City AmbitionsThe range
You can price any product from half its market price up to double it, in whole dollars. A $22 silk scarf can sell for anything from $11 to $44.
The price curve
The game reads your price as a percentage of the market price and turns it into price appeal: how strongly the block is drawn to your shelf compared with a shelf priced at market. These are the numbers it uses:
| Your price vs market | Price appeal |
|---|---|
| 60% or less | 160% |
| 61% to 80% | 130% |
| 81% to 100% | 100% |
| 110% | 86% |
| 120% | 71% |
| 130% | 56% |
| 150% | 40% |
| 180% | 16% |
| above 180% | 10% |
Three things stand out:
- Up to market price, nothing is lost. Anything from 81% to 100% reads the same, so pricing at 85% of market gives away margin for no extra shoppers.
- Discounts work in steps. You only gain shoppers at 80% of market or below, and again at 60%.
- Above market, appeal falls steadily: about 1.5 points for every percent up to 130%, then more slowly.
Selling skill: if you chose Selling in the opening, the game treats every market price as 10% higher. Your whole curve shifts right: a price 10% above market reads like market price.
Margin against volume: a worked example
A denim jacket costs $24 and the market price is $65.
| Price | Margin per jacket | Appeal | Margin × appeal |
|---|---|---|---|
| $55 | $31 | 100% | 31 |
| $65 | $41 | 100% | 41 |
| $70 | $46 | 90% | 41 |
| $78 | $54 | 71% | 38 |
When you can serve everyone who wants to buy, market price or a little above earns the most per shopper. Going far above loses more buyers than the margin wins back.
When to raise prices anyway
The curve above assumes every interested shopper gets served. Often they cannot be. If the Daily Close says shoppers gave up in the queue, or Store Pulse points at checkout capacity, your staff are the limit, not your price. Those shoppers are lost either way, so a higher price that sends some of them away costs you nothing and earns more on everyone you do serve. Raise the price until the queue clears, or hire for another block.
Other things that move demand
- Variety. A shop with more lines stocked draws more people: two lines bring 8% more footfall, three 14%, four 18%.
- Regulars. Served well, some shoppers come back on their own. See regulars and Store Pulse.
- Opening hours. A block with nobody working sells nothing. See staff and opening hours.
- The city. Weekdays, events, trends and rivals on your block all move the crowd. Store Pulse and the City tab show them.
How to tell if the price is wrong
Shoppers who find the price too high show up in the store's customer feed and in Store Pulse. A few are normal when you price above market. If they are most of your feed, step the price down a dollar or two and compare the next Daily Close.