Реферат: Prising

P R I C I N G

In the market economy the business success of any company or entrepreneur

mostly depends on the correctly chosen strategy and tactics of pricing on

goods and services. Pricing is a rather difficult process because prices

mostly depend on the situation in the market. The range of political,

economic, psychological and social factors has a great influence on the price

level. Today your price can be determined by the costs factor, and tomorrow

its level will depend on the customer’s behavior.

However, nowadays the most part of entrepreneurs of our country has no

necessary theoretical and practical knowledge of the complicated mechanism of

goods and services pricing. As a result, establishing prices they often make

serious mistakes that immediately reflects on the financial results, in some

cases leads to suffering losses and sometimes even to the bankruptcy of a

business (company).

To avoid this situation any economist and any entrepreneur must acquire the

theory and practice of pricing.

All commercial and nonprofit organizations face the problem of determining

prices for their goods and services. In the market economy pricing is a very

difficult process which is influenced by plenty of different factors and

based not only on the marketing recommendations. But nevertheless, the right

choice of price strategy, approaches to the pricing for new and still

manufactured goods and services in order to increase volumes of realization

and commodity circulation, to enlarge production and firm the company’s

positions in the market is one of the marketing functions.

Prices and the price policy are ones of the major components of the marketing

activity, which importance is permanently rising in our days. Prices are in

close dependence on other variables of the marketing and other firm’s

activities. Final commercial results mostly depends on prices and it’s

important to mention that in the long run correct or fault price policy

brings positive or negative results of firm’s activity.

The essence of the correctly chosen price policy in the marketing is to fix

and vary prices in dependence on a situation in the market in order to win a

certain market share, provide the planed profits and solve other strategic

and operative tasks. Working out the general price policy all decisions are

gathered into an integrated system.

Stating a single price for all buyers is a comparatively new idea. It has

been formed historically – a price was a result of the deal between a buyer

and a seller. Usually sellers asked for a price higher than they counted to

get first. In their turn buyers asked for a price lower than they were ready

to pay. While dealing with each other they usually came to the price that was

mutually acceptable to everyone. Common prices were widely admitted only to

the end of 19 century with the appearance of large retail enterprises, which

proclaimed “the strict policy of common prices” as they offered a huge

variety of goods and employed a great number of employees.

Historically prices were the basic factors that determined a customer’s

choice. This is still true for the third-world countries among the population

groups living below the normal living standards. Nevertheless, for the last

tens of years price factors such as sales stimulation, distribution of goods

and services for the customers have obtained a certain influence on the

consumer’s choice.

The way firms approach the pricing problems may vary. In small firms prices

are usually determined by the higher leadership. In large companies

department supervisors and assortment supervisors deal with the pricing

problems. But still at this level the higher leadership determines the

general targets of the price policy. The higher leadership also confirms

prices offered by managers of the lower supervision. In space, railways, gas

and oil industries companies often organize special pricing departments,

which determine prices or help the others do it. Such employees as sales

department managers, production supervisors, finance managers and accountants

are those who also influence the price policy.

First of all a firm must determine what purposes it intends to reach with the

help of the concrete goods. If the choice of a target sector of the market is

well considered the approach to forming the marketing complex including

pricing problems is quite evident. The pricing strategy is generally

determined by decisions that were made concerning a certain position in the

market. At the same time a firm can chase other targets. The clearer a firm’s

idea of its target the easier to determine a price. There are plenty of

examples in practice: providing survival of the firm, maximizing current

profits, winning leading positions in the market reaching the high quality of

commodities.

Providing company’s survival becomes the general purpose under the

circumstances of hard competition and when there are too many producers in

the market. It’s also true in case of rapid change of the customers’ needs.

To provide the work of enterprises and sales of their goods firms have to

state lower prices in hope to get a favorable customer’s respond in return.

Survival is more important than profits. While the prices reduced cover the

production costs firms that get into a difficult situation can continue their

commercial activity for some time.

Plenty of the firms aspire to maximize their current profits. They estimate

customers’ demand and costs taking into account different levels of prices

and then they chose the price that will provide the maximization of future

profits and cash and also provide maximum of costs compensation. In all these

cases current finance indicators (indexes) are more important for a firm than

the long-run ones.

