Team Skills - Product Pricing (or How much is the Doggy in the window?)
Why is it that when I go shopping to get my Toms Lucas Mens Vegan Classic I am always amazed by the price differences I find.
Product |
Toms |
Eilatan |
Amazon |
Nordstrom |
 |
$54 |
$64.99 |
$52 - $59 |
$53.95 |
The prices on this product varies by $10 and does not include shipping. So what is the deal? Why do the price of products vary from one site to the next (not to mention from one store to another)? Well people, it is your job to figure this one out.
To Do: You will be working together in groups of up to three to research prices for a list of common purchase products- however, each person in the group is responsible for finding pricing information on each of the items from different sites than you teammates use (for example - if you group is searching for the price of Spam and there are three members in your group each person would have to use a different store to get their pricing - i.e. - Safeway*- $3.69 - NetGrocer - $3.59 - Peapod** - $3.59)
Next: Individually, each member will research the price of each of the items from the following list (every group member must choose a different business or site):
- Quart of milk
Gallon of gas
Round trip airline ticket between Boston and Los Angeles
Large pizza
Cell Phone (same phone - different companies)
CD by a particular musician (all of the group members must choose the same CD - artist and title)
Particular brand of LCD - 3D TV (same brand - different stores)
Quarter-pound burger (from different restaurants) - Product of the groups choice
Individually, save your work in a Word document saved as prod_pricing in your Intro to Business folder. Link this up on your worklinks.
Then - as a group: Pick a member to do this on one computer. In a new Word document (or Powerpoint) your group will be responsible for creating a Cost Comparison Table similar to what is in the example with Toms shown above. At the bottom of your Cost Comparison Table you will answer the following questions with DETAILED responses.
Based on your findings, answer the following questions as a group:
Are the prices of given products similar, or do they vary?
Why do the prices of some products vary while those of others are similar?
Can any price differences be explained by applying the concepts of supply and demand or types of competition?
What is important to each of you as consumers when you shop for goods? What determines whether you will purchase an item or not?
Save this as cost_table in your Intro to Business folder - email this to each other so you can each link it up
* 92057 is a zip code that works for Safeway
**60025 is the zip code to use for Peapod
