KSS RackPrice upgrade significantly expands customer-level price management capabilities
Florham Park, NJ – March 21, 2007 – KSS, the leading provider of retail and wholesale pricing solutions to the petroleum, convenience, chain drug and grocery sectors is pleased to announce an upgrade of it’s RackPrice pricing system for the wholesale and commercial fuels sector. Among the enhanced capabilities is an expanded suite of tools designed to help fuels wholesalers and distributors attract and retain more profitable customers by developing, fine tuning and implementing optimal customer segment-specific pricing strategies.
The expanded suite of Customer-level tools builds on existing formula and deal pricing capabilities and provides four key capabilities and benefits:
(1) Customer Enquiry (“Arrivals”) Model
The Arrivals Model predicts the volume of incoming customer enquiries by segment, by day, based on a number of factors including market conditions, seasonal demand, product consumption rates and the impact of current marketing campaigns (advertising, promotions etc). This model equips sales analysts and managers with critical information regarding core product demand, by customer and segment.
(2) Conversion Model
For each segment, the Conversion Model predicts the rate at which incoming enquiries are converted to a sale by incorporating a range of effects such as segment price sensitivity and the impact of “non-price” effects such as product availability, loyalty/reward programs, and delivery lead-times.
(3) Customer Lifecycle Model
The Lifecycle Model is a form of customer scorecard that will predict the probability that a customer will remain in their current segment and will help identify when customers are significantly likely to migrate to another segment, based on their observed behavior. This information ensures customers are offered the deal terms that are relevant to their buying behavior and which will promote longer-term customer value and loyalty.
(4) Strategy Evaluation
A segment strategy analysis and simulation model generates risk and return estimates for a range of candidate pricing strategies. This capability allows suppliers to evaluate changes to strategies, or the introduction of new strategies, by providing a quantified assessment of the likely returns and associated risks.
The expanded customer-level capabilities are fully integrated with existing formula and deal pricing capabilities, allowing fuels wholesalers and distributors to define and efficiently execute optimal pricing strategies for many thousands of customers.
“We’re very excited about the additional customer level pricing capabilities in this latest upgrade to our RackPrice system. As customers continue to get smarter about how to evaluate which deals are right for them, these capabilities are critical to the development and consistent application of optimal pricing strategies that attract and retain profitable customers,” commented Mark Hawtin, VP Business Development at KSS.
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