Other firms want to be leaders in the market share indicators in hope that a

company getting the biggest market share will have the lowest level of costs

and the highest profits in the long run. Trying to reach the leadership in

the market share they undertake the maximum possible decrease in prices. A

variant of this purpose is to rapidly get the concrete increase of the market

share.

A firm can also make its goods the most qualitative among all the rest

offered in the market. Usually it demands to determine a higher price to

cover the costs for reaching high quality and conducting expensive surveys.

To determine a price taking into account the level of current prices a firm

usually leans on its competitors’ prices and pays less attention to its own

indexes of costs and demand. Under the circumstances of oligopoly activity

all the firms usually ask for the same price. The smaller firms “follow the

leader” changing their prices when the leader changers them, not concerning

the fluctuations of the demand for their goods. Some firms can take off a

small extra charge as a premium or grant a small discount keeping the

difference in the permanent price. Such method of pricing is quite popular.

The seller must take into account not only economic but also psychological

factors of the price. Many consumers suppose that the price must reflect the

quality of merchandises. Some firms manage to increase the sales by raising

prices for their goods and such goods will be considered more prestigious.

Such method of pricing based on the goods prestige is also quite effective,

especially concerning, for instance, perfume or expensive cars that can cost

ten times cheaper but customers pay ten times higher considering that the

price assumes something special.

There exists one else, unofficial law of pricing, which is very popular

practically among all the sellers. Price should be expressed in a odd figure.

For example instead of $200 they put $199. And then for the plenty of

consumers this merchandise will cost $100 and plus but not just $200.

The chosen price must be checked whether it corresponds to the existing price

policy. Many firms work out purposes concerning their favorable price image

granting discounts and taking relative measures in respond to the price

activity of their competitors.

In recent several years plenty of the firms have to higher their prices.

Doing so they understand that increase of prices will result in the

displeasure of their customers, distributors and own sales personnel.

Nevertheless, the successful increase of prices can considerably enlarge the

volumes of profits.

One of the main condition affecting the increase in prices is the constant

worldwide inflation caused by highering level of costs. The increase of costs

not corresponding to the production growth leads to the decrease of the

profits rate and makes the firms permanently higher prices. Some times the

prices growth crosses the growth of costs in the presentiment of further

inflation or introduction of the state control over prices. Firms are not

sure to give their customers any long-run liabilities concerning prices,

scaring that the inflation caused by costs growth will damage their profit

rate. Overcoming inflation firms can increase their prices in several ways.

Another circumstance leading to the price increase is the availability of

extra demand (it’s especially typical for our country). When a firm is not

able to completely satisfy their customers’ needs it can raise its prices.

Prices can be raised practically imperceptibly, for example by abolishing all

the discounts and enriching the assortment with more expensive variants of

goods.

So there are lots of problems in the existing pricing system. There are

plenty of questions to be solved. That is why in the modern economy the

problems of pricing are the matter of special concern.

The choice of the proper pricing policy is still the most difficult and

important problem as in conditions of the country with high economic level

as, to the great extend, in conditions of market reforms. Any enterprise

financing stability completely depends on solving this problem as well as the

output and profit rate and ability of investing at the expense of own

resources.

The proper pricing policy is extremely important for national economy in

general because the rational price structure and level contribute to the

economic stability.

In the market economy all attention is for the first turn paid to the

consumer that should be the main principal of pricing policy which in its

turn should be considered as a part of the overall planning of the business

activity process.

The constant appearance of new goods and services in the market is one of the

main conditions to survive under the circumstances of hard competition.

Otherwise, the leg-behind firms face the serious finance problems.

The modern market grants new challenges in determining prices and some

innovations concerning this problem. One of the aspects here is orientation

to the concrete customer concerning establishing so called “just that price”

or “faire price”. There is no doubt that such understanding of price is

common for customer psychology. Some people consider prices as the ability to

obtain consumer’s benefits, other think that the price is very high.

Sometimes such personal approach is called “moral pricing”.

The right choice of the proper pricing strategy is the initial task for any

company otherwise it can face the problems of finance loss and

unprofitability.

So we can repeat once again that there are lots of problems in the existing

pricing system. There exist plenty of questions to be considered and solved.

That is why in the modern economy the problems of pricing are the matter of

special concern. Pricing issues should be considered in complex taking

account of special conditions of the modern market.