Your competitor's price is not your price
Matching the shop next door feels safe. It means adopting someone else's arithmetic.
When a nearby shop drops its price, the first instinct is to match it. But a competitor's price is a fact about their business, not an instruction for yours.
What you copy when you copy a price
Their price is built on their rent, their staff, their supplier terms and their margin. You control none of those. Matching their price means taking on someone else's arithmetic.
Read the price in three layers
1. What is included? Two quotes for the same item may differ because one includes fitting, delivery or a service visit and the other does not.
2. What are the terms? A price ₹100 lower but paid after 30 days may cost you more than a higher price paid today.
3. What is the low price buying them? Footfall, a supplier rebate, clearance of old stock, or a cheap item that pulls customers in to buy accessories.
Then decide your position
Write one sentence: who you serve, what is included and why your price is what it is. For example, “Same-day fitting included, for families replacing a single unit.” If that sentence is clear, many customers will pay for it. If it is not, no price will save you.
Remember the substitute
Your real competitor is often not the shop next door. For a sweet shop it may be packaged chocolate; for a tailor, ready-made clothes. Ask what your customers would do if you did not exist.
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