One of the most vexing questions my clients expect me to answer during our engagements is the following: why isn’t our marketing working the way it should? On paper, they think they are doing all the right things but they are not getting the results they were expecting. Why? In today’s competitive direct-to-consumer (DTC) landscape,…
“Is there a problem with (some of) your products?” That is typically one of the first questions I try to answer, with data, when working with a new direct-to-consumer (DTC) client. Understanding customer behavior is crucial for any business’s success, and two key metrics stand out when evaluating product performance, beyond the obvious sales metrics:…
Many clients in QSR and ecommerce come to me asking for help because their price increases do not translate into improved profitability, despite their best efforts to measure price elasticity and to stay away from the most price-sensitive products before taking price. That unfortunate state of affairs occurs because many companies still rely on outdated…
In the world of retail, pricing strategies are more than just numbers on a tag; they’re powerful psychological triggers that can significantly influence consumer behavior. Understanding and mastering price point endings can transform your business, turning small changes into substantial profits. Not All Price Endings Are Created Equal Price endings are more than mere digits;…
The rise of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) brands has been one of the most significant retail trends in recent years. On the surface, growing a DTC brand seems straightforward: build a website, attract customers, and watch the revenue roll in. However, the reality is far more complex. The journey from startup to sustainable growth is fraught with…
Many of my direct-to-consumer clients use Shopify. Some use WooCommerce. Almost all are also on Amazon. What they all had in common before we started working together was that they didn’t know that they were sitting on a gold mine: their order-level, disaggregated data. In the age of data-driven decision making, businesses are constantly searching…
So, you’ve finally decided that you need to run some pricing analytics before deciding how to respond to tariffs? Here are two good news for you: (1) you need a lot less data than you think, and (2) you already have that data in your systems! As a matter of fact, all you really need…
Many restaurant brands are currently updating their pricing for the next quarter, so today I’ll share a real-life example of how not to set menu prices—and what to do instead. The brand was in the casual dining space with a broad menu of nearly 100 items across 12 categories (burgers, salads, skillets, appetizers, etc.). They…
In the dynamic Quick-Service Restaurant (QSR) segment, optimal pricing is a complex endeavor, demanding a delicate balance of profitability, traffic, and competitiveness. The traditional approaches that once served the industry well are increasingly inadequate in today’s rapidly evolving market. Restaurant executives and investors must understand that yesterday’s pricing strategies, often based on reactive discounting or…
Optimal pricing in the restaurant industry, particularly within the dynamic Quick-Service Restaurant (QSR) segment, is a complex endeavor that necessitates a delicate balance of profitability, traffic, and competitiveness. The last article explored these three critical pillars and their interconnected influence on a brand’s health. Now, we introduce a strategic framework, conceptualized as “Pricing in Restaurants:…