{"id":8355,"date":"2024-06-20T13:53:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T13:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.price2spy.com\/blog\/?p=8355"},"modified":"2025-03-10T14:28:43","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T14:28:43","slug":"channel-based-pricing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.price2spy.com\/blog\/channel-based-pricing\/","title":{"rendered":"Channel-Based Pricing for Retailers: Setting Prices on Different Channels"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Channel-based pricing means differentiating your pricing strategies between channels on which you sell your products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it doesn\u2019t necessarily have to mean one strategy for one channel. You can, for example, employ only two different strategies on 4 channels of sale. This decision depends on numerous factors and we\u2019ll cover the most important ones in this blog post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, as you are probably already aware, there are numerous options available regarding where and how you want to sell your products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can open a brick-and-mortar store, an online webshop, sell through social media, an online marketplace, something else, or even any combination of these methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many factors influencing this decision. You can say that \u2014 even though you may stumble upon some soft guidelines that cover a wide array of businesses \u2014 each business has specific factors that it needs to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can and it often does get confusing. First of all, should you even consider opening up an additional channel? If yes, which one is the most appropriate for your business? Are some factors more important than others? What is my competition doing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many more questions and we\u2019re going to tackle some of the most important ones in this blog post. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\"channel-based<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What is Channel-based Pricing?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As we\u2019ve already mentioned in the introduction, channel-based pricing is a type of retail pricing strategy<\/a> that means you\u2019ll form your prices primarily based on the channel of sale, the delivery method, and the channel\u2019s reach. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this section, we\u2019ll go into a bit more detail about the strategy itself, its evolution, how price monitoring software has changed the playing field, and how changing customers\u2019 expectations has influenced this pricing strategy. Also, we\u2019ll touch upon the differences between multichannel and omnichannel retailing approaches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Channel-based pricing is inextricably linked to a multichannel retailing strategy. The multichannel retailing strategy started developing with the first catalog and phone sales being done while simultaneously making sales in the standard brick-and-mortar stores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businesses have to follow technological developments, otherwise, they\u2019ll find themselves lagging behind their competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now you may be asking yourself, what if one of my channels starts underperforming? This is where you start differentiating prices on different channels and enter the world of channel-based pricing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This can be done through the straight-up slashing of one price, but this is not recommended. The reason behind this is that your customers will eventually notice this discrepancy, and when they do they\u2019ll start becoming suspicious and start losing trust in your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are much more nuanced approaches to this, and we\u2019ll cover them later on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the world of eCommerce<\/a> started spreading out, many businesses saw an opportunity to expand to an additional sales channel. Initially, most of them priced their products and services the same way they priced them in their other channels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nowadays, it\u2019s a commonplace occurrence to price your products based on where you\u2019re selling them. You may do this because you want that specific channel to cover its costs (eg. overhead costs for brick-and-mortar stores), or because customer experience differs based on a channel. For example, the attentiveness of your staff in physical stores is a factor that significantly changes customer\u2019s experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The point about customers\u2019 experience is an important one because that\u2019s what dictates their willingness to pay, right after the price<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, convenience matters a lot. Fierce competition in many industries (especially B2C) has made it so that customers\u2019 expectations have soared through the roof. It\u2019s expected for most retailers to offer their products at least online and in physical stores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another important factor that has essentially changed the \u201crules of the game\u201d is the appearance of price monitoring software. In the early 2010s, it was considered avant-garde, and now \u2014 it\u2019s a must! Even if you do not monitor your competitors\u2019 prices, you can be sure they monitor yours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Different Types of Channels<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Today, there are numerous sales channels and as many (or even more) channel-based pricing strategies out there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the main reasons why retailers are looking to expand on multiple sales channels is that it increases their chances of intersecting with their customer\u2019s path to purchase<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, some customers may be more inclined to have dedicated shopping days where they visit shopping malls and other physical stores. In this case, your eCommerce platform may not be sufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, some customers on their \u201clazy days\u201d may just browse different online stores, compare products and prices, and maybe decide to make a purchase. If you don\u2019t have an online store, there\u2019s no chance you\u2019ll even be on their radar.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"different<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

