Mike Danford is a Growth Optimizer - CSO, UX Strategist and Product Management Consultant at Adverio.io

In this podcast, Mike shares valuable insights on optimizing pricing strategies for businesses, emphasizing the importance of testing and adjusting prices regularly to stay competitive. He discusses the complexities of Amazon's Buy Box. He also provides practical advice for businesses with tight margins, highlighting how small pricing adjustments can lead to significant improvements in profitability, especially when using dynamic pricing strategies.

Why you have to check out today’s podcast:

• Gain actionable strategies for optimizing pricing in competitive markets with concrete examples of how small pricing changes can impact profits.
• Learn about the complexities of Amazon’s Buy Box, including how pricing, seller ratings, and competition affect your visibility and sales potential.
• Discover how to leverage dynamic and intraday pricing strategies to stay competitive, including tips on when and how to make real-time price adjustments.

"If you haven't tested pricing, do it today. Don't wait. There's no better time than right now."

- Mike Danford

Topics Covered:

01:36 - What paved his entry into pricing

02:21 - Explaining how in B2C dynamic pricing is critical to staying competitive across platforms like Amazon and Walmart, where frequent promotions and price changes impact rank and visibility

03:27 - Defining 'Omnichannel'

03:59 - How brands sell through these omni channels and how brick-and-mortar sales data can be integrated with online data to enhance omnichannel strategies

05:03 - 'Omnichannel pricing' and the challenges that comes with it

07:20 - A strategy used to avoid direct price comparison

07:45 - Strategies for effective omnichannel pricing to maximize sales

12:00 - Describing how price adjustments are often small, typically starting below 3% to gauge elasticity

13:52 - The three main buckets of categorizing pricing strategy

16:15 - Explaining Amazon's automated pricing tools and third-party repricing software that generally adjust prices dynamically

18:55 - How the Amazon buy box has been a competitive issue since the platform’s early days

21:20 - Hourly changes being typically unnecessary unless there’s exceptionally high product turnover

23:25 - How geolocation-based pricing isn’t possible on major marketplaces

25:08 - Maintaining control over the buy box on Amazon

26:27 - Mike's best pricing advice

Key Takeaways:

“If you haven't tested pricing, do it today. Don't wait. There's no better time than right now. If you tested it a year ago and you haven't touched it, or you did it six months ago, do it again. The market is constantly changing. Be willing to make those small changes.” - Mike Danford

People/Resources Mentioned:

• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com
• Home Depot: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home
• Walmart: https://www.walmart.com
• Best Buy: https://www.bestbuy.com
• Target: https://www.target.com

Connect with Mike Danford:

• Linked: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danfordmike/
• Website: https://www.adverio.io/

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: mark@impactpricing.com