@Donnie-M. Before I explain my philosophy about price changes, in general, I want to state this. I am not saying that anyone else’s approach to this is wrong. I’m not saying that I’m the only and best arbiter on the subject. So, if anyone gets offended, know that the offense is their problem and only theirs. Ha. Now….
My approach to price changes is based on what I want the businesses I patronize to do. It’s pretty simple, really.
- I want them to price their items fairly and in a way that makes them a reasonable profit.
- I never want them to make me responsible for understanding their business pressures. I don’t want to care about what this costs them, or what that costs them, or how much they pay in card processing fees or rent or anything else. I want them to price their items so that all of that is taken into consideration.
- I want them to be honest with me when prices have to go up. Period.
All of that being said, here’s how I handle this — especially over the past few years of inflation, inflation that seems to be going on for a while now matter what political promises were made to win a recent election here in the states.
- Understand that I print my menus whenever I need to. That allows me to change prices when I need to.
- I try to limit price increases to the beginning of my season. The past two years, however, were exceptions. I increased prices 3 times each year.
- Every time I did this, I announced it on Facebook, Instagram, via email and text. I even did a press release once which was widely picked up.
- I did not use service charges/surcharges. This is because I, personally, refuse to patronize any business that uses them for any reason except for “parties of x or more.” Even then, I ask the server if they are getting that in addition to their tip. If they say no, I usually walk out and don’t go any further. If they say yes, I’ll probably add even more to that service charge as long as service is impeccable. (Not food quality, you’ll notice. That’s not the server’s responsibility. If that is an issue, I just won’t go back, but I’ll still reward the server.)
- If anyone complains about the new prices, I remind them that I have a customer loyalty program that, in effect, gives all loyalty customers a 10% discount all the time. That usually causes them to sign up and shut up, which is my ultimate goal. The few that don’t I really don’t care about losing.
- On those few occasions where price decreases are warranted, I just announce them as previously described. The rest takes care of itself.
When it it time for price increases (or decreases), I download my Item Catalog CSV, make the changes, and re-upload it. No service charges. No surcharges. Just my current fair price What you see is what you get. It’s what I expect as a customer. It’s what I give as a business owner.
But, as I emphasized at the beginning of the post, that’s just me. Take what works and leave the rest, as we 12-steppers say. 😏
Chip A.
Square Expert & Innovator and member of the Square Champions group. (But NOT a Square employee, just a seller like you)
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