4.6 Bottom of the Pyramid

Low-end, low-cost products and services are of emerging importance because of the huge market at the so-called bottom of or base of the pyramid (BoP).Prahalad (2006). Price and product differentiation can benefit the 4 billion people who need pharmaceuticals, health care, personal grooming, and low-priced durable goods and electronics. In the past, many businesses have ignored this substantial collection of individuals. But there is money to be made at the BoP because there is demand for inexpensive products by these consumers. Price-sensitive consumers have many of the same wants and desires as the affluent consumers.See the discussion at the end of this chapter on Pareto Economics, Welfare, and Efficiency. They just have to spend more money on the basic necessities of life and have little discretionary income. Products can actually be designed at the high end and the mass appeal levels, and then scaled back so that they can be sold to individuals at the BoP. As noted above, price-sensitive customers can be the foundation for establishing a long-lasting monetary relationship when those customers attain more discretionary income. Here are a few additional examples of versioning approaches. The next chapter will provide many more examples of how versioning has been used by various businesses.