Whole Foods Market Implements Price Optimization Software
AUSTIN, Texas -- Natural and organic foods retailer Whole Foods Market plans to implement a customizable software application that gives its category managers and buyers the ability to model pricing strategies depending on margin and product sales goals for any store, market, or region.
Whole Foods will work with consulting firm Athens Group, also based in Austin, to install its Price Optimizer and Predictor (POP!) for stores in its South Region. POP! determines optimized product price based on analytical demand models, and then allows flexible rule sets to be applied to manage more effective price setting across all products.
"We value Athens Group for providing an alternative solution to a longtime challenge -- and a software product that is cost-effective and fits our business," said Mike Clifford, c.i.o. for Whole Foods. "The only other options available in the commercial software industry are full-featured software models that are complex, hard to integrate, and far too expensive. POP! is a targeted system which fulfills the vast majority of our needs in a straightforward, affordable application."
Because each of Whole Foods Market's regions is operated to best serve the needs of local customers, the company needed the ability to examine price elasticity for different products and stores -- and be responsive in an ever-changing market. POP! allows Whole Foods product coordinators to more quickly set prices across more products and categories, knowing they're tuned to customer demand rather than based on a standard formula.
Whole Foods will work with consulting firm Athens Group, also based in Austin, to install its Price Optimizer and Predictor (POP!) for stores in its South Region. POP! determines optimized product price based on analytical demand models, and then allows flexible rule sets to be applied to manage more effective price setting across all products.
"We value Athens Group for providing an alternative solution to a longtime challenge -- and a software product that is cost-effective and fits our business," said Mike Clifford, c.i.o. for Whole Foods. "The only other options available in the commercial software industry are full-featured software models that are complex, hard to integrate, and far too expensive. POP! is a targeted system which fulfills the vast majority of our needs in a straightforward, affordable application."
Because each of Whole Foods Market's regions is operated to best serve the needs of local customers, the company needed the ability to examine price elasticity for different products and stores -- and be responsive in an ever-changing market. POP! allows Whole Foods product coordinators to more quickly set prices across more products and categories, knowing they're tuned to customer demand rather than based on a standard formula.