To optimize your pricing, first identify what your customers value because you don’t want to get rid of that. Frankly, you want to capitalize on that value. Start thinking of how you can “charge” for that value.

I’m an avid user of grocery delivery services. Recently, a feature was added that guarantees you faster delivery for a small upcharge. They identified that their customer values time and used that to enhance their service and increase the average order total. You can adopt some of these same practices to optimize your pricing. Get creative!

Next, gather some data about your sales, target audience, demand, market projections, elasticity, and any additional data you find beneficial. To start, I recommend choosing three to five focus areas to research to avoid going crazy with data.

The last step is to choose a pricing strategy, which is a method used to establish the best price for your goods or services. One of the easiest ways to get started is to look at what your competitors do. But, and this can’t be emphasized enough, do not base your prices solely on your competitors’ prices. They have a completely different business with different overhead costs, demographics, etc. Simply use it as a temperature gauge to see what others around you do.