Sell at the right price with these 6 pricing strategies

By Ainhoa Carpio-Talleux

Published: July 23, 2025

Pricing a product or service sounds simple. And yet, this is often where it all goes wrong. Too low, and you minimize the perceived value. Too high, and you lose the customer before they've even read the description.

Between cost price, pricing strategy, competition, market, life cycle and positioning, pricing can't be guessed at: it has to be worked on. Like a good recipe. And above all, it' s tested, adjusted and optimized according to your objectives, your data and your pricing policy. This is where it all begins. Or where it all breaks down.

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Pricing: the (imperfect) science of the right price

Determining a product's price isn't a simple matter of ticking a box on a spreadsheet. It's a process that touches on value, perception and commercial strategy. An unstable mix between what it costs you, what it's worth, and what the consumer is willing to pay.

Why is pricing an art as well as a science?

Pricing is first and foremost a matter of data: production costs, flow analysis, conversion rate studies, scenario modeling. We look for objective benchmarks, formulas, fixed points of reference. But then there's the real price... and the perceived price.

And that's where everything often falls apart. Because a well-thought-out psychological price can sell three times more than a rational price. Because brand image plays a role that neither data nor algorithms can capture. And because emotion, rarity and pricing strategy can change everything.

What influences the price of a product or service?

If you think that everything depends on your costs, you're going to have to rethink a couple of things. Here are the main factors to take into account before setting a price:

your market: tensions, maturity, market trends ;
demand: stable or fluctuating, predictable or price-sensitive;
competition: who sets the price? at what level? on what offer?
customer-perceived value: by category, use, quality, etc;
costs (yes, but last).

Good pricing is never a single answer. It's a price range within which you evolve according to your pricing strategy, your margin objective, and the role your pricing must play (attract? make profitable? maximize?).

The role of pricing in sales strategy

Setting prices means choosing your positioning, your customers and your profitability challenges. The selling price speaks as much as the product itself: it tells whether you're in it to make volume, image or revenue.

👉 Good pricing can :

support an acquisition strategy,
maximize your margin,
strengthen your competitive edge,
or simply get you out of the red.

In other words: your pricing strategy plays a far more decisive role than a simple tariff. And it evolves. With time, with the market, with data. Like all living things.

An overview of the 6 main pricing strategies

1) Cost-based pricing: the accounting reflex

This is the basis. You calculate the cost, add a margin, and you've got a square selling price. The problem? The customer only sees the last line. And that price, however justified, doesn't take into account perception, positioning, or the competitor who has cheated on costs to sell for less.

✅ Advantage: logical, simple, predictable.

❌ Disadvantage: disconnected from perceived value and demand.

2) Competitive pricing: to avoid being crushed

Welcome to the world of defensive strategy. You adjust your prices according to those of your competitors, so as not to lose market share. Useful in a highly competitive sector, this method has its limits: you follow the race, but you never lead it.

🎯 To be reserved when:

the product differentiation is weak,
competition is aggressive,
pricing power eludes you.

3) Penetration strategy: break prices to enter strongly

This is the foot-in-the-door technique: offer a lower price, often temporary, to quickly win over a new market or target. Perfect for a launch, especially in e-commerce or online services. But you need to know how to raise the price once you've won over the base... without losing your customers.

✅ Objective: gain volume, not margin.

❌ Risk: becoming locked into a low-end image or losing your positioning.

4) Skimming strategy: aim high, sell low but sell well

Here, we do just the opposite. We set a high price (on purpose)... to enhance the value of a premium product, reinforce the brand image and, above all, maximize revenue per sale. This is the strategy of the limited edition, the exclusive launch... and the "not for everyone". And it works.

Conditions for success :

strong perceived value,
a differentiating offer,
a target ready to pay a price for rarity.

5) Dynamic pricing: playing with time, flows and data

Also known as dynamic pricing, this strategy is based on real-time analysis of the market, demand (and sometimes even consumer behavior). Used in marketplaces, tourism or events, it enables prices to be varied according to :

time of day,
remaining stock,
the algorithm,
pressure on service.

Powerful stuff. But it requires a high level of data maturity.

6) Psychological pricing: hitting the bull's eye without letting your guard down

The reign of €9.99. Perception rather than logic. This strategy plays on emotions, cognitive bias and perceived value. Psychological pricing is not based on costs or competition: it exploits our brains. And it's devilishly effective at improving conversion rates, especially in B2C offers.

It can also reinforce your image, give a sense of bargain, or create the impulse to buy.

No strategy is perfect! Each has its strengths, its risks, its side-effects... What's important? Defining your strategy in line with your business, your customers and your objectives. And above all, never set it in stone : a price is a living thing.

Choosing (and adapting) your pricing strategy

There's no magic formula, no perfect model. The right pricing is the one that fits your product, your market and your strategic objectives. But you still need to know how to analyze the right factors, use the right tools, and have the right approach. Because poorly thought-out pricing can put a damper on promising growth.

What factors need to be analyzed before setting a price?

Before you even think about pricing, ask yourself just one question: what do you really want to maximize? Volume, margin, perceived value, market share? Your pricing decision will depend directly on this primary objective. To establish a coherent pricing strategy, we recommend the following:

a complete market study: size, maturity, competitive pressure ;
the price sensitivity of your target: consumer, pro buyer or general public;
perceived value versus actual value;
the course of time: seasonality, life cycle, key moments in sales activity..;
your costs, of course... but also your ability to sustain competitive pricing.

It's the whole picture that counts. And each factor, if neglected, can distort your entire pricing system.

How do you test, adjust and optimize your prices?

Setting prices is one thing. Bringing them to life is quite another. All good data-driven pricing needs to be evaluated and adjusted over time. This is what we call the active implementation of a pricing strategy. Here are some pricing optimization and quality control tools to deploy:

A/B tests with price variations,
simulation of price elasticity by profile,
monitoring conversion flows according to the price level applied,
analysis of value, volume and brand image indicators.

The aim? Detect models that work, continuously adjust prices, and avoid threshold effects that block sales.

When and why change your pricing strategy?

Pricing is anything but static. It evolves according to :

the economic environment (e.g. inflation, changes in purchasing power),
supply and demand, always on the move,
experience gained and feedback from the field,
the life of the product (from launch to end of life).

Changing strategy doesn't mean rewriting everything. It means adapting your approach, responding better to the current market, reaffirming your positioning, and keeping control of your pricing power.

Best practices to remember... and pitfalls to avoid

Pricing is a living strategy. And like any strategy, it's built on solid foundations, and crumbles at the first mistake. Among the practices that reinforce your impact: regular performance analysis, close monitoring of your pricing model, and real listening in the field (customer feedback, team data, weak market signals).

But what really kills pricing is often much more basic:

prices copied and pasted from the competition, without thought,
a lack of adjustment when the context changes,
overly rigid implementation, disconnected from the consumer,
short-term thinking, inconsistent with positioning.

In short: a good price is not a good number. It's a strategic choice, reflecting both internal management and the customer experience. And that's where everything hinges.