If you are still selling your products for the same price you sold them in 2021, you can confirm that you are either running at a loss now, or barely making a little profit. Cost of business operations have grown alongside the inflation figure, and many business owners are barely breaking even or have very little profits, because they are afraid of losing their customers if they attempt to increase price. You may also just be tired of selling with a small profit margin, and wish to elevate your product to more luxury-oriented market, where they would be willing to pay your higher prices without complaints.
Well, here’s the news for you. Customers will only complain about a price increase if they think they are not getting any value for the new price. So, what if you found ways to add value to your product and repackage it to justify the new price? Price optimisation here means a price that captures the value of the product, covers the production costs gives a healthy profit margin so that you don’t run yourself out of business. Here are three tips you could apply to repackage your products, especially when you want to increase the price.
ADD COMPLEMENTARY PRODUCTS TO THE PACKAGE
Let’s take a cloth business for instance. If an outfit costs N3000, and you want to start selling at a higher price like N10,000 to meet up the increased cost of operations. What do you think would be of value to someone that buys clothes? They would probably like other products in the fashion line i.e perfumes, hair bundles, purses, tote bags, scrunchies, jewelry, crocs, press-on nails, etc.
As a smart entrepreneur, you can collaborate with brands in your niche for discount offers. You can then make offers like “Get 3 vintage shirts and get a FREE perfume”, and “This Vintage top comes with a set of six scrunchies that you can change based on occasion”. What about adding a matching tote bag? If you sell human hairs and you are considering a change of price, try adding some scrunchies, hair pins, hair bands, lip glosses, etc to your package.
You will not make more sales if your customers feel cheated. The trick is to add more value products to the orders to make them see that the new price gives them added value and is worth it.
CHANGE YOUR PACKAGING FEEL & LOOK
If you were previously giving out orders in nylons when your price was N3000, and you want to increase the price, change the package to a box or carton bag. If you were not adding a Thank You Card, business card, or a sticker before, add it now. It may not cost much to change these packaging, but it does increase the value of the product.
Imagine buying a Gucci GG Marmont small matelassé bag for $2,475 and getting it in a nylon! You would likely scream fake and feel cheated. If you were not taking note of details previously, now it is a priority. You are increasing the price so the details should be catered for.
IMPROVE YOUR CUSTOMER CARE & DELIVERY SERVICES
Note that your price increment does not only cover the product, the customers are also paying for to be treated better, to be paid more attention and to get quicker responses. You would want to give them better treatment all-round. This is not to suggest that you should not pay attention to all these things when you are selling at a lower price. But once you increase your price, there may be less tolerance for poor service delivery. Seek out feedback, ask if the product was up to their expectation. Ask if they would be pleased to recommend your service to a friend. Ask what you could have done better. Respond your messages promptly, and if there is the need to do a refund (based on your terms and policy), do so, especially if the customer got a damaged product or the likes.
With details like this, you can sell your products at a higher or luxurious price and still have customers coming in to patronise you.
