Competitors have lower prices - what to do?

Working in the field of sales and services, price is one of the key parameters that affect the success of the chosen business model! Considering this topic in detail, special attention should be paid to dumping and methods to combat it.

What to do if competitors set prices below the RRP?

When faced with competitors offering lower prices, it is important to carefully analyze your options and develop a strategy that is consistent with your business goals and market conditions.

Steps to deal competitively with other marketers underpricing products/services:

1. Evaluate your value proposition. Analyze the unique value and advantages of your products or services compared to your competitors. Determine what makes you different and emphasize these advantages to your target customers. Highlight factors such as superior quality, extra features, exceptional customer service, brand reputation, or unique selling points that justify your pricing.
2. Analyze costs and profit margins. Analyze your cost structure to ensure efficiency and identify areas where you can potentially reduce costs without sacrificing quality. Evaluate profit margins and determine if there is an opportunity to adjust pricing while maintaining profitability. Explore ways to optimize operations or negotiate better terms with suppliers to reduce costs.
3. Analyze your competitors*. Carefully research and analyze your competitors' pricing strategies, product offerings, and value propositions. Determine the reasons for lower prices. Do they compromise on quality, use different sourcing strategies, benefit from economies of scale, or employ other cost-cutting measures? Understanding their approach will help you make an informed decision.
4. Differentiate your offering. Identify ways to differentiate your products or services to attract customers who value factors other than price. This can include:
   • Improving product features;
   • improving the quality of customer service;
   • providing additional services;
   • offering comprehensive packages or targeting niche markets where customers prioritize more than just price.
5. Communicate value and benefits. Communicate the value, benefits, and unique selling points of your products or services to your target audience. Develop compelling marketing messages that emphasize the benefits customers can gain by choosing your offerings over lower-priced alternatives. Tell customers about the long-term benefits, cost savings, or quality assurances associated with your products.
6. Examine pricing strategies. Consider adjusting your pricing strategies to strike a balance between competitiveness and profitability. You can explore strategies such as price matching, offering price discounts or promotions for a limited time, implementing loyalty programs, or encouraging bulk purchases. These tactics can help you attract price-sensitive customers while maintaining profit margins.
7. Improve customer service. Focus on providing exceptional customer service and building strong customer relationships. A positive customer experience can set you apart from competitors who compete solely on price. Provide personalized support, respond promptly to customer inquiries, and constantly seek feedback to improve your offerings and effectively meet customer needs.
8. Innovate and add value. This will keep you ahead of the competition. Identify areas for improvement, invest in research and development, and implement new features or solutions that provide added value to customers. Offering something unique or addressing specific pain points will help you maintain a competitive advantage beyond price.
9. Build a brand reputation. Invest in building a brand reputation based on trust, reliability, and quality. A reputable brand often generates customer loyalty and can justify higher prices. Focus on building your brand through effective marketing campaigns, positive customer experiences, and the use of customer reviews and feedback.
10. Monitoring and adapting. Constantly monitor market dynamics, customer reviews, and competitors' actions. Remain flexible and be prepared to adjust pricing strategy, marketing approach, or product offerings in response to market trends and customer demands. Regularly assess the competitive environment to identify new opportunities or areas where you can effectively differentiate yourself.

Remember that pricing is only one aspect of the overall value proposition. While price competition is important, focusing on providing exceptional products, services, and customer experiences can help you retain and attract customers even in the face of lower-priced competitors.

Of course, you can also do the simpler, "Your competitors have lower prices - lower them even more." Undoubtedly, this tactic will attract new customers to you, but they will only be interested in the lower price, which means that their transition to the "regular" status is unlikely.

Helecos suggests studying in more detail the competitors who work with similar products to yours but at lower prices. Determine their pricing strategy, possible discounts, promotions, assortment, and other marketing solutions, which attract customers to create your unique offer!

Methods of fighting against competitors - violators of RRP from the legal point of view

The use of automated monitoring systems will allow for the fastest possible detection of competitors who practice dumping and impose an active legal fight against them.

