A recent study, conducted by Forrester Consulting – on behalf of intelligent pricing platform, Flintfox International – reveals that retail, manufacturing and consumer goods companies are facing fundamental challenges in managing their profit margins, due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19, inflation and supply chain issues.
The majority of businesses (90%) report that COVID-19 is having a critical impact on the ability to manage pricing across their product range, with 39% stating they are unable to keep up with the scale of real-time price fluctuations occurring in the market. This is having a significant knock-on effect; with businesses losing on average US$1 million a year in lost profitability due to their inability to respond quickly enough to market forces.
The study of over 900 business leaders has revealed that existing business models are preventing them from being able to manage the pace of change, with 41% still relying on manual processes to manage price fluctuations. Over half (53%) state that the pandemic has forced them to need better visibility into business performance on profitability and margins to respond accordingly.
2022 will see business model transformation pushed up the board agenda as global change becomes increasingly unpredictable, with 60% of businesses claiming that poor data quality and capture is hampering the ability to keep on top of market fluctuations and remain competitive.
