Federal Trade Commission

Bureau of Consumer Protection

Office of Consumer & Business Education

(202) FTC-HELP www.ftc.gov

December 1998 1 2

for Business

Facts

Good

Pricing

Practices?

SCAN DO

I

ts no secret that good pricing practices

are good for business. They increase

customer satisfaction, increase profits

and go a long way toward assuring compliance with the law.

While satisfied customers generally mean

repeat business, price errors that stem from

haphazard or inefficient pricing practices can

cost stores money. For one thing, the dollar

amount of undercharges often exceeds the

dollar amount of the overcharges. For another, it is against the law to charge more

than the advertised shelf price. Stores that do

may be subject to civil and criminal fines.

The Federal Trade Commission and the

National Conference on Weights and Measures say it can be relatively easy to improve

pricing practices  and in the process, boost

customer satisfaction, your bottom line and

compliance with the law. Here are their stepby-step suggestions:

1. Develop written procedures for all forms

of pricing activity in your store. Include

ways to ensure that the price in the stores

computer matches the posted or advertised

price. Remember that your customer expects to receive the lowest price posted or

advertised.

2. Develop training programs for store

employees that stress your commitment to

accurate pricing.

3. Designate a pricing coordinator for your

store.

4. Give one employee responsibility for the

accuracy of prices of all Direct Sale Delivery items. Make sure DSD vendors check

with the pricing coordinator before they do

any pricing.

5. Check prices of a random sample of

items  50 or so  every day to ensure

that the price in the stores computer

matches the posted or advertised price. Use

the NCWM price verification procedure.

6. Make sure prices in every aisle, section

or area of the store are checked several

times a year. This is the only way you will

find all of the undercharges.

7. Have the inventory audit team conduct a

pricing audit while theyre doing an inventory audit.

8. Use hand-held scanners to speed price

audits. Your wholesaler may be able to

provide them.

9. Use a portable label printer during price

audits to immediately replace incorrect or

missing shelf labels.

10. Offer your customers a reward if they

are overcharged. Giving one item free (up

to a maximum dollar value) to any customer who correctly reports an overcharge

builds customer loyalty and support.

11. Contact trade associations for

how-to manuals on pricing accuracy. Food

Marketing Institute at www.fmi.org; 800

Connecticut Ave., NW., Washington, DC

20006; 202-452-8444. National Retail

Federation at www.nrf.com; 325 Seventh

St., NW., Washington, DC 20004; 202-783-

7971.
3

12. Contact your local weights and measures officials for information about inspection procedures and pricing laws. For a

copy of the price verification procedure

adopted in 1995, contact: National Conference on Weights and Measures at

www.nist.gov/owm; 15245 Shady Grove

Road, Suite 130, Rockville, MD 20850;

301-258-9210.

13. Encourage your trade association or

wholesaler to set up an industry monitoring

program. Contact the Pennsylvania Food

Merchants Association at

scancert@aol.com; P.O. Box 870, Camp

Hill, PA 17001-0870, 717-731-0600 for

information about its scanning certification

program. Or visit them at www.pfma.org.

For More Information

For a free copy of Best Sellers, a complete

list of FTC publications, contact:

Consumer Response Center

Federal Trade Commission

Washington, DC 20580

www.ftc.gov

202-FTC-HELP (382-4357)

TDD: 202-326-2502