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Episode #138 - Customers Want Lower Prices. Costs Want Higher Ones. What Do You Do
Customers are becoming more price-sensitive while costs continue to rise. For businesses facing margin pressure, simply passing costs through or following competitors with another price increase may not be enough.
In this episode, we explore what happens when customers want lower prices, costs demand higher ones, and competitors are raising prices at the same time.
We look at recent pricing data from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve and the Reserve Bank of Australia, and examine why rising costs combined with higher price sensitivity can create a major margin risk.
You'll also hear practical examples from Walmart, Dulux Group and W.W. Grainger and how they use pricing architecture, segmentation, brands and different value propositions to avoid turning every customer price objection into a discount.
In this episode, we discuss:
Why following competitors with price increases is not a pricing strategy
How rising customer price sensitivity can create a segmentation event
Why businesses need to know where to hold price and where to invest
How Walmart is using targeted price reductions to drive growth
How Dulux Group uses different brands and price points to protect value
How W.W. Grainger and Zoro serve different customer needs without undermining premium pricing
Why a structured price increase process cannot fix a weak value-based pricing architecture
How acquisitions, product lines, brands and channels can create a stronger price architecture
Three questions to identify where your business has genuine pricing power
The key question is not simply, "Should we raise or lower prices?"
It is: "Where can we protect price, where should we invest, and what alternatives can we offer price-sensitive customers without giving away margin?"
If you cannot answer those questions clearly, you may not have a pricing strategy, you may be reacting to the market.
Listen to the full episode to learn how to protect margins while responding to customers, costs and competitive pressure.
#PricingStrategy #Pricing #PriceStrategy #PricingPower #PricingArchitecture #ValueBasedPricing #MarginManagement #PriceIncrease #PriceSensitivity #B2BPricing #RevenueGrowth #CommercialStrategy
10 Aug 2026
Episode #0137 - Domino's Cut Discounts to Protect Margin. Was It the Right Call
In 2021, Domino's Pizza Enterprises (DPE) Australia declared itself a "technology company that happens to sell pizza" as its stock soared to $160. Four years later, DPE reported its first annual net loss in 20 years, closing 200 stores and cycling through two CEOs in under 12 months.
What went wrong? Was cutting discounts a strategic mistake, or is Domino's facing a much bigger structural decline in the Australian market?
In this episode, host Joanna Wells breaks down the commercial strategy behind Domino's rise and fall, from captive post-COVID demand and the rise of Uber Eats to category price ceilings and Australia's unique labour cost pressures.
Do you think Domino's can turn its Australian operations around, or is the fast-food pizza model in structural decline? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
#Dominos #BusinessStrategy #CaseStudy #CommercialStrategy #FastFoodIndustry #UberEats #PricingStrategy #AustralianBusiness #JoannaWells #RetailTrends #BusinessAnalysis
28 Jul 2026
Episode #0136 - How Do You Grow When Customers Want Lower Prices? Four strategies. Four businesses that got it right.
What do you do when your biggest customer asks for a lower price? Say yes, and your margins take a hit. Say no, and you risk losing the customer entirely.
In this episode of the podcast, Joanna Wells explores how top brands avoid this margin trap and continue growing without across-the-board price cuts. We break down four real-world strategies from four leading businesses that got it right.
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - The CEO's Pricing Dilemma
01:31 - Strategy 1: Portfolio Strategy (Penfolds)
04:21 - Strategy 2: Selective Price Investment (Woolworths)
05:57 - Strategy 3: Portfolio Optimisation (Nestlé)
07:31 - Strategy 4: Value Innovation (John Deere)
10:53 - What's Your Answer to the Price Question?
#PricingStrategy #BusinessGrowth #JoannaWells #RevenueGrowth #B2BStrategy #ValueInnovation #BusinessLeadership
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