So, what different types of sales channels<\/a> are there? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, we\u2019ve mostly covered two of the most important pricing channels. Those are online shops, whether your personal or marketplace listings and physical stores. However, there are many more, some being more important than others in today\u2019s market conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you\u2019re probably aware already, many social media platforms have added the possibility of selling directly through them. Facebook and Instagram are the frontrunners in this regard, but Pinterest is also up there. A great advantage of this channel is that it is suitable for any business size – from small to large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, some customers may come upon your products or services through a comparison shopping engine, such as Google Shopping<\/a> or Idealo<\/a>. What these platforms do is that they allow retailers to list their products and services while simultaneously providing consumers with an easy way to browse and compare prices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another, sort of specific, way of selling is promotion through newsletters. This is not a direct way of making sales but you can make it so that, for example, certain discounts and promotions are only accessible through your newsletters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or, slightly adjusted, you can give out a coupon code<\/a> for a certain channel of yours (in most cases this is your online shop) if people sign up for your newsletter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also sell through catalogs and phone calls, and even apply channel-based pricing strategies there. However, you may need to do some research before opening up these channels because they may not work for all types of businesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Types of Channel-based Pricing Approaches<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There are, on the most fundamental level, two basic types of approaches when it comes to channel-based pricing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can either set up different prices on different channels (a differential approach) or unify your prices (a unified approach) across them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While unifying price can be applied to multichannel retailing, it\u2019s usually more appropriate for omnichannel retailers (ie. a more integrated approach).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s see first when you should decide to differentiate your prices across various channels and how you should go about it. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Differentiated<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to differentiated channel-based pricing it\u2019s much more common to see discounts on one channel rather than deliberate price increases on another. Even if there are such cases, they are not promoted and are mostly done quietly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the main reasons you, as a retailer, may want to give a discount on a certain channel is if that channel is underperforming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say that you notice your physical store is not generating enough sales and it\u2019s getting difficult to cover even the overhead costs, let alone earn some profits. A possible approach would be to start offering a loyalty program for customers who purchase your products in your physical stores rather than through other channels. You can design it in numerous ways. For example, you can give out points for every X amount of dollars spent and those points can be later redeemed for a certain discount in the physical store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar thing can happen to your online shop or eCommerce store. Understandably, you will want to increase your sales on the platform or online store. What you may want to do is to start giving out discount codes that can be applied at the checkout (or some other place on the platform), and which won\u2019t be applicable in your physical stores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to note that many channels have different operating costs. It\u2019s up to you to decide whether you\u2019ll cover each channel\u2019s costs with the revenue coming from that channel or if you\u2019re going to cover one channel\u2019s bad month with another channel\u2019s good month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s now cover why it\u2019s maybe better not to simply cut down the base price of your products or services, but rather give much more effective incentives to your customers to purchase on a certain channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The advantage of coupons, codes, points, and similar approaches compared to straight-up discounting is that your customers start interacting more with your channels and potentially start feeling loyal to your brand.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"channel<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Also, even with discounts, it\u2019s important to promote them whenever there\u2019s a special occasion for them \u2014 perhaps your store\u2019s birthday. This is also applicable to other channel-based pricing approaches, like awarding more loyalty points during a certain period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unified<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A unified channel-based pricing strategy is more appropriate for omnichannel retailers. In short, omnichannel retailing is an integrated approach focused on bringing a seamless experience to your customers. An example of this approach would be a retailer that offers refunds for a price that the customer paid on any channel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits & Challenges of Using Channel-based Pricing<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve seen how channel-based pricing works. Now, we\u2019re going to talk about the benefits of a properly applied channel-based pricing strategy, and what difficulties and challenges you might encounter in the process. Do have in mind, though, that even though challenges appear there are tools like Price2Spy which can make your life easier. But, more on that later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefits<\/h3>\n\n\n\n