NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--When retail intelligence leader Upstream Commerce analyzed the pricing behaviors of Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, Macy's and Zappos over the past three holiday shopping seasons, it found that each retailer employed pricing strategies unto itself, and that Amazon went from low prices on Black Friday to higher prices each Cyber Monday.
In the 2013 season, Upstream Commerce examined pricing of the twenty largest athletic shoe brands at Amazon, Zappos and Macy's, finding that "Each lowered its prices to start the Holiday shopping season; and while Amazon discounted the most on Black Friday, it then raised prices the most for Cyber Monday," said Upstream Commerce CEO/Co-founder Amos Peleg.
"There was no consistent strategy or head-on competition among the retailers," Peleg noted. "The average discount rate attained at both Amazon and Zappos (at different times in the scale), was 2.8%, but was only 0.5% for Macy's."
Similarly, when Upstream Commerce checked out television and toy pricing by Walmart, Amazon and Best Buy in the 2011 Holiday Shopping Season, it found:
-- Amazon discounted the most on Black Friday, then raised prices for Cyber Monday.
-- Walmart's average prices were actually HIGHER on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday (in 2011) than their pricing in the Upstream Commerce control group a few weeks earlier. (See: "Did Walmart, Best Buy & Amazon Cop Out On Special Pricing on Black Friday & Cyber Monday?" (link to: http://upstreamcommerce.com/blog/2011/12/08/walmart-amazon-bestbuy-discount-black-friday-cyber-monday-2011
According to Peleg, "The most important takeaway regarding pricing for recent holiday shopping seasons is that, each retailer appears to dance to its own drummer with no consistently obvious strategy in relation to each other."
"Second, although different products are considered, Amazon exhibits the same type of behavior each year, where it raises prices on Cyber Monday," Peleg notes.
"Third," says Peleg: "While there may be a smaller set of "show" products that are actually being discounted, it's probably a myth that retailers provide huge discounts across the board during the holiday season."
"Finally, retailers should stop chasing each other around," Peleg says. "Employing predictive pricing strategies based on competitive analytics is the only way retailers can price optimally to sell the maximum number of products most profitably," Peleg concludes.
About Upstream Commerce
Global retail intelligence leader Upstream Commerce offers SaaS-based intelligence and analytics solutions that transform the way retailers price, select merchandise and manage products in order to maximize sales and optimize margins.
The Upstream Commerce Suite of Solutions empowers retailers to base all shopper-centric decisions on real-time market data. The retail intelligence leader's highly configurable and flexible platform enables retailers to effectively manage their pricing strategy through accurately tracking and comparing product pricing, availability and promotions; pricing dynamically; optimizing product selection; monitoring MAP; and making relationships with suppliers better informed.
To find out how Upstream Commerce delivers results to the largest and most innovative retailers in the world, including Staples, ToysRUs, Petco, eBags, Benchmark Brands, top fashion retail entities, and many others, visit www.UpstreamCommerce.com or call 800-815-1842.