The efficiency of modern parsers about dumping is marked by the following points:

• Early detection. Price monitoring allows authorities to identify and detect cases of dumping at an early stage. Through regular monitoring and comparison of the prices of imported goods with their normal cost or prices in the exporting country, discrepancies and potential cases of dumping can be detected immediately.
• Evidence Collection. Price monitoring provides valuable evidence to support anti-dumping investigations. By documenting and analyzing price trends, price discrepancies, and the impact of dumped goods on domestic industry, monitoring organizations can build a compelling case against dumping practices.
• Establishing Fair Market Value. Price monitoring helps determine the fair market value or normal value of goods in the exporting country. By continuously monitoring export market prices and evaluating factors such as production costs, profitability, and pricing strategies, agencies can establish a benchmark for fair pricing.
• Market Disruption Assessment. Price monitoring software helps analyze the impact of dumping goods on the domestic market. By analyzing price differences, market share changes, and the impact on domestic industries, monitoring agencies can assess whether dumping is causing significant damage to the domestic market and whether protective measures are needed.
• Enforcement and anti-dumping measures. Price monitoring provides critical information for the enforcement and enforcement of anti-dumping measures. Authorities can determine appropriate anti-dumping duties or penalties based on price differentials and dumping margins identified through monitoring. These measures are aimed at restoring fair competition and protecting domestic industry.
• Market Surveillance. Continuous price monitoring helps maintain vigilance and market surveillance to identify any changes in price patterns, new cases of dumping, or circumvention of existing anti-dumping measures. Regular market research will allow a prompt response to occurrences of low-price trading.
• Negotiations and trade remedies. Price monitoring data serve as a valuable tool during negotiations with exporting countries to address dumping. The data can be presented as evidence in defense of fair trade practices and stimulate discussion about eliminating or mitigating dumping practices through trade remedies or bilateral agreements.

Fines and penalties - punishing competitors for operating at prices that violate the RRP

The punishment for persistent dumping depends on the specific laws and regulations of the countries concerned and the results of anti-dumping investigations.

Here are some possible consequences of persistent underpricing:

1. Anti-dumping duties are one common anti-dumping measure. These are additional tariffs or taxes levied on imported goods that have been found to be dumped. Anti-dumping duties are intended to bring the price of a dumped good closer to its fair market value, making it less attractive for exporters to engage in the practice under investigation.
2. Price commitments. In some cases, regulatory agencies may negotiate with exporting companies to enter into an agreement regarding price commitments. Under this agreement, the exporting company agrees to adjust its prices to eliminate dumping margins and prevent the imposition of anti-dumping duties. The company agrees to maintain prices at a level that will not be considered unfairly low relative to other members of the trading network.
3.     Retroactive duties. Retroactive anti-dumping duties can be imposed on dumping goods that were imported during the investigation period. If low-price sales are found to have occurred during this period, duties may be imposed on previously imported goods to compensate the domestic industry.
4. Suspension of Trade Preferences. If a country enjoys preferential trade agreements or incentives, such as reduced tariffs or quotas, with an importing country, ongoing dumping practices can lead to the suspension or elimination of these trade preferences. This can lead to a loss of trade advantages and increased costs for the exporting country.
5. Investigations and penalties. Continued operation of a low-price strategy may trigger an investigation by the importing country's regulatory authorities. If the investigation confirms dumping, the exporting companies may be subject to penalties. These sanctions may include fines, financial penalties or restrictions on future trading activities.
6. WTO Dispute Settlement: If dumping practices violate international trade rules, affected countries can file complaints with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and resort to dispute settlement procedures. The WTO can authorize retaliation or sanctions against a country that consistently engages in dumping if it is found to be in violation of trade rules.
7. Market Exclusion. In severe cases, persistent non-compliance with recommended pricing policies can lead to market exclusion, where a supplier may prohibit or restrict imports of specific goods or impose restrictions on the exporting organization concerned. This can have a significant impact on export opportunities and market access.

Detecting that a competitor is operating at below-market prices is easiest with the introduction of automatic price monitoring programs such as Helecos.