opportunity 98 of 150 We live in a community obsessed with, and addicted to, discounting. When sales are below expectations, most Australian businesses leap to discounting as the solution. This approach reflects an obsession with the competition ahead of the consumer, and a complete lack of imagination. The power of discounting is becoming a self-fulfilling […]

opportunity 98 of 150 We live in a community obsessed with, and addicted to, discounting. When sales are below expectations, most Australian businesses leap to discounting as the solution. This approach reflects an obsession with the competition ahead of the consumer, and a complete lack of imagination. The power of discounting is becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy as businesses across the board are continually reinforcing it through repeated sales and price based advertising. It is interesting that the two most common responses to declining sales tend to be – discounting (reducing margins) and increased advertising (reducing margins). Businesses are not paying enough attention to the many alternatives to discounting. Such alternatives fall into two broad categories: Tactical Strategic Tactical (immediate impact) alternatives to discounting include: Buy two, get one free (or similar) offers, which have less impact on overall margins. In some product categories, these have been found to be more…