Pricing Analysis: From price audits to a costed roadmap
A pricing assessment is an audit of a company's pricing policy based on its actual data: sales, margins, pricing schedules, promotions, and competitors' prices.
It examines four key areas—price consistency, market positioning, price image, and promotions—to determine which discrepancies warrant action and what the expected return is.
The most common issues include inconsistent pricing tiers, overpriced benchmark products subsidized by non-comparable products sold at excessively low prices, promotions that are extended despite being unprofitable, and exceptions that have become the rule.
Each recommendation is costed and presented in a roadmap that distinguishes between “quick wins” that can be implemented immediately and structural initiatives.
Markup 's ratings have dropped by a few tenths of a point; customers find the store expensive, even though the price index suggests otherwise, and no one can explain anymore why certain products are priced the way they are.
Everyone has a hypothesis, but none of them are backed by figures. This is typically the point at which management commissions a pricing analysis.
This article is intended for executives in general management, sales, and pricing who are considering an audit of their pricing policy.
It describes what experts examine, the findings that are consistent across companies, and how these findings are turned into a cost-based roadmap, including quick wins.
What is a rate analysis?
A pricing analysis is an audit of a company's pricing policy, based on its sales data, margins, pricing schedules, promotions, and competitors' prices.
It assesses price consistency, market positioning, and price image, and then provides quantified recommendations: quick wins that can be implemented within a few weeks and more structural initiatives, ranked by their impact on margins.
What sets a diagnosis apart from a simple assessment is the final step. A table of price discrepancies doesn't tell you what to do on Monday morning.
A pricing analysis identifies which discrepancies warrant action, in what order, along with the expected gains and the risk to price perception.
This is the work carried out by Booper's subject matter experts as part of the price diagnostic, and that’s what this article describes from the inside: what we look at, what we find most often, and how we sort through the recommendations.
When should a pricing analysis be conducted?
Few retailers launch an assessment out of curiosity. It almost always follows a warning sign, and these warning signs are similar across different sectors.
The margin is shrinking, and no one knows where it's going
The overall " Markup " has fallen by a few tenths of a point over the past year. Purchasing cites supplier price increases, sales cites competition, and management accounting takes note.
As long as the analysis remains at the aggregate level, everyone is somewhat right, and no one takes action. The analysis then drills down to the category, store, and SKU levels—where the decline is actually occurring.
Customers think the store is expensive, but the numbers tell a different story
The price index calculated for the entire product lineup is in line with the market, but store feedback, reviews, and satisfaction surveys indicate that prices are high. The discrepancy almost always stems from the specific products that customers compare, not from the average.
The analysis identifies these products and assesses their unique positioning.
Pricing rules have piled up over the years
Exceptions granted for a single store, pricing policies set during a crisis and never reversed, and rounding rules inherited from an old system: after a few years, no one can explain why a particular product is priced the way it is.
Our article on the debt of rules in a pricing engine describes this phenomenon. The diagnostic process resets the rules before new ones are added.
A pricing project is in the works
Before choosing software, hiring a pricing team, or overhauling its pricing strategy, management wants to know where the gains lie and what their magnitude is.
The diagnosis then serves as a baseline and, often, as the scope for an initial test. This is the role it plays prior toa pricing software proof of concept (POC): identifying the categories where value discrepancies are most likely to occur.
What Experts Are Examining: The Four Aspects of a Rate Audit
A comprehensive pricing analysis combines four different interpretations of the same pricing policy. Each one, taken on its own, is misleading; it is their combination that allows us to prioritize them.
Consistency in Pricing Policy
Do the prices comply with the company's own rules?
We check for price discrepancies among retail locations within the same cluster, price tiers within a product line (the small size should not cost more per kilogram than the large size; the lowest-priced item must remain below the retailer’s private label, which in turn must remain below the national brand), and consistency across the product line for substitutable products.
This is the area where anomalies are most numerous and easiest to correct.
Positioning Relative to the Competition
Based on existing price data or a dedicated data collection effort, we measure price positioning by department, using products that are truly comparable.
The question isn't "Are we more expensive?" but "Where are we more expensive than our strategy calls for, and where are we less expensive for no good reason?"
