Pressured By Amazon, Retailers Are Experimenting With Dynamic Pricing

While customers might expect price consistency when shopping at the same store online or in person, prices are actually varying across channels: A customer shopping on the Target app could arrive in the store just to see the same item selling at a different price. An online Target shopper, meanwhile, could be getting access to a promotional discount specifically for e-commerce shoppers. The notion of “everyday low prices,” trumpeted by retailers like Walmart and Target, is being turned on its head. In its place, pricing algorithms spit out different figures based on factors that could include time of day, demand, location, competition, and customer buying patterns, are becoming commonplace. Dynamic pricing is a symptom of the physical retail era being squeezed by online competition. To stay competitive, retailers like Target, Walmart and Kohl’s are tweaking costs of products on a regular basis, mainly online and in mobile apps. Read more at Digiday.