The Great Smalltown Pizza Battles

Welcome to Smalltown. Today is a special day in Smalltown. Mo’s Pizza Place is having its grand opening. Until today, Tony’s Pizzeria was the only place in town to buy pizza. Now Tony has competition for the Smalltown pizza market. It’s hard being the new business in town. Can you help Mo compete with Tony for the Smalltown pizza market?

Tony’s Pizzeria Tony heard that a new shop is opening Tony’s Pizzeria Tony heard that a new shop is opening. In order to compete, Tony decides to offer an incentive. Buy two slices of pizza and get a free soda. Tony hopes that they will make customers choose his pizza. Mo’s Pizza Read the ways Mo’s Pizza Place can compete below: *lower price *better product *better customer service *offer incentive *advertise *______________ (another idea) Group Work As a group, select one way Mo's Pizza Place should compete with Tony's Pizzeria from the list. Be prepared to share your detailed strategy with the class.

Tony’s Pizzeria Tony heard about Mo’s ideas for his new pizza store Tony’s Pizzeria Tony heard about Mo’s ideas for his new pizza store. Tony decides to compete by offering better customer service. Starting today, Tony is offering free delivery to help encourage customers to choose his pizza. Mo’s Pizza Read the ways Mo’s Pizza Place can compete below: *lower price *better product *better customer service *offer incentive *advertise *______________ (another idea) Group Work As a group, select one way Mo's Pizza Place should compete with Tony's Pizzeria from the list. Be prepared to share your detailed strategy with the class.

Tony’s Pizzeria Tony’s Pizzeria is doing ok but he hears that Mo’s business is doing very well. Tony wants to continue to bring customers into his store. Tony decides he need to cut his prices to get customers to choose his pizza instead of Mo’s. He lowers his price from $2.00 a slice to $1.50 a slice. Mo’s Pizza Read the ways Mo’s Pizza Place can compete below: *lower price *better product *better customer service *offer incentive *advertise *______________ (another idea) Group Work As a group, select one way Mo's Pizza Place should compete with Tony's Pizzeria from the list. Be prepared to share your detailed strategy with the class.

For as long as both Mo’s Pizza Place and Tony’s Pizzeria are in business, they will be competing with each other for the Smalltown pizza market. They will be working hard to get customers to choose their pizza. Q: What does competition in the marketplace mean? Answer: Businesses that compete for the same customers, sell the same or similar items. Q: How do businesses compete with each other? Answer may include: They may lower their prices, advertise, offer incentives, make a better product or have better customer service. Q: Does competition help the consumer? Explain. Answer: Yes, competition causes businesses to offer incentives and to attempt to earn their businesses. Consumers get a better selection, lower prices, better service or better products.

Q: Is there ever a time when competition does not help the consumer Q: Is there ever a time when competition does not help the consumer? When? How? Answer: Yes, too much competition could cause a price war, leading to declining quality of the items or inferior customer service as an example. Q: What are the possible effects of a second pizza shop opening in Smalltown? Answer may include: Prices go down, greater selection of pizza toppings, new items like stuffed crust pizza, incentives like free soda. They could have pizza eating contests, wider variety of pizzas, better service and more. Q: What do you think might happen if a third or fourth pizza shop opens in Smalltown? Answer: At first, pizza shops might offer better products, incentives or prices, but if a big price war occurs, prices will go down but quality might suffer. There may not be enough consumers to keep them all in business.