When the lower Canadian dollar forces a price increase, change every price on the website on the day it changes at the counter, explain why in two plain sentences, and date each price page.

The price on the site is last year's

Anything a business buys in US dollars costs more this winter. The lower Canadian dollar means each invoice from an American supplier takes more Canadian dollars to pay, even when the supplier's own price has not moved.

Shops and contractors feel it first in materials: tile, flooring, window film, parts, fabric, tools. Most pass some of it on, a little at a time, in quotes and at the counter.

The website is the last place anyone thinks to change. So a customer reads one price online and hears another on the phone.

The gap may be small. The impression is not, because a lower price on the site and a higher one in person looks like bait.

Where old prices hide

The third is the easiest to forget. A PDF keeps its prices forever, turns up in search results on its own, and gets printed and kept in a drawer for the day the job comes up.

Change every price on the same day

Start with a list. Ask whoever looks after the site to search it for the dollar sign: on most content management systems that is a quick search of the database, and it finds figures nobody remembers writing.

Add the files the site links to, the text of every ad, and anything printed: flyers, handouts, the price board by the till.

Then change everything together, on the day the new prices start at the counter. A site updated a page at a time shows two prices for the same thing, and customers believe the lower one.

The Competition Act also prohibits false or misleading representations, including about price, and a price shown on your website is a representation to the public like any other.

PDFs nobody will keep current are better removed. If other sites link to them, send the old address to the current price page rather than to an error.

Say why, in two sentences

Customers accept a price rise they understand more readily than one that simply appears. Most people have noticed the lower dollar in their own shopping this winter.

Two plain sentences near the top of the price page are enough: what you buy in US dollars, and that your prices changed on a stated date because of it.

Skip long apologies, and skip promises to cut prices when the dollar recovers unless you mean them. Give the dollar as the reason only if it is the reason; an explanation is a claim like any other.

Date the price page

A line such as "Prices current as of February 2015" at the top of every price page does three jobs at once.

It tells customers the figures are live. It tells staff when the page was last checked. And it makes an old printout visibly old, so a customer holding a 2013 list can see why it no longer applies.

Put the same date inside every PDF and in its file name, and change it whenever a figure changes.

A worked example

A window film installer with two technicians and a van tints house and office windows for heat and glare, and fits frosted privacy film on office glass and bathroom windows.

Nearly all of its film comes from a distributor that invoices in US dollars, and over the winter each roll has cost noticeably more in Canadian dollars than it did last summer.

The owner raised his square-foot rates in quotes. The website still showed the 2013 rates on the price page, a "from" price on two service pages, and a figure in an old blog post about privacy film.

Callers arrived with the old numbers, and every conversation began with an explanation the caller had not expected.

One afternoon fixed it: the price page, both service pages, the blog post, a PDF brochure and an AdWords ad with a price in its text, all changed on the same day.

The price page now opens with its date and two sentences about film bought in US dollars, and every quote says it is valid for thirty days.

Quotes already in customers' hands

A quote already sent is a promise. Honour it until the date it expires, even if the materials now cost you more.

From now on, give every quote a clear expiry, such as thirty days, and say that imported materials are priced on the day of the quote.

For work booked months ahead, agree in writing how a change in material costs will be handled before the job starts, not halfway through it.

Do not hide prices because they move

The tempting response is to take prices off the site altogether. It saves an afternoon and costs enquiries.

People looking for a supplier compare what they can see. A site with no prices sends them to one that shows some, even rough ones.

Where costs genuinely change week to week, show a range or a "from" price with its date, and say that the exact figure is set on the day of the quote.

The counter-case

Not every business needs to change anything yet. One that buys from Canadian suppliers on fixed contracts may see its costs move later, or barely at all.

Some choose to absorb the increase for a while rather than change prices mid-season, which is reasonable; the site then needs only a current date.

And a business that only quotes, with no prices published, has less to update, though its site should still say what affects the price.

Whenever prices do change, change every one on the site on the same day, explain the reason in two sentences, and date the page.

The order to do it in

  1. List every page and file that shows a price.
  2. Set the date the new prices start.
  3. Write two sentences explaining the change.
  4. Change every figure on that one day.
  5. Remove the PDFs nobody will keep current.
  6. Date each price page and price list.
  7. Check ads, offers and listings for old figures.

Step four is the one that matters most. Prices changed a page at a time leave two figures on the site for the same job, and the customer who finds both will hold you to the lower.

Telling regular customers by email, with the change in the first lines, follows the same logic as the tax season reminder email for clients.

Frequently asked questions

Why are my supplier costs rising?

Anything bought in US dollars takes more Canadian dollars to pay while the Canadian dollar is lower, even when the supplier's own price has not changed at all.

Where do old prices hide on a website?

In service pages with from prices, PDF price lists and brochures, old blog posts and FAQ answers, ads that quote a figure, and directory listings typed up years ago.

Should I update the prices gradually?

No. Change every figure on the day the new prices start at the counter. A site showing two prices for the same job looks careless, and customers believe the lower one.

Should I explain a price increase?

Briefly. Two plain sentences on the price page, saying what you buy in US dollars and when prices changed, answer the question most customers would otherwise ask on the phone.

Why put a date on the price page?

It tells customers the figures are current, tells staff when they were last checked, and shows anyone holding an old printout that its prices no longer apply.

What about quotes I have already sent?

Honour them until they expire. From now on, give every quote a clear expiry and say that imported materials are priced on the day of the quote.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

Website prices older than your counter prices?

Send us your current price list. We will find every page, file and ad where an old figure still appears.

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