Price premium

Price premium, or relative price, is the percentage by which a product's selling price exceeds (or falls short of) a benchmark price. Marketers need to monitor price premiums as early indicators of competitive pricing strategies. Changes in price premiums can also be signs of product shortages, excess inventories, or other changes in the relationships between supply and demand. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 54 percent responded that they found the "price premium" metric very useful. Although there are several useful benchmarks with which a manager can compare a brand's price, they all attempt to measure the 'average price' in the marketplace. By comparing a brand's price with a market average, managers can gain valuable insight into its strength, especially if they view these findings in the context of volume and market share changes. Indeed, price premium – also known as relative price – is a commonly used metric among marketers and senior managers. Fully 63% of firms report the relative prices of their products to their boards, according to a recent survey conducted in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and France. Price premium (%) = [Brand A price ($) - Benchmark price ($)] / Benchmark price ($) In calculating price premium, managers must first specify a benchmark price. Typically, the price of the brand in question will be included in this benchmark, and all prices in the benchmark will be for an equivalent volume of product (for example, price per liter). There are at least four commonly used benchmarks: This is the simplest calculation of price premium and involves the comparison of a brand’s price to that of a specified direct competitor. When assessing a brand’s price premium vis à vis multiple competitors, managers can use as their benchmark the average price of a selected group of those competitors. Another useful benchmark is the average price that customers pay for brands in a given category.