When was the last time you walked in to a gift shop or jewelry store and there were no price tags on any of the items? Did you ask the store clerk for help or did you make the assumption that if you had to ask the price you just might not be able to afford the product and walked out? The decision to post prices is up to the owner, but this marketing coach highly recommends posting your prices when you know for sure that your prices are very competitive or the best around. Most consumers are in a hurry and even if they have the time to shop they will tell you that they like to know what the price is before they decide to buy. However, if you have a high ticketed price and you have a sales clerk who is able to close difficult sales then leaving the price tag off and allowing your clerk the opportunity to engage with the shopper is a better strategy.
Also, if you find that certain items in your store are not being sold as frequently as others you might wish to “bundle” them with other items that are more popular. A local gift shop merchant used this strategy when creating holiday gift baskets for last minute shoppers. She looked around her store and saw the items that were collecting dust and put them in attractive baskets with some of the quick sale items that everyone commonly buys. She didn’t mark-up the cost for the basket or bow or her time for assembling the holiday gift arrangement, but was thrilled to have shoppers buy the baskets for the regular price of all the items in the gift basket arrangement. She used a clever way of “bundling” items to get the end result she needed. Even if you are a service provider, consider ways that you can add value and increase sales by offering several of your services for one flat price. This is a great way to get a running start for higher sales in 2010!
All my best to your success!
~Charlene
