Publishers now discover the magic of 99

What's common between the Steve Jobs biography, Vinod Mehta's Lucknow Boy, DLF chairman K P Singh's Whatever the odds, The art of the adventures of Tintin, and The TCS story by S Ramadorai? Well, the price tag, with 99 in the end!

Look at some of the recent releases: Steve Jobs —Rs 799; Lucknow Boy—Rs 499; Whatever the odds—Rs 699; The art of the adventures of Tintin—Rs 999; Non-stop India—Rs 499; The TCS story—Rs 699, and so on.

So, what was typical of a particular shoe brand for decades, and is still true for the hot-selling travel packages, is now a trend in the books world, too. Publishers are out to make a statement on an economic price-point, say experts.

“Under Rs 100, 200, 500, or 700 conveys a sense of value to the buyer,” says marketing and brand expert Santosh Desai, CEO of Future Brands. Through a more aggressive price strategy, the publishing industry is trying to make books more accessible to the people, he said. Desai doesn’t agree, though, that this pricing pattern has anything to do with the economic slowdown.

Another marketing guru, Kunal Jeswani, country head (India), Ogilvy One, says this pricing reminds him of the Bata days, when ‘99 paise’ was almost like a trademark in the company’s shoe bill. Jeswani is not too sure, though, if buyers would fall for a gimmick like this any longer.
 

NUMBER GAME
Books	Price (Rs)
Steve Jobs	799
Lucknow Boy	499
Whatever the odds	699
The art of the adventures of Tintin	999
Non-stop India	499
The TCS story	699

A senior sales executive at Penguin says having ‘99’ in the price tag is meant for uniformity. This is also an international practice in many cases, he points out.

“When a buyer is in the habit of seeing 99 in the book price in other parts of the world, it makes sense to introduce the same in India,” he says.

Till some time earlier, the trend was to price books by ending with a ‘5’. “Publishing is a dynamic industry and we do periodic review on prices,” according to another representative at a publishing firm.

An executive at Hachette, an international publishing house, says this is a “retail friendly” price. “Within Rs 200 or 300 clicks with the psyche of the buyer,” she says. Strategising on pricing is a continuous process and is really not time-bound, she adds.

However, with 20 to 40 per cent discounts being offered by many online book stores, a savvy buyer can easily get past the ‘99’ block.