twelfth · Glossary · Pricing
Price position
Price position is where your price sits against the market for a comparable product at a point in time: above, level with or below your competitors.
What it means for retail and category teams
Price position is a snapshot, not a strategy. A useful statement of it names the product, the competitors it was measured against, how closely the products match and when the prices were observed. It is usually expressed as a percentage gap or an index.
It should be read alongside availability. A competitor that is cheaper but out of stock is not really competing for that sale, and a gap that has lasted a day means something different from one that has lasted a month.
Why it matters
Pricing strategies are usually expressed as intended positions, such as matching a key competitor on known-value items or sitting a few per cent above on premium lines. Measuring actual position against intended position shows where prices have drifted. The gap is a signal to investigate, because margin, supplier funding and how price-sensitive shoppers are on that line all bear on whether to move.
Illustrative example
The business and figures are illustrative, not customer data
A category manager's policy is to sit within 3% of two named competitors on 40 key lines. A weekly read shows 34 lines inside the band, four lines more than 3% above both competitors, and two lines where one competitor is cheaper but has been out of stock all week. The four lines go to review; the two out-of-stock comparisons are noted rather than matched.
In twelfth
In twelfth's Tracked set, each row shows the observed price position against up to four competitor columns, with a filter for lines where your price is materially over any shown competitor, and it marks a matched retailer that is out of stock. The product's own guidance is that price position is not a pricing decision: margin, funding, sales response and the seller relationship still need checking.
Related terms
Related on twelfth.ai
- twelfth for category managers
A written morning briefing on your category — what moved, what it costs and what needs a decision, built from your real figures.