Offline or online: which stores have better prices?
Have you ever noticed that the retail price of a certain product in the store is higher than the online prices for the same product? What price prevails and what trends can be observed now?
Often, retailers offer lower online prices for an item while the same item sells for a higher price in store. This is because brick-and-mortar stores have higher costs and therefore require higher prices for the same item. Thus, we see the situation in which a retailer offers customers one product at different prices.
If you compare the costs that take seller in the case of selling through the store and selling online, you can see a big difference. In a brick-and-mortar store, the rent exceeds the costs compared to the warehouses required for offline sales.
Stores require staff who need to be paid wages. And remember that a store has a limited footprint, so you need more stores to reach more consumers. Of course, you also need staff in the warehouse, but they can work much more efficiently. Workers can process many more orders per hour than a store. You can serve the whole world from one point instead of having many stores in every city. Consequently, an online store allows you to reach many more customers and requires less cost.
Most sites on the market have links with delivery partners. After the order is received, the only task that the seller has to perform is the packaging. This greatly simplifies the sales process. In addition, it is known that not everyone likes to go shopping and choose goods, every day more and more people are switching to online shopping, because it is convenient and can be more profitable.
Think about purchases over the past month: what items are you used to buying online, and which items do you always go to the store for? There are things you want to check yourself. The Internet will not allow you to choose the scent of the perfume you want to buy or try on the dress that you dreamed about for so long, but only saw on advertising boards. In this case, shopping in an online store may be risky. Therefore, most likely, you will choose an offline store.
Store owners are well aware of current trends and try to keep their customers. Therefore, they offer them additional opportunities: if the price in the store is higher, consumers can simply take their smartphone, order it at a lower price online and go to pick up the product at the counter in the store.
Customers have access to all the information they need to compare prices online or in other stores. While it is perfectly possible for a typical retailer to justify why prices differ from prices in their stores in two different locations, it is very difficult to explain this to customers watching prices online. It is important to maintain customer loyalty and offer profitable solutions. After all, having different prices online and in the store can undermine the trust of your customers, as they expect you to offer them a fair price.
Focus on being consistent and efficient in your pricing. Your cost elements must be structured and optimized to meet customer expectations. Try to make sure that prices do not differ and customers do not have to constantly check them, instead of enjoying the purchase.