The second scenario is just as common as the first, and it eats into profits without boosting the company's reputation.
Price Image
Price image is customers' perception of a retailer's price level. It is based on a limited number of products—known as KPIs or benchmark products—that customers are familiar with and use for comparison.
The analysis identifies these products based on sales and purchase frequency data, then verifies that they are properly positioned. Our guide to measuring a retailer’s price image details the metrics used.
Specials and Stock on the Shelves
Finally, we look at the portion of revenue generated through promotions, the profitability of recurring sales strategies, and the difference between the promotional price and the regular shelf price.
A monthly promotion on the same product eventually becomes the standard price in customers' eyes, and the regular shelf price loses its credibility.
A pricing analysis therefore never stops at the over Markup . A stable average can mask one category that loses two points and another that gains two, and the decisions to be made in each case are opposite.
To this end, the analysis uses an ABC analysis, which classifies SKUs based on their contribution to revenue and margin, and clusters stores or customers with similar behavior: a price difference does not have the same impact on an A-class SKU in a highly competitive store as it does on a C-class SKU in an area with no direct competitors.
The Six Most Common Findings
Every company has its own pricing history, but these analyses reveal recurring patterns. Here they are, from the most common to the most costly.
1. Inconsistent pricing tiers within product lines
A family-size package that costs more per kilogram than the standard size; a store brand that costs the same as the national brand after a supplier price increase that wasn't passed on to consumers; a premium product that costs less than its entry-level counterpart.
These anomalies are visible to customers who compare products on the shelves and make it difficult to understand the offerings. They can be quickly corrected once identified, and our article on managing price tiers with limited data shows how to maintain them afterward.
2. Benchmark products that are too expensive, and non-comparable products that are sold at too low a price
This is the most common observation regarding pricing. The retailer charges above-market prices on a few dozen items that all customers are familiar with, and below-market prices on hundreds of items that no one compares.
It pays off twice: in terms of image with the former, and in terms of margins with the latter. Rebalancing—cutting back a little where it’s noticeable and increasing a little where it isn’t—is one of the most profitable quick wins of a diagnostic assessment.
38% of French households base their purchasing decisions primarily on their purchasing power, up 3 percentage points in one year. Nearly 85% say they have changed their purchasing habits in response to inflation.
(EY-Parthenon, 2026 Ranking of French Consumers’ Favorite Retailers, based on a survey of approximately 12,000 consumers conducted in January 2026)
This growing influence of purchasing power on decision-making makes decision-making more challenging, but no less necessary.
Raising prices on non-benchmark products only makes sense if the benchmark products themselves are flawless, and that is precisely what the assessment verifies before any recommendation to raise prices is made.
3. Recurring promotions that don't pay off
Some promotions are repeated every year simply because they always have been. The analysis measures their actual impact: additional volume, cannibalization of related products, deferred purchases, and lost margin.
Our article on measuring the incremental impact of promotions explains the method in detail. Eliminating or scaling back a practice that erodes margins is often the quickest win resulting from an analysis, because it requires no additional development.
4. Price discrepancies between stores or sales channels that follow no set rules
Price differences between retail locations or between a physical store and an online store are not a problem in and of themselves: they may reflect differences in local competition.
They become so when they result from a series of exceptions that no one can explain. Our articles on price differences across sales channels and on pricing by catchment area distinguish between intentional price differentials and unintended deviations.
5. Competitive alignments that have never been called into question
A rule stating, “Align with a certain competitor in a certain aisle,” established three years ago, even though that competitor has since closed two stores in the area or changed its positioning.
The diagnostic compares each alignment rule with the current competitive landscape and verifies that the products being monitored among competitors are still the correct ones.
6. Exceptions That Have Become the Rule
Manually adjusted prices, exceptions granted to a store or customer, and discounts that stack on top of one another. In B2B distribution, this is often where the bulk of the difference between the list price and the actual invoiced price lies.
Our article on the governance of exceptions and exemptions proposes a way to regulate them without banning them.
How Does a Pricing Assessment with Industry Experts Work?
The diagnostic process conducted by Booper consists of four steps.
