Added Value and Pricing with Information Technology

Abstract

The extent to which the added value to customers from a supplier's application of information technology is manifested through premium prices of a traded good is evaluated. It is demonstrated that IT can add value to an otherwise undifferentiated good, and it is shown how these benefits accrue to customers from the adoption of IT. Analyzing a case in which the traded good is a homogeneous commodity - commercial fueling - it is shown that the critical impacts of IT are convenience and control - that is, convenience that provides improved access to fuel and control that reduces problems of delegating purchasing authority for the customer. The value of this additional service is exhibited in premium prices customers are willing to pay for the IT-enhanced traded good, relative to the same good without IT. Compared to the price without IT, statistical analysis of the supplier's pricing history demonstrates that the application of IT to commercial fuel yielded price premiums of between 5% and 12% of the retail fuel price.