How to provide accurate and real-time pricing information for ecommerce, quotations and CRM solutions

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This may come as a shock to some, but there was a time when there was a VERY limited number of television channels to watch, and daytime programming was especially limited and boring. If you were from this generation and had to stay home from school due to an illness, the only show you could count on was The Price Is Right, a game show where contestants tried to guess the price of consumer goods without going over. 

What reminds me of those days are the conversations I have almost every day with manufacturers, distributors and retailers playing this same price-guessing game. They speak of the correlation of frequent cost volatility compared to a price quote when an order is placed versus when it’s priced at shipment, and the potential significant difference between the two.

Who are today’s contestants?

Today’s “contestants” are businesses operating in highly competitive and dynamic sectors like consumer goods and durable manufacturing. They deal with massive catalogs of products with thousands of SKUs, customer-specific discounts, frequent price changes and the pressure to deliver accurate quotes in real time.  

Significant cost volatility is involved, requiring frequent product and price changes. One price can affect other derivative prices for products in the same family or line. The pricing logic is complex and requires many variables to calculate cost, pricing procedures or access sequences. What makes this even more difficult is that pricing errors, delays or inconsistencies can create friction, kill deals and damage customer trust.

In other words, they don’t have the luxury of spinning the game wheel and hoping for the best. 

What’s standing in the way?

Imagine trying to bid on the Showcase Showdown in the game show with outdated information and no clue about the rules. That’s what many businesses experience with their current pricing systems. Here’s what’s holding them back:

• Lack of speed and accuracy—Many pricing teams work with spreadsheets or outdated tools that can’t keep up with fluctuating costs or real-time quoting demands. Prices may change between the quote and the shipment, leaving margin and customer trust on the table.
• Lack of simplicity and versatility—Sales teams need to communicate accurate prices across all channels, such as field reps, partners, ecommerce and customer portals. If price data is siloed, outdated or hard to access, it slows everything down. You also need to be able to communicate with a broad range of customers who have various levels of data formats to receive your data.
• Lack of consistency in customer experience—Customers want to feel confident that they’re getting a fair and accurate price. If you constantly requote or adjust invoices due to system limitations, customers start to lose trust and may shop elsewhere. For positive customer experiences, companies must ensure accurate pricing to increase cart and RFQ conversion ratios.

How to win the pricing game show

Unlike the game show, this isn’t about luck; it’s about having the right tools. Winning in today’s pricing game means using smarter technology to ensure your prices are right, every time.

• Real-time pricing engine—Equip your business with a real-time pricing engine that provides instant, accurate and customer-specific dynamic pricing for sales reps and online quoting tools. This is your digital game show host, announcing the right price every time, with confidence.

• Pre-calculated price retrieval—Store and retrieve high-volume pricing data instantly. Pre-calculated prices reduce the lag between customer requests and sales responses.
• Dynamic price recalculation and catalog management—Let automation handle price updates across your entire catalog. Whether a supplier increases costs or a new promotion launches, near real-time calculations mean your pricing stays accurate and consistent everywhere it’s published.

It’s time to retire the outdated pricing tools and spin the wheel of digital transformation. With the right solution, you won’t just be guessing the right price—you’ll know it, trust it and win business with it.