--- title: "5 Tactics Sales Pros Use to Counter 'It's Cheaper Online!'" description: "As a researcher on closing rates, I've been observing the impact of online stores on offline retail. Most salespeople resent customers shopping online, yet they forget they are online shoppers themselves. Let's first analyze why we shop online. Recently, for my son's 100-day banquet, I bought several cases of Wuliangye from Yihaodian. Why? Their direct-sale products have a low probability of being counterfeit, and I didn't have to compare prices or spend time traveling to a store. This article provides five tactics for salespeople to handle customers who claim online prices are cheaper." author: "井越" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2015-03-24" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/5-tactics-sales-pros-use-to-counter-it-s-cheaper-online-3b0b8985/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/5-tactics-sales-pros-use-to-counter-it-s-cheaper-online-3b0b8985.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/mNC_9TOLMQj245zoCiBa6A" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E9%94%80%E5%94%AE%E9%AB%98%E6%89%8B%E8%BF%995%E6%8B%9B%E6%90%9E%E5%AE%9A%E9%A1%BE%E5%AE%A2%E8%AF%B4%E7%BD%91%E4%B8%8A%E4%BE%BF%E5%AE%9C-3b0b8985.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/5-tactics-sales-pros-use-to-counter-it-s-cheaper-online-3b0b8985/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # 5 Tactics Sales Pros Use to Counter 'It's Cheaper Online!' > As a researcher on closing rates, I've been observing the impact of online stores on offline retail. Most salespeople resent customers shopping online, yet they forget they are online shoppers themselves. Let's first analyze why we shop online. Recently, for my son's 100-day banquet, I bought several cases of Wuliangye from Yihaodian. Why? Their direct-sale products have a low probability of being counterfeit, and I didn't have to compare prices or spend time traveling to a store. This article provides five tactics for salespeople to handle customers who claim online prices are cheaper. As a researcher on closing rates, I've been observing the impact of online stores on offline retail. Today, not shopping online is considered odd. Most salespeople resent customers shopping online, yet they forget they are online shoppers themselves. Let's first analyze why we shop online. Recently, for my son's 100-day banquet, I bought several cases of Wuliangye from Yihaodian. Why did I choose Yihaodian? Their direct-sale products have a low probability of being counterfeit. If I went to a tobacco and liquor wholesale store, without knowing anyone, the chance of buying fakes would be higher than on Yihaodian. Secondly, I didn't compare online and offline prices, but I assumed they would be similar. For a brand like Wuliangye, even if online is cheaper, it won't be by much; even if Yihaodian is pricier, it won't be by much. But if I went to a large supermarket, quality would be guaranteed, but the round-trip driving, parking, selecting, packing, and checkout would take about 3 hours—extremely high time cost. In contrast, ordering and paying on Yihaodian takes only 5 minutes. As a JD Diamond member, I recently only buy books on JD, rarely other electronics. Previously, I bought three laptops on JD; quality was fine, but without on-site experience, I discovered many issues later. A few days ago, I bought a video fill light on JD, but found it couldn't be fixed and had no external power supply—I regretted it. Let's analyze ourselves: from irrational online shopping in the past to rational online shopping today, what's the reason? Surveys show more American consumers are returning to offline shopping. According to GfK's 2014 FutureBuy global online shopping habits and preferences report, more American consumers are returning to offline shopping. In 2014, "showrooming" (viewing in store, buying online) dropped 28% year-over-year, while "webrooming" (researching online, buying in store) rose 41%. GfK explains that consumers choosing physical stores consider factors like hands-on experience, immediate availability, and easy returns. Those buying online value lower prices, convenience, and more choices. Thus, whether consumers choose showrooming or webrooming depends on their specific needs. Additionally, GfK found that online shopping methods are shifting. The report states: "While PCs and laptops still hold a large share of online search and purchase, mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) are playing an increasingly important role. This year, the share of online purchases via traditional home computers (PC or laptop) fell from 78% to 63%, while mobile devices doubled—smartphones rose from 8% to 15%, and tablets from 5% to 10%." Today, we won't delve into internet economy or internet thinking. From the perspective of online and offline stores, they are just two different sales channels. Customer loyalty still stems from quality, service, price, and experience. As a closing rate researcher, while focusing on macro aspects, I also study specific issues. Many physical store salespeople ask me, "Teacher Jing Yue, customers always say online prices are cheaper. What should we do?" In my research, I found that when customers mention online prices, many salespeople react bluntly: "That's fake; genuine products can't be that cheap!" This is an irrational and incorrect response. How should we respond? 1. Confirm the source of price information E-commerce includes platform e-commerce like Taobao and vertical e-commerce like JD. On platform e-commerce, products may have lax supplier checks, with shoddy and counterfeit goods prevalent; thus, prices are not comparable. For vertical e-commerce or flagship stores on platforms (like Tmall), brand and quality are more assured. Suning.com has always advocated same price online and offline; in official flagship stores, compare models and product differences, not just price. Both online and offline are merchants seeking profit. We all expect good quality at low prices, but such things often don't exist. Apple phones are always more expensive than ordinary phones; Gree air conditioners are always pricier than ordinary ones; Bosideng down jackets are always more expensive than ordinary ones. We can tell consumers: "If you sacrifice quality for a lower price, do you think it's worth it?" 2. Confirm if it's the same model Most brands differentiate online and offline products by model, with differences in function, style, material, etc. A competent salesperson should first understand what's sold online and how it differs from offline. Of course, some companies are lazy and have identical products online and offline, only with different names—for example, offline model B202 becomes B202-A online—but this still leaves room for offline salespeople to use their skills. 3. Analyze the product life cycle Every product, like a living being, has a life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. Many online products are in the decline stage, where prices are absolutely low. For example, iPhone 4s and iPhone 5—are their prices comparable to iPhone 6? 4. Analyze product characteristics Currently, products most impacted by the internet are small digital items, clothing, food, etc. These are finished products. However, many products require after-sales service to become finished. For example, cabinets, tiles, and home appliances. Cabinets must be custom-designed based on kitchen size, layout, lighting, family members' heights, living habits, decoration style, etc., and then installed to become truly finished. Tiles are similar; I always say tiles are like a piece of cloth that needs design, cutting, installation, and soft furnishing to become a finished product. These after-sales services cannot be achieved with current internet technology. We should objectively tell consumers which products are suitable for online purchase and which are not. 5. Stimulate purchase decisions I've been extracting product selling points for offline companies; a phone's selling points need a 200-page PPT. So I also pay attention to how online stores present selling points. Online products rely on beautiful images and text to attract consumers, often ignoring or masking the product's essence; mismatches between images and text are common. Moreover, most products' performance, parameters, materials, and functions are not fully presented on web pages, meaning consumers cannot experience the product comprehensively; they only buy impulsively due to low prices, attractive images, and good reviews. Most consumers aren't afraid of buying; they fear regretting a wrong purchase. Offline, they can experience and perceive fully, eliminating regret. For low online prices, first, don't panic or disparage. Online stores exist objectively; they exist for a reason. We should objectively analyze their value and shortcomings. Offline stores are currently mainstream and haven't been replaced by online; we should also objectively analyze why—that's the advantage of offline stores. 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