Pricing

You’ve slaved over your product or service; you’ve done creative marketing campaigns that drove results; you’ve researched and established a fair price. Your job as an online marketer is done, right? Actually, you’re missing a key part of the conversion picture. Price presentation can have a huge impact on your conversion rate.

Kohl’s is about to try its hand at “off price” retail, becoming the latest retail chain to open an outlet store to lift sales and profits. The department store will open a single 30,000 square-foot store in Cherry Hill, N.J., near Philadelphia, in June that will be stocked with “like new” clothes, accessories and home…

There are two pricing strategies that are particularly helpful for online retailers: psychological pricing and comparison pricing. They actually complement each other nicely. Psychological pricing taps into the way that our brains work to offer great deals in the eyes of the consumer. While there are many different forms of psychological pricing, they all have…

Macy’s is launching Macy’s Backstage to help it spur growth. The outlets will offer clearance goods from Macy’s stores as well as brand

Gap's namesake chain just introduced its "resolution denim," which it plugs as its best stretch line, but they're already 30 percent off full price (provided you try them on first). At Abercrombie & Fitch Co., a new denim ankle legging is half off. While consumers have long known to wait for the sale, it's becoming increasingly difficult for specialty retailers to get consumers to pay full price for anything, says Credit Suisse analyst Christian Buss, who has tracked promotions the past 18 months.

Dynamic pricing is a topic that's been getting a lot of attention lately. It's come a long way since it publicly debuted in the airline industry in the 1980s. Now we're used to seeing it across many different industries. From Uber to Amazon.com, many businesses are putting their own spin on dynamic pricing. But what is it exactly? To put it simply, it's a flexible pricing strategy in which businesses alter their pricing based on a number of factors, both internal and external.

U.S. retail sales perked up in November, as cheaper gas and an improving job market fueled a promising start to the holiday shopping season. Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent, the most in eight months, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Excluding gas stations, sales climbed a healthy 0.9 percent. Spending on motor vehicles accelerated 1.7 percent, while purchases at clothiers, online retailers, electronics stores and department stores all expanded. Nonstore retailers, which include online and mail order outlets, rose 1 percent.

Black Friday is exactly two weeks away and the holiday season is just around the corner, which is causing the competition between retailers to intensify. Now Wal-Mart executives are telling managers at its stores across the U.S. to price match Amazon.com and other online retailers. Greg Foran, president and CEO of Wal-Mart U.S., said that the price-matching plan simply formalized what many of the stores were already doing. "About half of the stores were doing it anyway," said Foran during an earnings call. The policy is known internally as "Online Price Match," which is part of the "Ad Match" program.

Thanksgiving could turn into a full shopping day this year, industry consultants say, as retailers debate moving up their openings and doorbuster events. While retailers aren't expected to announce any special Thanksgiving hours until the second half of October or into November, "it's inevitable to see them open all day or even earlier than last year," said Joel Bines, managing director and co-leader of consulting firm AlixPartners’ retail practice, in an interview.

As retailers gear up for the holiday selling season, industry watchers ask the same inevitable questions. How promotional will they get? Will discounts make a difference to their sales? And at what cost to profit? They should listen closely to Pier 1 Imports CEO Alex Smith's sobering remarks. The home furnishings retailer's stock slumped as much as 18 percent in its biggest daily percentage drop in almost five years on Thursday after its second-quarter profit and sales missed Wall Street expectations. While profit was partly hurt by increased online spending, increased storewide promotions were the big culprit that hurt margins.