Time and again I hear people lament that their competitors’ products are just as good as their own, and prices have to be low to win sales. The general assumption is that price is the most important factor to the customer. That assumption is usually wrong. Earlier this month there was a series of posts on Facebook that showed customers decide first on the product that meets their needs, and they are relatively loyal once they have made that decision.
Earlier in 2015 my niece began running a weekly poll of sorts among her Facebook friends. She calls it Philosophical Friday and asks a single question each week, which friends can answer however they please. Last week the question posed was, “What is the one common item that you just can't bring yourself to buy the off-brand/cheapest option? Household items, food, clothing, shoes...whatever. The answers were mostly focused on consumer products, many of which people might consider to be commodities.
There were 39 different products mentioned, the top 10 (in terms of frequency) were:
↧