3P Mapping

While entering a new market one should look into the pricing strategy, to find out optimal price point, for product & services, to maximise their potential revenue, increase their market share and build a successful sales strategy around it.

The fundamentals of value revolve around the trade-off between the benefits a customer receives from a product or service and the price they will pay for it. Customers do not buy exclusively on price but are driven on value buoyed by the disparity between the benefits a product/service offers and the price that is charged.

• How much will a respondent pay for an added value service/product over and above the present price? OR
• How much of a cutback in service/product requirement would necessitate a price reduction?

MCG pricing strategy research can help to verify pricing assumptions as well as answer the questions of where price/product trade-offs may lie, in addition to where extra value can be delivered. It needs to take numerous factors into consideration, such as emerging trends in the market that may alter perceptions, product inertia or even history of the marketplace (i.e. order of supplier entry into the market).

The prerequisites

• How much of a premium is a market willing to pay for your brand relative to your competitors (if at all)?
• What market share could you expect to attain at different price points relative to your competitors?
• Bearing in mind the market and brand positioning, what sort of pricing strategy makes most sense to maximise market share, or maximise revenue or profit?
• What is the maximum price that a brand can charge before losing significant market share to competitors?
• What is the relative influence of price and brand when the market is considering purchasing your product or service?
• Categorisation of the products and services in terms of their similarity among each other while distinguishing the brand’s strong determining factor; behind pricing decision making.
• Analysing the complexities of buying decision, for instance, where the specific features of a product or service are critical?

While entering a new market its inevitable to look at the product in order to successfully asses the demand potential. Among other key areas like competition, distribution channel, prices, customers service, marketing & branding & so on; a ’product’ in itself require a special attention for an overall market assessment. We, at MCG, incorporate two broad view points  while conducting a market entry research assignment, which tend to steer the research project and the corresponding data collection & processing. These two foundations are: –

1. Are we open to customising a new product for the target market?
2. Or we want to enter the market with the similar product portfolio?

In case of New Product Development some of the key assess points are: –

• What a customer want?
• What upgraded features, applications & services a customer need in the existing options, provided by other players?
• How to transform a customer need into a product in their hand?
• What product standards & licencing must be followed?
• What is the nature of the market?
• How to launch a product most efficiently & effectively?

In case of existing products portfolio key assess points are: –

• Which set of product category or categories are best suitable for the target market?
• Do we fit into the current legal apparatus of standards & licences?
• How easy it will be for the rivals to come up with similar products?
• How can we protect our innovation?
• Do we need to set up after sales services?

It’s not just about connecting with consumers. It’s about connecting with the right consumers in the right way at the right time. And by understanding consumer habits better than your competition, you’ll be able to sell your target what they want before they even know they want it.

Purchase decisions are never made blindly. Even the most impulsive shoppers can be slotted into specific and predictable consumer buying decision categories. Most buying habits are led by a number of factors that you may not have even thought of. Few of them being: –

1. How the customers shop?
   1. How often?
   2. Where?
   3. When?
2. How much do they spend?D
3. Do they shop independently or with a friend?
4. Do they shop online or in store?
5. Whether purchasing is done more OTC, wholesalers or distributors?
6. How much research is carried out by the customer before they decide?
7. Are they impulsive?
8. Are they negotiators?

Smart business research provides for crucial insights into a customer’s purchasing habits. These habits, when identified, tells a lot about the stage of market development and the adaptations a foreign company can make to their existing product / services.