ABSTRACT

Few companies treat innovation in pricing as seriously as product innovation or business model innovation. Yet our research – interviews with 50 executives and the analysis of pricing practices of 70 companies worldwide – suggests that innovation in pricing may be a company’s most powerful, and in many cases least explored, source of competitive advantage. Innovation in pricing brings new-to-the-industry approaches to pricing strategy, to pricing tactics and to the organization of pricing with the objective of increasing both customer satisfaction and company profits: Too many companies today see pricing as a win/lose proposition between themselves and their customers. Innovation in pricing breaks this deadlock and shows how to increase profits and customer satisfaction conjointly. As a result of our research we present a canvas laying out more than 20 possible avenues for innovation in pricing offering to any organization, regardless of size, industry or nationality, a few key ideas on how to both increase profits and customer satisfaction.