Pricing strategies informed by segmentation and up-to-date demand signals
Editor’s note: Oscar Carlsson is interim chief product officer at market research firm Priceagent.
Decision making around pricing has remained stagnant in a world that demands constant adaptation. While marketers obsess over brand lift and media attribution, and data scientists model consumer journeys down to the last click, pricing strategy often lags – treated as a fixed input rather than a dynamic lever for growth. Yet few variables impact revenue, profitability and perception more directly than price.
For me, the shift in mind-set came in a board meeting years ago while launching a new product to a new customer segment. One of our investors asked if our price was value based. I had no real data, just gut feeling and “common sense.” It was a wake-up call. We had invested heavily in product and positioning but failed to test what customers would actually pay. We were assuming value rather than proving it. And in doing so, likely leaving money, and insight, on the table.
This is a very exciting time for innovation in our sector. But one thing surprised me: how little had changed in pricing. Despite new tech, evolving customer behaviors and market turbulence, many companies still rely on guesswork, legacy pricing models or outdated competitor benchmarks.
At a time of tariffs, trade wars, shifting consumer behaviors and economic uncertainty, companies can no longer rely on old-school assumptions. They need to understand their customers more deeply and build pricing strategies informed by segmentation and up-to-date demand signals. Still, much of today’s pricing research is rooted in historical data, and in moments of volatility, that backward-looking view may be misleading.
The new rules of pricing
Having a finger on the pulse of the market is critical. For instance, a recent study by performance marketing firm Wunderkind showed that 40% of consumers are open to switching from legacy brands to store labels to save money, and more than 40% plan to adjust summer shopping plans due to tariffs.
Pricing strategy needs to reflect this agility. Too many teams still treat pricing as a once-a-year planning item or defer to high-cost consultancies. In contrast, scalable and accessible research can surface demand data much faster, enabling smarter in-house decisions that reflect actual customer sentiment.
This is a mind-set shift. Pricing has long been siloed, with ownership split between finance, sales and marketing. In practice, that means few leaders have a complete picture. Misconceptions persist – that lowering price automatically increases demand, or that demand curves are smooth and predictable. Price sensitivity changes with context, and small adjustments can push buyers past psychological thresholds.
Moving on from guesswork
To modernize pricing, companies should consider a few steps:
- Start with current-state mapping: Identify where pricing decisions are based on assumptions, legacy data or internal opinion rather than market signals.
- Use pricing experiments: Testing willingness to pay across customer segments can reveal untapped opportunities and pricing inefficiencies.
- Make pricing dynamic, not static: Align pricing reviews with market rhythms, whether seasonal patterns, economic shifts or geopolitical disruptions like tariffs.
- Pair pricing with brand and sentiment tracking: Just as brand perception is monitored in real-time, so too should pricing sensitivity be. This ensures that adjustments reflect not just costs, but customer value perceptions.
You don’t have to chase every data point or simply replace strategy with automation. What you do need to do is build a pricing process that learns, iterates and evolves, grounded in customer realities rather than corporate habit.
The pricing playbook of the past, anchored in historical margins, gut instinct and competitor mimicry, no longer holds up. A smarter, more adaptive approach allows companies to identify price “walls” and “plateaus,” track shifts in customer sentiment and act before those shifts erode loyalty or profitability.
Even the most innovative businesses can struggle with outdated approaches, especially when it comes to pricing. But that can quickly change with the right strategy and mind-set.