One price list, converted at the exchange rate, cost 90,000 zł a year
One price list converted at the exchange rate cost 90,000 zł a year.
A manufacturer of pet products sold its goods in five markets at a single base price converted into euros. In two of these markets, it sacrificed its margin by setting prices too low; in one, it was paying too much compared with local competitors.
The challenge
The client operated five markets using a single price list in zlotys, converted at the current exchange rate and increased by a fixed margin to cover channel costs. Simple, predictable and fair – that’s how he justified it.
In practice, on the German market, it was selling below the price level buyers in its category expected, which lowered its perceived quality. On the French market, its price was too high compared with local competitors. And on the Lithuanian market, where it faced the least competition, it was leaving a margin of over ten per cent on the table.
About the client
Manufacturer of pet products: beds, carriers, accessories. In-house production, mid-range and high-end products.
Five markets launched within two years, each simply a copy of the Polish offering with the price adjusted.
What we’ve done
The decisions that determined the outcome.
We have calculated the true cost of the channel, separately for each market
A fixed margin on channel costs is a simplification that masks the differences. The commission within the same category varies by several percentage points across markets; the cost of delivery to France differs from that to Romania; and the return rate on the German market was twice as high for this client as on the Lithuanian market.
Once these items had been broken down separately, it transpired that the actual cost of processing a single transaction varied by 41% between the cheapest and the most expensive market.
We looked into what buyers are looking for, not just what the competition is doing
On the German market, we analysed the price distribution within the category and the reviews for lower-end products. A recurring theme: a low price for this type of product raises suspicions about the quality of the materials.
We raised prices in this market by 12%, and sales did not fall. Over the course of three months, they rose, and the product entered the price range where buyers in this category would even consider it.
We have categorised the price lists by technical criteria so that they can be managed
Five separate price lists mean five times as much work if they are managed manually. We have integrated them with market-specific rules: base cost plus market parameters plus a price range, beyond which the price cannot go without approval.
Without this step, the strategy would have lasted only until the first change in production costs.
Course
Key stages.
- February 2026 Breakdown of costs by market Commissions, logistics, returns, taxes, customer service costs. Separately for each of the five markets.
- March 2026 Analysis of price expectations Price distribution within the category, customer reviews for products on different shelves, and the position of local competitors.
- April 2026 New price lists in two markets Germany up by 12%, France down by 6%. The other three markets remained unchanged at the time of measurement.
- May, June 2026 Measurement and correction Assessing the sales response. Confirmation of the German hypothesis; French correction by a further 2%.
- July 2026 Other markets and automation Lithuania up by 9%, Romania unchanged. Incorporation of pricing rules into the integration process.
- August, October 2026 Stabilisation Monitoring of margins by market, with adjustments within pre-set ranges without manual intervention.
Results
Market-based transaction margin.
Poland and Romania remain unchanged; prices there were set at a reasonable level from the outset. In France, the transaction margin has been deliberately reduced: the profit is to come from volume, not from individual units.
The same index across five markets.
| Credits | Price before | Price after | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poland (Allegro) | 249 zł | 249 zł | , |
| Germany (Kaufland.de) | 58 EUR | 65 EUR | +12% |
| France (Cdiscount) | 58 EUR | 53.50 EUR | −8% |
| Romania (eMAG) | 289 RON | 289 RON | , |
| Lithuania (Pigu.lt) | 58 EUR | 63 EUR | +9% |
| Annual turnover across five markets | approx. 5.0 million PLN | approx. 5.0 million PLN | , |
| Average margin | 17% | 19% | +2 percentage points. |
How we did it.
A single price list converted at the exchange rate may seem like a fair and convenient solution, but it is an average that skews in a different direction in every market. We broke down the transaction processing costs separately for five markets and found that they differed by 41%. We then examined what buyers expect in each of these categories, and the same analysis led us to raise the price in Germany and lower it in France. Finally, we incorporated the rules into the integration so that the strategy would withstand the first change in costs.
Repeatability
Why do we think it wasn’t a coincidence?.
The cost of the channel is calculated separately
Commission, logistics and returns vary across markets to such an extent that a fixed mark-up is always off the mark in one direction or another. Breaking these down takes a day and alters the picture of profitability.
Price as an indicator of quality
In some categories, prices that are too low put people off. The price distribution within the category and reviews of the lowest-priced items indicate where the line of credibility lies.
Pricing rules instead of a spreadsheet
A manually managed pricing strategy breaks down at the first change in production costs. The price ranges and rules built into the system ensure that it maintains itself.
What this case does not prove: Price differentiation is subject to regulatory and reputational constraints. For products that are easily comparable by cross-border shoppers, too wide a price spread raises questions and leads to returns. In this case, the 21% price spread was safe, as this category is purchased locally.
Do you have a single price list for all markets?
We’ll break down the actual transaction costs separately for each one and check in which categories your price falls outside the range within which buyers would even consider the product.
Let’s check the prices by market
Polish 
English 
German 
Czech 
Hungarian 
Slovak 