Advertising competitor’s prices

[Crusher]

Is it legal to put in ad in the paper with my prices in one column and my competitors prices for the same item in another, so that I can show people I am the better value?

If I don’t do it as a ad, can I make something that is at the front counter so when someone says we are “high priced†I can show them that in fact we are lower then our competitors and the “Big 3�

 

[JAYP]

I made a hanging sign with all of surrounding pizzarias special pricing including big 3… and with them our price so customer can compare… they did and most of them pointed to some one else higher price pizza and asked us to have that…people dont read the stuff… and then complain about every thing…same people go to big 3 and pay the boat load for their pizza and does not complain a bit…but to you they cry for even dime extra due to they know you are the owner.

Try it to put sign in your store with that no one can do any thing about it…

 

[royster13]

In my pizzeria days we never advertised specific pricing from a competitor but boldly claimed that we had the most expensive pizza in town so there was no doubt we also had the best pizza in in town…They theatened to sue us but really had nothing to sue for…At one point we had something in our menu to the effect if you want cheap pizza for the kids and babysitter call 555-xyzw but if you want pizza for the wife call us…

We sent some of our competitor’s pizzas away for lab testing (fake cheese, soy pepperoni, etc.), however, before we got the results they closed down…So we never had a chance to advertise that they used fake cheese…

I never did buy the cheapest price thing so as soon as we took over we eliminated the 2 for 1 pricing which effectively raised our prices 40%…It slowed us down for a few weeks but once the folks tasted what we have to offer we never looked back…

 

[bodegahwy]

Spending time and even more-so spending print on prices tells the customer that the reason to buy from you is price. I suppose that is fine if you can not think of a better reason to buy from you.

Stay on message. The message is not price. Don’t talk about your competitors in advertising at all, for any reason, ever.

 

[Crusher]

The problem is we have a far better pizza. They have drivers come in, while in uniform, to buy from us. Their manager gets delivery from us. We have the cleaner store, the better ads, everything is better and because of that some people think we are higher priced then them. But we are not. We are much less expensive and have better products. I am not trying to be the cheapest, I am trying to point out that they are more expensive for a crappy pizza.

 

[famouspizza]

I would not play the pricing game unless you wanted to be know as the cheapest pizza in town.

I remember at a pizza show somebody said you can make it by being the best OR the cheapest but NOT BOTH.

I think if you focus all your attention on your entire operation instead you will be much better off and the customers you will attract will be much more loyal than the oprice shoppers who will also tend to be the ones that give you the most problems.

Since you have that high priced stigma associated with your store did you ever think about raising prices?

Good Luck but I would stay away from publishing their prices…people still wont get it even if you do

 

[GT1]

definitely stay away from talking about other peoples prices, or for that matter, their pizza. believe it or not there are actually going to be people who like that crappy pizza down the street, and may be loyal customer of it, and you aren’t going to steal them away by bashing their favorite food. do though, tell people why they should try your pizza. what makes it different? and don’t just say it’s better, cause everyone says that. why should they come to your restaurant instead of someone elses… that is what you advertise.

 

[bodegahwy]

Raise your prices.
Increase your ad budget.
Talk about things that make you different.
Stay away from valueless statements like “better”.

 

[NicksPizza]

The only way to “win” at the pizza game is to play by your own rules (actually, any game). By that, I mean that you gotta decide who you are and build a brand and identity and relationships based on that brand identity.

It is a stronger foundation to be something as oneself than in comparison with someone or something else. Like bodegahwy said, using your resources to compare yourself to a competitor, especially on price of all things, gives a message that is hard to compete on. If you are all about pricing, then it is an effective strategy . . . if not, then doing that comparison thing will confuse the message that bodegahwy mentioned.

Effective marketing appears to be, from all the collected experience here, about getting an effective message together to attract customers and hammering it day in and day out in all sorts of forms and fashions. Stick to that message unless and until it is time to modify the message. Most of us here are committed to marketing our service and product along with any unique selling points (USP). Especially in connection with the big corporate delivery machine chains . . . if you start talking price, you end up reinforcing their marketing campaigns, and they may eventually hop on board and cream you at it. Ask j_r0kk sometime what it’s like to run up against a marketing juggernaut who knows how to drive pricing into the collective consciousness.

 

[Piper]

I agree with bodegahwy… If your product is superior, why are you pricing below your competition. Jack those prices up and get what you’re worth!

I believe high price = quality in people’s minds (whether true or not.) You can’t tell people that you have an extremely high quality pizza and are the lowest price around. Those two things just don’t mesh in our brains. You need to pick one or the other, and if you decide to brand yourself as a high-end pizza you can’t be priced lower than the Big 3.

I was talking to the owner of a bakery a few months ago. She was selling Cannolis in an area that had almost no Italian population… nobody even know what they were. She was selling them for 99 cents and was throwing them all away everyday. She changed the price to $2.50 and all of a sudden she couldn’t make them fast enough. “$2.50 for that thing! It must be delicious!”

Besides that issue, when you’re competition sees what you’re doing it’s going to trigger a price war. Against the Big 3, that’s a war you probably won’t win.

That’s just my opinion; I may be completely wrong. But I firmly believe that restaurants should never compete on price.