The pricing of high-involvement products in a mass merchandise retailer context

Abstract

Pricing strategy plays an important role in retail competitiveness. This research is a systematic enquiry into the choice of pricing strategy by mass merchandisers, reviewing whether everyday low pricing (EDLP) or discounting (known as high low pricing or HLP) is more effective, and making recommendations on how pricing can be used to support competitive advantage within the mass merchandise sector. Through measurement of consumer perceptions and analysis of financial and transactional data, key observations are made about the consumer response to retail pricing strategy. A variety of managerial implications are drawn from the results and suggestions for future research are offered.