Learn in the textbookPricing Strategy
DefinitionSkimming pricing (スキミングプライシング) is a pricing strategy that deliberately sets a high price when a new product launches, earning profit first from customers willing to pay more.
ExplanationIn Japanese it is also called 上澄み吸収価格戦略, literally a strategy of skimming off the top layer. The typical pattern is to use the early high price to recover development and production setup costs quickly, then cut the price once rivals multiply or demand levels off, gradually widening the range of buyers.
AnalogyIt is like a new variety of fruit that sells at a premium as a gift item only when it first appears, then settles to an ordinary shelf price as supplies grow.
Memory hookThe English word skim means scooping the cream off the top of milk. Link it to scooping profit first from the customers at the "top" of the market.