Smarter Pricing: How to capture more value in your market

The ultimate price promise

Falling prices of successive generations of electronic equipment has given a perverse incentive to prospective customers to hold back until the price comes down. The Carphone Warehouse – one of the UK’s leading retailers of mobile phones – has identified this barrier to purchase, overcoming it with a creative approach: the ultimate price promise.

If you buy a mobile phone from the Carphone Warehouse, 90 days later, the company’s computer compares the price paid and the current price. If the price has fallen, a voucher for the difference will automatically be mailed to the buyer. This voucher can be redeemed in store for a phone accessory or put towards a larger transaction. In the book Uncommon Practice (Milligan and ...