Building a Competitive Pricing Strategy with MyPricing
Overview
Pricing is no longer just about being cheaper than competitors.
Today’s retailers must balance competitiveness, profitability, and control often across multiple marketplaces and constantly changing market conditions.
Without a clear pricing strategy, businesses risk:
- Losing sales due to uncompetitive prices
- Eroding margins unnecessarily
- Spending valuable time on manual price adjustments
MyPricing helps retailers define and automate pricing strategies that align with their business goals whether the focus is on increasing sales, improving margins, or maintaining a healthy balance between the two.
In this article, we’ll explore how MyPricing enables smarter pricing decisions through two core strategies:
- Reference Strategy
- Cost Strategy
The Pricing Challenge: Competing Without Losing Control
Retailers selling across marketplaces face continuous pricing pressure:
- Competitors update prices frequently
- Marketplaces reward competitive pricing
- Manual repricing does not scale
At the same time, aggressive price drops can quickly damage profitability.
What businesses need is a structured pricing model that:
- Responds to market changes
- Respects defined price limits
- Aligns with commercial objectives
This is exactly what MyPricing is designed to deliver.
MyPricing: Flexible Pricing Strategies Built for Retailers
MyPricing allows merchants to define pricing strategies that best fit their business needs, such as:
- Increasing sales volume
- Improving profit margins
- Maintaining consistent pricing across channels
The platform offers two main pricing strategies, each designed for different objectives:
- Reference Strategy – Market-driven pricing
- Cost Strategy – Margin-driven pricing
Let’s explore each in detail.
I. Reference Strategy
What Is the Reference Strategy?
The Reference Strategy is based on your current online price on a connected marketplace.
When you connect a new marketplace to MyPricing:
- Your product catalog is imported from the connected channel
- The existing online price is saved as a reference price
- This reference price is fixed in the system and will not change unless updated manually
This reference price becomes the foundation for defining pricing limits.
How the Reference Strategy Works
Using the reference price, MyPricing defines:
- Minimum price limits
- Maximum price limits
These limits ensure that optimized prices remain controlled while adapting to competitive market conditions.
Configure a Reference Strategy
You can configure a reference strategy using three parameters:
Minimum Price
- Defines the lowest allowed price
- Set as a percentage of the reference price
- Prevents excessive price drops
Maximum Price
- Defines the highest allowed price
- Set as a percentage of the reference price
- Prevents prices from becoming uncompetitive
Adjustment Value
Defines how your price is positioned relative to competitors:
- Adjustment in € value
Example: Price €0.01 lower than the best competitor - Adjustment in percentage (%)
Example: Price 1% lower than the best competitor
Apply the Reference Strategy
Once parameters are defined, click “Set Strategy”.
MyPricing automatically:
- Calculates reference-based price boundaries
- Applies the strategy across the entire catalog
- Starts optimizing prices within the defined limits
II. Cost Strategy
What Is the Cost Strategy?
The Cost Strategy is a margin-based pricing model.
Instead of relying solely on market prices, this strategy ensures that optimized prices:
- Cover product costs
- Account for commissions and taxes
- Respect margin thresholds
To use this strategy, a purchase price or defined cost is mandatory.
Data Required for Cost Strategy
MyPricing calculates optimized prices using cost-related data provided via:
- The MyPricing interface
- External file imports
This data is refreshed daily to ensure pricing accuracy.
Configure a Cost Strategy
The cost strategy allows you to define:
Minimum Margin
- Sets the minimum margin percentage
- Ensures profitability is protected
Maximum Margin
- Sets an upper margin limit
- Keeps prices attractive to customers
Adjustment Value
- Fine-tunes the optimized price relative to competitors
Platform Commission Rate
- Applies marketplace commission fees to price calculations
Tax Rate
- Applies tax rates (e.g. VAT) to optimized prices
Additional Costs (Optional)
- Shipping or other operational costs
Bulk Cost Data Management
To update cost data across your entire catalog, MyPricing offers File Data Enrichment.
Path:
Settings > Applications > File data enrichment
This feature allows you to:
- Bulk import costs, margins, taxes, and commissions
- Maintain consistent pricing logic
- Scale margin-based pricing across large catalogs
Reference Strategy vs Cost Strategy: Which One Fits Your Pricing Goals?
Comparison Table:
| Feature / Criteria | Reference Strategy | Cost Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing Basis | Current online marketplace price | Product cost and margins |
| Primary Objective | Stay competitive in the market | Protect and optimize margins |
| Requires Product Cost | No | Yes (mandatory) |
| Minimum Control | Min price based on reference % | Min margin % |
| Maximum Control | Max price based on reference % | Max margin % |
| Adjustment Method | € or % vs competitors | € or % vs competitors |
| Accounts for Commissions | No | Yes |
| Accounts for Taxes (VAT) | No | Yes |
| Best For | High-competition products | Margin-sensitive products |
| Ideal Use Case | Price-driven marketplaces | Profit-focused pricing |
| Data Management | Automatic via marketplace import | Requires cost & data enrichment |
Choosing the Right Pricing Strategy
Each strategy supports different business goals:
Reference Strategy
Best for retailers focused on competitiveness and market positioning
Cost Strategy
Ideal for businesses prioritizing margin protection and profitability
Retailers can apply different strategies based on product category, channel, or commercial objectives.
Conclusion: Smarter Pricing Starts with the Right Strategy
Successful pricing isn’t reactive, it’s strategic.
With MyPricing, retailers gain:
- Controlled and automated price optimization
- Competitive positioning across marketplaces
- Margin protection at scale
- Full confidence in pricing decisions
By choosing the right pricing strategy reference-based or cost-based businesses can remain competitive while protecting what matters most: profitability.
Ready to put the right pricing strategy into action?
MyPricing lets you test, adjust, and optimize pricing strategies based on your business goals.
