In response to a recent investigative report about Target offering prices on its mobile app that differed depending on whether the customers were inside or outside the retailer’s physical locations, Suman Bhattacharyya of Digiday digs deeper into how the industry’s biggest retailers are experimenting with pricing.
In the article, Ken Ouimet, CEO of Engage3, discussed the evolution of retail pricing and the challenges involved. Everyday Low Price retailers like Walmart and Target are under pressure by Amazon’s pricing algorithms, which can make price changes millions of times per day. As a result, some retailers have resorted to applying similar algorithms to their online and in-app pricing. Although these pricing algorithms work well on an online platform, brick-and-mortar stores are having more trouble implementing it.
“In the 1970s, most retailers had national pricing,“ said Ouimet. “Today, pricing is much more localized; dynamic pricing lets you segment with time, and it’s not only about dynamic pricing but personalized pricing – the price will be different for every buyer, and the discounts will be different.”
Market leaders like Walmart and Target “are competing with Amazon with eyes wide open; they realize it’s a different game – in 15 minutes, a price can be old and it’s usually based on competition,” Ouimet said. “You can’t fight that pricing is becoming more localized, more dynamic, and personalized – in five to 10 years, everything you buy will be based on personalized offers.”
Engage3’s mission is to create a retail ecosystem where consumers, retailers and manufacturers all win. They use data science so Consumers are only offered products they want, when they want it, and at a compelling price; Retailers maximize profits by targeting only high-intent consumers; and Manufacturers only invest in discount coupons that have ROI.
Read Digiday’s article here.
