New York SBDC Research Network

From eMarketer An April 2018 study of US retailers by Retail Systems Research (RSR) found that pricing concerns far outstripped other issues. Keeping up with the competition’s prices was the No. 1 challenge, cited by 58% of respondents. When asked about their top three business challenges, 65% of retailers cited "aggressive competitors of like items make price our primary demand driver." And 60% cited "increased consumer price sensitivity." Those two challenges were the only ones cited by more than half of the respondents. But pricing pressures were more acute in some sectors than others. In particular, the study noted that fashion and apparel retailers were much less likely to be focused on pricing parity (at 39%) and tended to be more concerned about minimizing markdown spend (48%).

From eMarketing : Despite the continued strength of the US economy, shoppers remain focused on prices, and that focus drives decisions about whether to shop online or in-store. According to a recent survey, nearly six in 10 US shoppers say they prefer to shop online instead of in-store because of several factors, one being price transparency. The study from e-commerce and supply chain solution provider Arvato, which surveyed 2,000 US adults in October 2017, revealed that 61% of respondents said it was easier to compare prices online vs. in-store—even when they were already shopping at a physical location. What’s more, roughly one in five (19%) respondents said they would abandon an in-store purchase if they found a lower-priced product while webrooming via their mobile device. But while price may be a big motivator for why consumers choose to shop online, it can also contribute to abandoned carts. Nearly a quarter (24%) of shoppers surveyed said they would abandon an online o...

From Eater : It’s hard to believe, but before 1994, grocery stores did not sell packaged rotisserie chickens. Boston Market is credited with convincing consumers to pay for one of the easiest meals to make at home, in the early 1990s, and that’s when grocery stores saw an opening, according to a new Wall Street Journal report. Last year, Americans bought 625 million rotisserie chickens at supermarkets; Costco alone sold 87 million, according to the Journal, 36 million more than they did in 2010. Today, practically every major publication, from Bon Appetit to Buzzfeed, has published a list of ways to most efficiently transform a grocery store-roasted chicken into several meals. The pre-roasted birds, packaged in plastic or paper and sitting beneath heat lamps at national chains like Kroger and Costco, might be flavored with garlic and lemon or barbecue spices. In addition to the convenience, the smell is a draw, as the Journal points out. It’s enough to get people into the store i...

From ScienceDaily When companies combine different pricing structures -- such as asking for effort or information in combination with or instead of money -- consumers perceive a greater risk in the decision to buy. That's according to University of Cincinnati research presented at the Aug. 15-17 Behavioral Pricing Conference in Detroit, Mich., by doctoral marketing student John Dinsmore. His paper is titled "Mental Accounting, General Evaluability Theory and the Framing Losses Posed by Partitioned Monetary and Nonmonetary Prices." According to Dinsmore, shoppers routinely arrive at buying decisions by categorizing and evaluating prices, a process known as mental accounting that helps consumers judge a level of loss or sacrifice posed by pricing strategies.

For more than 90 years, AMS has provided current, unbiased price and sales information to assist in the orderly marketing and distribution of farm commodities. Reports include information on prices, volume, quality, condition, and other market data on farm products in specific markets and marketing areas. Reports cover both domestic and international markets. The data is disseminated within hours of collection via the Internet and made available through electronic means, in printed reports, by telephone recordings and through the news media. In particular, check out the Commodities Area , which provides current prices for COTTON, DAIRY, FRUIT AND VEGETABLE and LIVESTOCK AND SEED.

Everyone has to increase their prices eventually. If you’re fortunate your customers won’t notice. But in a budget conscious economy, the chances are they will. However, done right, raising your prices should not alienate your customers – particularly if they value you and your services READ MORE .

As supply costs in the food and beverage industry are inflating at alarming rates, now is a good time for effective food service managers to revisit their menus and develop some pricing strategies to position them for continued success in the marketplace. Quite a few operators are rightfully concerned about recent price increases. Still, this actually provides a nice window of opportunity to make some changes to menu prices and actually increase profit. While I would like to provide a tried and proven formula food service managers could use for pricing their menus, the fact is that menu pricing is more of an art than a science. There are just too many different factors that come in to play and probably one of the biggest mistakes managers make is to price their menu offerings based on formula rather than thinking about some of these factors.Any business that is considering their menu prices should not only consider their supplier costs, but also a competitive analysis and some form of ...