pricing of FMCG products- king or dunce
when i bought toilet soap this time, i noticed a very interesting practice of the manufacturer to achieve price increase without explicit intimation or knowledge of customers. dove produced in march 08 cost rs.30. for 75 gm cake and in jan 2009 90 gm cake is offered in a three pack for rs.120. if you had expected a reduced price in a value pack of three you are in for a surprise. the price increase works out like this: rs. 30 for 75 gms works out to rs. 120 for 300 gms i.e. for four cakes and now after 9 months you end up paying rs.120 for three 90 gm cake i.e. for 270 gms. this ruse of the manufacturers works very well esp when the customers are brought up on value pack concept of three/four packs which lasts for a longtime with you say two to three months. the product virtually lasts in the market for close to six months including the pipeline, after which you mentally accept a price change. incidentally, the three 90 gm pack also offers rs.8 discount i.e. 128 to 120 to boot. this