Dell to Simplify Pricing With Mail-In Rebate Cut

Dell, the world’s leading producer of PCs, on Thursday said it will cut the number of mail-in rebates and other promotional offers for its products and services in an effort to simplify its pricing structure, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Round Rock, Texas-based Dell said it plans to eventually cut the number of promotions per product line by 70 percent and the number of promotions per individual product by roughly 80 percent over time, according to the Journal.

Dell will begin cutting back its mail-in rebates in August, starting with its Inspiron laptops and Dell TVs, the Journal reports, and later this year, it will decrease the number of mail-in rebates it offers for Dimension desktop PCs. Eventually, it will move on to electronics, software, services and associated products, according to the Journal.

Under the plan, Dell will begin offering electronic rebates to cut down on the number of paper forms processed, the Journal reports.

Dell made the announcement at a time when its status as king of the PC space is in danger, due to tough competition from rivals Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo, the world’s number two and three PC makers. In the past, Dell has stuck with the direct-sales model that made it so successful, but in May the company said it would trial two retail stores in shopping malls in New York and Texas.

Check out our CIO News Alerts and Tech Informer pages for more updated news coverage.