The platform is driven by experts in retail pricing and distribution, who use its analytical tools and artificial intelligence models; however, the tool does not replace human judgment: knowing whether a price discrepancy within a category is intentional, or whether a promotion is being maintained due to supplier negotiations, requires industry expertise.
Step 1: Gather the data
Sales and margins by SKU and by retail location, price lists, promotional history, store data, and competitor prices, sourced from existing market intelligence or data specifically collected by our price-tracking and web-scraping teams.
The data doesn't have to be perfect: when a source is missing or unreliable, the assessment flags this and takes it into account rather than making recommendations based on uncertain information.
Step 2: Analyze the pricing policy
Price consistency, ABC analysis, clustering, mapping of category positioning relative to the market, and measurement of price image. It is at this stage that the first levers become apparent, generally a few days after the data becomes available.
Step 3: Quantify the levers
Each identified lever is evaluated in terms of margin, revenue, and market positioning.
Experts compare the results with the company's known constraints (supplier commitments, desired positioning, regulatory price constraints) to rule out recommendations that are not feasible.
Step 4: Submit the roadmap
The presentation is given to decision-makers: senior management, sales management, pricing, and purchasing.
It outlines quick wins that can be implemented immediately and structural initiatives, ranked by impact, with the estimated benefits and conditions for success listed for each. It is a decision-making document, not a research report.
What You Need to Prepare on Your End
A pricing assessment takes little time for the company's teams, provided they have identified three key contacts from the outset: a data specialist capable of extracting and explaining the files, a business specialist (in pricing, product offerings, or sales) who understands the history of pricing rules, and an executive sponsor who will oversee the roadmap.
The list of useful data largely overlaps with that of a solution test, as detailed in our article on the data required for a pricing POC.
If you'd like to get a sense of things on your own first, the ten-point quick audit checklist in our article on the pitfalls of pricing strategies will help you identify key issues in just half an hour.
It doesn't replace a formal diagnosis, but it helps determine whether it's time to seek one.
After the Diagnosis: From Roadmap to Implementation
A diagnosis that sits in a drawer is of no use. What happens next depends on what the roadmap revealed.
While the main finding concerns the lack of direction, the next step isto develop a pricing strategy: the roles of each category, the desired positioning, and the rules.
If the quick wins have been implemented and it is time to monitor their long-term impact, the pricing analytics takes over, using the pricing performance metrics defined during the diagnostic phase.
If the volume of SKUs or retail locations makes manual management impossible, a solution like BOOPER MPS allows you to apply the rules derived from the analysis and receive daily pricing recommendations.
Among its clients who transition from diagnostics to continuous monitoring, Booper has observed an increase in margins of +0.5 to +3 points within a few months.
This range depends on the starting point: the more inconsistencies have accumulated in the pricing policy, the more the initial assessment reveals, and the faster the initial gains are realized.
Where are your margin levers?
Our experts will conduct a pricing analysis for your priority areas and provide you with a detailed roadmap, including quick wins.
Let's discuss your diagnosisFAQ: Questions About Rate Analysis
A pricing assessment is an audit of a company's pricing policy, based on its actual data, that measures price consistency, positioning relative to the competition, price image, and the profitability of promotions.
It differs from a simple assessment in its conclusion: a roadmap in which each recommendation is quantified in the margin and in terms of revenue, and categorized as either “quick wins” that can be implemented within a few weeks or “structural initiatives.”
It is intended for general management, sales, and pricing teams who want to know where to focus their efforts first—and what the expected return will be—before embarking on a larger project.
A pricing analysis describes the prices charged: price levels, variations between stores, and comparisons with competitors. The pricing assessment builds on this analysis and leads to a decision.
It prioritizes variances based on their actual weight (ABC analysis, clustering, price image), quantifies the impact of possible corrections, and organizes them into a roadmap.
A pricing analysis can be conducted internally using a spreadsheet; a diagnostic assessment requires cross-referencing multiple data sources and business expertise to determine which discrepancies are intended and which are deviations.
The first insights generally emerge a few days after the data becomes available. The total time required depends on the scope of the analysis and the quality of the data.
