flier programs to win passengers. |
| 3 | 4812 | 1996 | Carriers in several big markets are cutting cellular-phone prices, and even offering them for free. Bell Atlantic-Nynex further cut the price of a cell-phone, already a steal at $40 in early January, to $5 for new customers who sign up before Jan. 31. |
| 4 | 4813 | 1991 | If you activate GTE Mobilnet cellular service by January 5th, you receive free evening and weekend calls through your March bill. Offer applies to off-peak airtime only and does not include toll, long distance charges. Offer is not valid to current customers who have discontinued GTE Mobilnet service within the last 90 days. Service-switchers are excluded: only new customers. |
| 5 | 4813 | 2004 | Vonage's VOIP internet calling service can save users money on calls and additional features. A regular home phone and number can be used to place calls via the Internet with a broadband connection. For $35 a month, users receive unlimited local and regional calls, plus 500 minutes of long distance. A $15 basic plan buys 500 minutes a month of local or long-distance calls. Voice mail, call forwarding, call waiting and three-way calling are free and international calls are cheap. Communication between two Vonage users is free. The adapter box can be moved to another location, even internationally, and be set up simply. Virtual phone numbers can cut costs for incoming callers. However, local 911 services will not be able to determine your location without a special set up and phone calls may be of a slightly poorer quality. |
| 6 | 4841 | 1997 | Cox launched its first residential cable telephony service, called Cox Digital Telephone, in mid-September in Orange County. Pricing for this service is also compelling: the first line is priced at $9.99 versus PacBell's $11.25, a second line is just $4.99 versus PacBell's roughly $11.35, advanced features are 28% lower, and, at least initially, installation is free. |
| 7 | 5945 | 1991 | PIP Printing offers coupon: Open an account with us, and get 15% off for 30 days, after approval of your credit application, on all printing and copying orders. Free pick-up and delivery. Expires 5/91. |
| 8 | 6021 | 2004 | More recently, banks have shifted their focus back to retail customers by opening more branches and promoting such products as free checking. |
| 9 | 6111 | 2005 | While the industry average fee for ATM transactions increases, some banks have introduced no-fee ATMs to attract customers as they enter new markets. Wachovia has done so in limited markets while Citibank customers gained access to ATMs in the MoneyPass ATM network. |
| 10 | 7011 | 2002 | In the midst of a travel slump brought on by a depressed economy and fears of terrorism, many large hoteliers are offering free rooms to lure in travelers. Hyatt and Marriott are offering free nights to entice people join their frequent-guest plans. |
| 11 | 7384 | 2000 | Ofoto and Shutterfly offer snapshot size prints free when you sign up. Both charge 49 cents for snapshots, 99 cents for 5×7 prints and $2.99 for 8×10. In contrast, Kodak's online service, PhotoNetOnline, offers features roughly comparable but for higher prices; $8.95 for an 8 x 10, $1 to download high resolution versons of images where Ofoto and Shutterfly offer this service for free. |
| 12 | 7514 | 1987 | Hertz has a Hertz Corporate account Program. This free program offers Hertz Corporate Charge Cards (no finance or service charges) and competitive corporate rates. If you sign up now, you'll receive 20 Free upgrade coupons for your travelers, 20 free day portable phone coupons and 5% off special, low promotional rates on T-Birds and Crown Victorias. |
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