The Challenge 

Competition can be fierce in the retail market, with competitors regularly out-pricing each other. All in the effort to be the one that will catch customer’s eye and securing the right to be their retailer of choice.

But without the ability to access real-time pricing data or to react to competitor pricing changes, trying to keep up, or gain a competitive advantage, can be tough.

This is a similar situation The Top Retailer found themselves in. Already having a reputation within their local community, they are renowned for being able to supply their inventory to their customers at prices they love. 

But the method that they relied on to do so was slow, ineffective, and not suitable for the modern age of retail.

Their system involved sales associates manually looking up competitor data, then change their own prices based on the results they received. Often, meaning the company was missing out on valuable competitive advantages. And making the task much more complex than it needed to be.

Competitors were increasingly out-pricing The Top Retailer, and without easy access to real-time data all they could do was to spend more time trying to stay ahead. But doing everything manually was costing more time. And more money in potential sales.

The Solution

Engaging with The Top Retailer’s internal employees and understanding their needs, Makeen Technologies was able to propose a solution that addressed their issues. But also provided software features that greatly enhanced their competitive edge while remaining cost-effective for their business.

Makeen Technolgoies developed a flexible interface which uses the latest web development frameworks for employees to use, giving internal teams a consistent platform to interact with. With it, they can not only easily view the pricing data for all of their local competitors but most importantly, see where they are in comparison.

Giving employees an easy way to see how they compare to customers looking to buy a certain item, as well as ensuring that their pricing is attractive to their customers.

All the data is received in real-time. So no need to manually go looking for new information or perform manual comparisons.

Additionally, internal employees are given the option to opt-in to receive automatic notifications. These are based on when new data arrives, or if they are being out-priced by a competitor on a certain item.

This gives employees the ability to ensure that internal teams always have the latest data and can react to it accordingly. Guaranteeing that The Top Retailer’s pricing always remains attractive to its customers.

The ability to customize thresholds was also included. This offers employees the opportunity to track the pricing of a particular product by geographic location, vital for when they want to ensure they have the lowest price in their local area.

For instance, if they needed the prices of for 50lb child care seats in all of Portland, OR, they can set up a category and instantly view all local pricing data. Additionally, they can also choose to receive pricing updates by notification – being alerted whenever competitor pricing has updated, or they have been priced.

Finally, pricing data can also be viewed in a timeline. Giving the option to see when a competitor last changed the price of an item as well as being able to see how it has been priced previously.

All of these features give The Top Retailer a powerful internal resource allowing them to set the foundation for future success.

The Outcome

Makeen Technology’s interface has enabled The Top Retailer to be more agile in its sales efforts reacting to pricing changes instantly, providing new abilities to see data in real-time and the ability to receive notifications when things change.

Taking away the need to do things manually is a real game-changer for The Top Retailer. Employees no longer need to spend time looking for new competitor pricing or having to worry that their pricing is out of date and not competitive enough for their customers.

All the data can be seen by all employees in one central location, and anyone is able to react to it. With the added customizations that Makeen Technologies have provided, it enables The Local Retail to be even more competitive.

Overall, Makeen Technology’s contribution has provided The Top Retailer with a powerful tool and a distinct competitive edge – one that has enabled them to remain the leader for low prices in the local market.

Key Benefits

• Developed using the latest back-end and front end technologies
• Provided a go-to resource to view pricing changes from a variety of sources
• Eliminating the need for manual investigations
• Employees are able to receive notifications instantly when pricing changes
• Employees can create customized thresholds for certain products