An assessment focused on a few priority categories is faster than an audit of the entire product lineup across a multi-country network.
The most variable stage is data collection: documented data extracts and competing surveys that are already available significantly shorten the timeline.
The effects of the initial quick wins are then generally noticeable within a few weeks to a few months, once the recommendations have been implemented.
Sales and margins by SKU and by retail location, price lists, promotional history, store data, and, if possible, competitor price data.
Competitor prices may come from an existing monitoring system or from a dedicated data collection effort.
The data doesn't have to be perfect: a thorough assessment identifies missing or unreliable sources and takes them into account in its recommendations, rather than drawing conclusions based on uncertain information.
On the corporate side, what’s needed above all is a contact person capable of extracting and explaining the files, and a business expert who understands the history of the pricing rules.
A quick win is a high-impact, low-effort, low-risk initiative that can be implemented using the tools and data the company already has.
The most common examples include correcting inverted price tiers within a product line, discontinuing a recurring promotion that erodes margins, or rebalancing between benchmark products that are too expensive and products that are rarely compared and priced below market levels.
A quick win requires neither new software nor reorganization: it requires a detailed list, a cost estimate, and a decision. That is why its effects are immediate.
Artificial intelligence speeds up analysis and calculation, but it does not replace the business expertise needed to interpret the results.
It is used to process large volumes of SKUs and retail locations, to group stores with similar behavior, to estimate price elasticities by category, and to simulate the effect of a price adjustment.
Determining whether a price difference is intentional, whether a promotion is being maintained for negotiating purposes, or whether a product serves an image-building function, however, is a matter for retail pricing experts. At Booper, the analysis combines both approaches.
No. A cost assessment can be conducted before any software project begins, and that is often its purpose: to identify potential savings before making an investment.
The experts conducting the study use their own analytical tools on the data provided by the company. The quick wins are then implemented using existing tools.
Pricing software becomes useful later on, when the volume of SKUs or retail locations makes it impossible to manually maintain the rules derived from the analysis, or when it is necessary to track their effects over time.
Yes. The method is the same; it's the analytical perspectives that change depending on how prices are formed.
In B2B distribution, the analysis focuses primarily on the consistency of rates, discounts, and net prices actually billed across customers, segments, and channels—where deviations tend to occur.
In individual pharmacies, it focuses on the pricing strategy for non-prescription items (over-the-counter products, consulting) and on the local price image of the pharmacy or chain. In retail chains and e-commerce, it focuses on competitiveness by department, price image, and promotions.
A pricing proof of concept (POC) is a test that is limited in both time and scope, conducted using a retailer’s actual data, which compares the pricing decisions recommended by a solution to a baseline scenario measured in the same way. It provides evidence when five elements are established before the test begins: the scope, the baseline scenario, the metrics, the duration, and the resources allocated.
The method described here distinguishes between three categories of indicators that are too often conflated (model performance, economic gains, and team usage), explains how to test multiple vendors using the same dataset, and explains why a proof of concept (POC) should be conducted without altering the existing price-dissemination tool.
A SaaS pricing management platform centralizes a retailer’s prices, rules, competitor data, and sales forecasts in a browser-based tool—with no servers to install or versions to maintain. For the retail industry, its benefits include the ability to respond quickly to market changes, measurable margin gains, built-in compliance with French regulations, a predictable subscription cost, and scalability across thousands of retail locations.
Booper, a French pricing software provider since 2014, exemplifies this model with a platform that manages more than 4,000 retail locations for chains such as Magasins U, E.Leclerc, and Castorama, and aims to increase profit margins by 0.5 to 3 percentage points within a few months.
Reversibility must be negotiated before the contract is signed—never after. Once the contract is signed and the system is live, the balance of power has completely shifted. Four assets are at stake: your raw data, your rule set, your trading history, and your competitive matching table. Only the first is generally covered by contracts.
The gap between perception and reality is well documented: 89% of executives believe they can switch suppliers in less than a month, but among those who have tried, 58% report that the effort failed or took much longer than expected (Zapier, 2026). The goal isn’t to leave, but to have the option to do so: that’s what maintains a healthy supplier relationship throughout the contract term.