Pricing Strategies For Your Wedding Business

Yesterday we looked at some different considerations involved in pricing your wedding service. Today we will look at some of the different pricing strategies available.

Premium Prices – If your wedding service is unique you can charge a premium price. (Warning: Some luxury brands who charge premium prices are finding things difficult during the credit crunch.)

Penetrative Prices – Charge less than your competitors if you want to gain market share.

Economy Prices – No frills stuff. Often associated with low quality goods (sometimes unjustly) although this pricing strategy is proving popular during the current financial climate.

Example: BHS Wedding Dresses under £100

Loss Leader – Sell your wedding service at a low or even loss-making price in the hope that Brides will come back for more.

Example: This Chinese restaurant paid its customers £1 to eat at its restaurant in the hope that customers would come back in the future.

Odd Value Prices – Why sell something at £9.99 instead of £10.00? Some customers perceive odd value prices like this as being more attractive and better value for money.

Example: Many of these wedding favours are priced with odd values.

Optional Extras – This is where you start to sell extras once the customer starts buying. e.g. A videographer may charge for a basic package but then offer extras such as filming in High Definition, an extra videographer on the day, the final film added to YouTube,  extra copies of the DVD etc.

Example: These wedding photography packages

Geographical Prices – You may charge more or less depending on how near or far your customer is. Do you need to deliver the wedding cake to a far away place? Are you photographing a wedding at the other end of the country?

Example: Icing House deliver free within 10 miles and then charge per mile for anything more

Promotional Prices – Especially popular during the credit crunch in order to retain sales, these include offers such as Buy One Get One Free or percentage discounts. We will look at different types of offers more closely tomorrow. Don’t forget you can add your offers to your EasyWeddingSearch directory listing by logging in to the admin system.

Product Line Prices – Increase the perceived value by grouping products together. For example you might sell a wedding album for the Bride and Groom for £60 and a smaller parent book for £40. Buy them together however and they would cost £80. The savings made would make the customer more likely to buy both.

Example: Buy this wedding planner (bottom of page) along with a wedding guest book and save.

By all means this isn’t a definitive list. With a little imagination you can come up with your own pricing strategies, perhaps ones that even turn the industry on its head.

Which pricing strategies do you use for your wedding business?