"The cost determines my selling price" and "let's lower prices to win customers and then start raising them" are some of the phrases that should be avoided when designing a pricing strategy.
Ariel Banos, founder of Fijaciondeprecios.com, has identified five phrases that are dangerous and that companies should avoid applying when designing their price management strategy.
Given the announcements made by butchers about the possible increase in the price of beef, the Diaco announces that it has begun operations to prevent speculation.
The Direccion de Atención y Asistencia al Consumidor (Diaco), an agency of the Ministry of Economy, informed that it has begun operations to verify red meat prices nationwide, warning that it will not tolerate any abuse and price speculation.
Taking advantage of shortages to sell at high prices and visualizing the benefits to companies of strategies that demonstrate social empathy in difficult times are some of the lessons learned during 2020, which was highlighted by the health and economic crisis.
The spread of covid-19 suddenly transformed the global business landscape. Ariel Banos, founder of Fijaciondeprecios.com, has identified five lessons that companies learned in terms of price management, in this context of changing commercial reality.
Selecting products with limited sales potential because of price, defining the group of clients that will be reached by the promotion and quantifying the profits that the company will receive after offering discounts are factors that must be evaluated when applying strategies of this type.
In order to avoid carrying out promotions in an intuitive way, without an integral evaluation of the action, both in terms of costs and benefits, Ariel Banos, founder of Fijaciondeprecios.com, proposes seven steps to correctly define a Profitable Promotion.
With the change in the configuration of the markets and businesses, companies must think clearly, adapt to the new rules of the game and avoid, as far as possible, immediately implementing the policy of low prices.
The economic crisis resulting from the outbreak of covid-19 has changed the rules of the game in the markets at a global level. Some companies, in their attempt to stay in business, have opted to lower their prices, even to levels where they could incur losses.
The business sector in Guatemala rejects the measure of the Ministry of Economy, which establishes maximum sales prices to the consumer for certain pharmaceutical products, while the state of disaster decreed by covid-19 lasts.
Arguing that the health of the nation's inhabitants is a public good and that institutions are required to ensure its conservation and restoration, the government will regulate the prices of several medicines.
"If we overcome the mental barrier of commoditization, identifying and communicating those added values going beyond our basic proposal, we will have the opportunity to take our profitability to another level."
Ariel Banos, founder of Fijaciondeprecios.com explains that when a proposal is a commodity, in other words, it lacks differentiation with respect to others offered in the market, the only alternative is to align itself with the prices charged by competitors. There are no magic solutions.
In order to ensure that a possible de-regulation would not generate an unjustified increase in the products considered to be of greater sensitivity, the government decided to extend the price control system of the basic basket for six more months.
At present, the list of products whose prices are controlled includes beef slices, ribbon steaks, ground beef, whole chicken, rice, onions, yams, national potatoes, perita tomatoes, cassava, powdered milk, sliced bread, processed American yellow cheese and sausages.
Segmenting customers by prices they are willing to pay, showing the value of the product or service to charge higher prices and being careful when applying discounts are some of the recommendations from experts to avoid losing money.
Ariel Banos, founder of Fijaciondeprecios.com explains some of the myths that exist among business leaders when building a pricing strategy, and what could be the alternatives to not lose money.
In order to reach customers who, have great uncertainty at the time of purchase and to improve the unit margin of the products sold, flexibility must be offered in the cancellation conditions to increase the probability of successful sales, even at higher prices.
In difficult times, such as the current scenario generated by covid-19, the companies that win will be those that provide greater peace of mind to their customers, even if they sell their products at higher prices.
A presidential decree gives the National Energy Secretariat the power to regulate maximum retail prices for 91 and 95 octane gasoline and low-sulfur diesel.
The regulation of maximum prices will be in effect for a six-month period, which may be extended, according to Executive Decree No. 474 of June 10, 2020 published in the Official Journal.
Discounts and offers, increase in the price level generally and the rise in operating costs due to new health and safety protocols are the main threats to the profitability of companies in this new commercial reality.
Given this context of economic and health crisis, which derives from the outbreak of covid-19 at the global level, Ariel Baños, a specialist in price management and founder of Fijaciondeprecios.com, explains what are the main threats that could affect the profitability levels of companies, and details some strategies that could be applied to mitigate the adverse effects.
In Panama, the government established the maximum gross profit margin in the entire commercialization chain, for different personal hygiene, cleaning and consumption items, which are of primary need.
According to Decree 152 dated May 13, the measure decreed is with the aim of mitigating the outbreak of covid-19 and to give the general population access to most products.
In the current complicated context, companies must reconsider their strategies so as not to fall into the error of making aggressive discounts, since they could affect the positioning of their products in the medium and long term.
Ariel Baños, a specialist in pricemanagement and founder of Fijaciondeprecios.com, explains some of the important conditions that must be considered when deciding to make discounts in an environment of high uncertainty such as that which has generated the current crisis of covid-19.