Apr 14, 2016

Finance English practice: Unit 18 — Pricing

14 cards
, 46 answers
  • Complete the sentences below. Use the key words if necessary.
    • Manufacturers’ pricing strategies

      key words
      direct      ○      indirect      ○      unit cost      ○      sales targets      ○      profit targets      ○      Market penetration pricing      ○      market share      ○      economies of scale      ○      Market skimming pricing      ○      market segments      ○      monopolists      ○      Prestige pricing      ○      image pricing      ○      target customers      ○      Going-rate pricing


      Companies’ prices are influenced by production and distribution costs, both and . Mark-up or cost-plus pricing: some firms just calculate the — the expenses involved in producing each individual product - and add a percentage.

      Most companies consider other factors, like demand, competitors’ prices, and — the quantity of sales/profit a business wants to achieve.

      : some companies launch — to introduce a product onto the market — products at a price that only gives them a very small profit, because they want a big — the proportion of total sales in the market. This allows them to make profits later because of — the cost of producing each unit decreases as the volume of production increases.

      : some customers will pay almost any price, e.g. for a new hi-tech product, so the company can charge a really high price, then lower it to reach other — groups of consumers with similar needs and wants.

      If a company has a higher demand for its products than it’s able to supply, it can raise its prices. This is often done by — companies that are the only supplier of a product or service.

      or : products positioned at the luxury end of a market need to have a high price: the — the customers whose needs the company wants to satisfy — probably won’t buy them if they think the price is too low.

      : if a product is almost identical to competitors’ products, companies might charge the same price.

      Retail pricing strategies

      key words
      Loss-leader pricing      ○      Odd pricing      ○      elastic      ○      inelastic


      : retailers (e.g. supermarkets) often offer some items at a very low price that isn’t profitable, to attract customers who then buy more products which are profitable.

      or odd-even pricing: many producers and retailers believe a customer sees a price of $29.95 as the $20 price range rather than the $30 one.

      Elasticity: demand is if sales respond directly to price variations — e.g. if the price is cut, sales increase. If sales remain the same after a change in price, demand is .

    • Use the verbs to complete the sentences below.
      • Economists say that if sales increase when you  . . . 
        cut
        a price, demand is elastic.
        • charge
        • cut
        • raise
        • pay

      • If we have more customers than products available, we generally  . . . 
        raise
        our prices.
        • charge
        • raise
        • pay
        • cut

      • Luxury goods companies make huge profits, because their customers are prepared to  . . . 
        pay
        really high prices.
        • raise
        • cut
        • pay
        • charge

      • Our product’s really the same as our competitors’, so we’ll probably  . . . 
        charge
        the same price.
        • raise
        • cut
        • pay
        • charge

      • After we’ve skimmed the market, we can  . . . 
        lower
        the price to get more customers.
        • lower
        • raise
        • pay
        • charge

    • Match the pricing strategies in the box with the statements below.
      • box
        going-rate pricing      mark-up pricing      loss-leader pricing      odd pricing      market penetration      prestige pricing      market skimming

        • Because of our famous brand name and our reputation for quality, we can charge a very high price. —

          • We never use whole numbers like $10 or $20. Our prices always end in 95 or 99 cents. —

            • We launch our products at high prices, and then reduce them a few months later to get more customers. —

              • We just get the cost accountants to work out how much it costs to make the product, and add our profit. —

                • Demand isn’t very elastic, so we charge the same price as our main competitors. —

                  • We actually sell a few products at breakeven price, but this brings in customers who also buy a lot of other things. —

                    • We charge a really low price at first, because we want to sell as many units of the product as possible. —

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