Pricing Analytics

The theme of this book is simple. The price – the number someone puts on a product to help consumers decide to buy that product – comes from data. Specifically, itcomes from statistically modeling the data. This book gives the reader the statistical modeling tools needed to get the number to put on a product. But statistical modeling is not done in a vacuum. Economic and statistical principles and theory conjointly provide the background and framework for the models. Therefore, this book emphasizes two interlocking components of modeling: economic theory and statistical principles. The economic theory component is sufficient to provide understanding of the basic principles for pricing, especially about elasticities, which measure the effects of pricing on key business metrics. Elasticity estimation is the goal of statistical modeling, so attention is paid to the concept and implications of elasticities. The statistical modeling component is advanced and detailed covering choice (conjoint, discrete choice, MaxDiff) and sales data modeling. Experimental design principles, model estimation approaches, and analysis methods are discussed and developed for choice models. Regression fundamentals have been developed for sales model specification and estimation and expanded for latent class analysis.

This book provides a broad introduction to the field of pricing as a tactical function in the daily operations of the firm and a toolbox for implementing and solving a wide range of pricing problems. Beyond the theoretical perspectives offered by most textbooks in the field, Essentials of Pricing Analytics supplements the concepts and models covered by demonstrating practical implementations using the highly accessible Excel software, analytical tools, real-life examples and global case studies. The book covers topics on fundamental pricing theory, break-even analysis, price sensitivity, empirical estimations of price–response functions, price optimisation, markdown optimisation, hedonic pricing, revenue management, the use of big data, simulation, and conjoint analysis in pricing decisions, and ethical and legal considerations. This is a uniquely accessible and practical text for advanced undergraduate, MBA and postgraduate students of pricing strategy, entrepreneurship and small business management, marketing strategy, sales and operations. It is also important reading for practitioners looking for accessible methods to implement pricing strategy and maximise profits. Online resources for instructors include Excel templates and PowerPoint slides for each chapter.

“There is no strategic investment that has a higher return than investing in good pricing, and the text by Gallego and Topaloghu provides the best technical treatment of pricing strategy and tactics available.” Preston McAfee, the J. Stanley Johnson Professor, California Institute of Technology and Chief Economist and Corp VP, Microsoft. “The book by Gallego and Topaloglu provides a fresh, up-to-date and in depth treatment of revenue management and pricing. It fills an important gap as it covers not only traditional revenue management topics also new and important topics such as revenue management under customer choice as well as pricing under competition and online learning. The book can be used for different audiences that range from advanced undergraduate students to masters and PhD students. It provides an in-depth treatment covering recent state of the art topics in an interesting and innovative way. I highly recommend it." Professor Georgia Perakis, the William F. Pounds Professor of Operations Research and Operations Management at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts. “This book is an important and timely addition to the pricing analytics literature by two authors who have made major contributions to the field. It covers traditional revenue management as well as assortment optimization and dynamic pricing. The comprehensive treatment of choice models in each application is particularly welcome. It is mathematically rigorous but accessible to students at the advanced undergraduate or graduate levels with a rich set of exercises at the end of each chapter. This book is highly recommended for Masters or PhD level courses on the topic and is a necessity for researchers with an interest in the field.” Robert L. Phillips, Director of Pricing Research at Amazon “At last, a serious and comprehensive treatment of modern revenue management and assortment optimization integrated with choice modeling. In this book, Gallego and Topaloglu provide the underlying model derivations together with a wide range of applications and examples; all of these facets will better equip students for handling real-world problems. For mathematically inclined researchers and practitioners, it will doubtless prove to be thought-provoking and an invaluable reference.” Richard Ratliff, Research Scientist at Sabre “This book, written by two of the leading researchers in the area, brings together in one place most of the recent research on revenue management and pricing analytics. New industries (ride sharing, cloud computing, restaurants) and new developments in the airline and hotel industries make this book very timely and relevant, and will serve as a critical reference for researchers.” Professor Kalyan Talluri, the Munjal Chair in Global Business and Operations, Imperial College, London, UK.

The practices of revenue management and pricing analytics have transformed the transportation and hospitality industries, and are increasingly important in industries as diverse as retail, telecommunications, banking, health care and manufacturing. Segmentation, Revenue Management and Pricing Analytics guides students and professionals on how to identify and exploit revenue management and pricing opportunities in different business contexts. Bodea and Ferguson introduce concepts and quantitative methods for improving profit through capacity allocation and pricing. Whereas most marketing textbooks cover more traditional, qualitative methods for determining customer segments and prices, this book uses historical sales data with mathematical optimization to make those decisions. With hands-on practice and a fundamental understanding of some of the most common analytical models, readers will be able to make smarter business decisions and higher profits. This book will be a useful and enlightening read for MBA students in pricing and revenue management, marketing, and service operations.

This book provides a broad introduction to the field of pricing as a tactical function in the daily operations of the firm and a toolbox for implementing and solving a wide range of pricing problems. Beyond the theoretical perspectives offered by most textbooks in the field, Essentials of Pricing Analytics supplements the concepts and models covered by demonstrating practical implementations using the highly accessible Excel software, analytical tools, real-life examples and global case studies. The book covers topics on fundamental pricing theory, break-even analysis, price sensitivity, empirical estimations of price–response functions, price optimisation, markdown optimisation, hedonic pricing, revenue management, the use of big data, simulation, and conjoint analysis in pricing decisions, and ethical and legal considerations. This is a uniquely accessible and practical text for advanced undergraduate, MBA and postgraduate students of pricing strategy, entrepreneurship and small business management, marketing strategy, sales and operations. It is also important reading for practitioners looking for accessible methods to implement pricing strategy and maximise profits. Online resources for instructors include Excel templates and PowerPoint slides for each chapter.

Pricing analytics uses historical sales data with mathematical optimization to set and update prices offered through various channels in order to maximize profit. A familiar example is the passenger airline industry, where a carrier may sell seats on the same flight at many different prices. Pricing analytics practices have transformed the transportation and hospitality industries, and are increasingly important in industries as diverse as retail, telecommunications, banking, health care and manufacturing. The aim of this book is to guide students and professionals on how to identify and exploit pricing opportunities in different business contexts.

"The primary theme of Pricing Strategies is that pricing should be guided by the marketing concept, which indicates that success is achieved through a focus on the needs and sensitivities of the customer. This customer-focus theme is evident throughout the text. The author helps to overcome the mathematical anxieties of students with an intuitive approach to understanding basic pricing concepts, and presents mathematical techniques as simply more detailed specifications of these concepts"--Provided by publisher.

Analytics is one of a number of terms which are used to describe a data-driven more scientific approach to management. Ability in analytics is an essential management skill: knowledge of data and analytics helps the manager to analyze decision situations, prevent problem situations from arising, identify new opportunities, and often enables many millions of dollars to be added to the bottom line for the organization. The objective of this book is to introduce analytics from the perspective of the general manager of a corporation. Rather than examine the details or attempt an encyclopaedic review of the field, this text emphasizes the strategic role that analytics is playing in globally competitive corporations today. The chapters of this book are organized in two main parts. The first part introduces a problem area and presents some basic analytical concepts that have been successfully used to address the problem area. The objective of this material is to provide the student, the manager of the future, with a general understanding of the tools and techniques used by the analyst.