What's good for the goose isn't good for the gander...in China

My very good friend Alan Cooper sent me this story from the BBC's website.

Seems its OK for the Chinese to lower the price of everything they produce everywhere...except at home.

2006: The Pricing Year in Review

2006 was a year where Pricing possibly became a bit more transparent. It was a great year to pick up and read a book on Pricing, or to visit a website that helps unlock some of the mystery surrounding the setting of airfares. But it was also a year that the world lost a couple of Pricing pioneers. In February, Sir Freddie Laker passed away at the age of 83. In its obituary, The Economist said “Mr Laker in 1977 introduced the first outrageous discounts, of £118 ($US206) to fly the Laker Skytrain from London to New York, and the first taste of no frills”.

Meanwhile in New York, Sol Cantor passed away in June, at the age of 95. Cantor was an early visionary when it came to discount department stores, and built up Interstate Department Stores and Children’s Supermarket, the latter a predecessor to Toys ‘R’ Us.

The airline industry has been at the cutting edge of Pricing since the deregulation of the US industry in the late 1970’s, and 2006 was no exception. Across the North Atlantic, a new breed of carrier was born: business-class carriers in the form of Silverjet (UK) and Maxjet and Eos (US). Meanwhile, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines (eventually, after some Russian airspace difficulties) started services from Hong Kong to London-Gatwick. Oasis has guaranteed that 10% of its seats will be available at £75 plus taxes.

Meanwhile, British Airways found itself in hot water over “inappropriate discussions” with a competitor on fuel surcharges. This came shortly after the European Union and the US Department of Justice commenced a wider investigation into collusion in the air freight market.

And of course the airlines accelerated the unbundling trend that commenced a couple of years ago (think iTunes, and how it has unbundled the 12-15 track album, or how digital cameras have unbundled the 12/24/36 exposure film). Two European low cost airlines (Flybe, followed shortly thereafter by Ryanair) started the year by announcing they would start charging a fee for passengers to check their baggage, discounted of course when the luggage is booked in advance. Aer Lingus made a similar announcement in August.

And one of the most interesting Web 2.0 sites launched during the year is built on prices: Farecast.com is a US airfare search engine that predicts whether airfares over US city-pairs will rise of fall in the days ahead.

Many companies keep a close eye on the Pricing models used in the aviation industry. 2006 was no exception, with Amtrak announcing its adoption of airline-style revenue management practices on its high-speed Acela train services.

Hotels started to wake up to the poor economics of the mini-bar, and realised that they (a) are labour intensive (it takes 20 employees 7 hours to service the 1,946 mini-bars in the New York Marriott Marquis), (b) create time-consuming disputes when guests check-out and (c) are impossible to customise with guest-preferred contents. Watch out for refrigerators with empty space for your medical and dietary needs.

The Pricing industry itself was also in the news during 2006. Metreo, a vendor of Pricing optimisation software defaulted on a loan in January and was put up for sale by its creditors. Meanwhile, the Pricing scribes were hard at work, and we saw Pricing books released by Baker (Pricing on Purpose), Cram (Smarter Pricing) and Simon, Bilstein & Luby (Manage for Profit, Not For Market Share). And of course, Chris Anderson’s long awaited book The Long Tail was released mid-year. The Long Tail has many implications for Pricing, but in trying to answer what the effect of The Long Tail is on prices, Chris gave the inconclusive answer that “it depends”. Nevertheless, the book was probably the best and most interesting read of the year.

Elsewhere in the world of Pricing:

* Inflation hit 1,000% in Zimbabwe during the year, forcing the central bank to issue a $Z 100,000 note;
* Prices were no longer required for products such as Bankcard, Nikon 35mm camera’s and Telegrams delivered by Western Union, all of which reached the end of their product life cycle in 2006;
* Similarly, the UK electrical retailer Dixons announced it would no longer stock Cathode Ray TVs, 35mm cameras nor CD and cassette players.

And finally, does a year ever pass without some headline-grabbing Pricing disaster? The recently opened Disneyland Hong Kong blocked out 4 days of the Chinese New Year during which discounted admission tickets could be used, failing to realise than Chinese Mainlanders had a 7 day New Year holiday. Needless to say, the thousands turned away at the gate were not too happy.

Wishing you a happy Christmas and a safe and prosperous 2007. 

A Pricing Joke

An American decided to write a book about famous churches around the world. So he bought a plane ticket and took a trip to China.

On his first day he was inside a church taking photographs when he noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read "$10,000 per call". The American, being intrigued, asked a priest who was strolling by what the telephone was used for. The priest replied that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 you could talk to God.

The American thanked the priest and went along his way.Next stop was in Japan. There, at a very large Cathedral, he saw the same golden telephone with the same sign under it.He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he saw in China and he asked a nearby nun what its purpose was. She told him that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 he could talk to God.

"O.K., thank you," said the American.He then travelled to Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Russia, Germany and France. In every church he saw the same golden telephone, with the same "$10,000 per call" sign under it.

The American decided to travel to India to see if Indians had the same phone. He arrived in India, and again, in the first church he entered, there was the same golden telephone, but this time the sign under it read "One Rupee per call."

The American was surprised so he asked the priest about the sign. "Father, I've travelled all over World and I've seen this same golden telephone in many churches. I'm told that it is a direct line to Heaven, but everywhere else I have been the price is $10,000 per call. Why is it so cheap here?"

The priest smiled and answered, "You're in India now, son - it's a local call".