Dive Right In Scuba
ScubaBoard Business Sponsor
ScubaBoard Business Sponsor
Scuba Instructor
Divemaster
I would look at WHY and HOW Your losing your local customers to the internet. You say dive shop X charges $3k a person and you would charge them $2k....well when they are in your store, you can sell for whatever you want....so sell it for $2k.
Like Phil said, the big guys will bury everyone else. It happens every so often when they all drop a price to pennies over cost....this winter it happened to UK products as they had a weak MAP policy that these guys laughed at, and UK was not willing to fix until after Xmas. ALOT of people were guilty of this same thing. One guy lowers their price, the others see this and immediately drop their price to not be high....then the price war begins...with their volume discounts (which DO exist off the books), they can afford to do what most shops could never do.
The main thing is in your store you can do what you want....if there is no store to complain, why not run that weekend AD, or collaborate with other stores to offer an AD and chip in on. This will only help all of the stores.....Do you place weekly ads in the paper with coupons? You compared it to big stores...do you have that type of budget to spend on that?
It seems like business must be bad for you or you have bad sales people if your losing your customers to "Price" from internet dealers.....Match their price and call it a day. Stop losing customers on price and give them something to stay with you and not worry about online.
I have people that come in with price quotes on packages, they know we price match and they can go home with it, try it on, and support a local business, and also get our service and knowledge....they know its not worth going else where....instill that into your customers with your offerings and you wont have to worry about losing to X online.....and Johnny Consumer will come to you and not X online or other high price local shop
Like Phil said, the big guys will bury everyone else. It happens every so often when they all drop a price to pennies over cost....this winter it happened to UK products as they had a weak MAP policy that these guys laughed at, and UK was not willing to fix until after Xmas. ALOT of people were guilty of this same thing. One guy lowers their price, the others see this and immediately drop their price to not be high....then the price war begins...with their volume discounts (which DO exist off the books), they can afford to do what most shops could never do.
The main thing is in your store you can do what you want....if there is no store to complain, why not run that weekend AD, or collaborate with other stores to offer an AD and chip in on. This will only help all of the stores.....Do you place weekly ads in the paper with coupons? You compared it to big stores...do you have that type of budget to spend on that?
It seems like business must be bad for you or you have bad sales people if your losing your customers to "Price" from internet dealers.....Match their price and call it a day. Stop losing customers on price and give them something to stay with you and not worry about online.
I have people that come in with price quotes on packages, they know we price match and they can go home with it, try it on, and support a local business, and also get our service and knowledge....they know its not worth going else where....instill that into your customers with your offerings and you wont have to worry about losing to X online.....and Johnny Consumer will come to you and not X online or other high price local shop