C-suites in U.S. and European manufacturing and distribution sectors report optimism and anticipate shifting buyer sentiment in 2025.
Experis Pricing Solutions, a leader in pricing strategies, in collaboration with Vendavo, the global leader in B2B pricing, selling, and rebate management solutions, has released the 2025 Pricing for Profitable Growth Outlook.
This report provides insights from C-suite leaders on key pricing considerations for 2025, including adapting pricing models for economic growth, addressing market pressures, and meeting evolving buyer expectations.
Nearly half of U.S. and European manufacturers and distributors (46 percent) report cautious optimism for 2025 and are preparing their pricing models for better economic times. One-fourth (26 percent) are taking a proactive approach, implementing new products, services, and pricing models to capture anticipated growth.
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“Companies that focus on proactive pricing strategies, value-based approaches, leverage technology, and prioritize customer engagement will pull ahead in a rapidly fluctuating market,” said Maureen Roderick, director of delivery at Experis Pricing Solutions. “A critical aspect of a pricing journey is the ability to align pricing strategies with market realities and customer expectations, ensuring long-term success and adaptability in an ever-changing landscape.”
Eric Carrasquilla, CEO of Vendavo, reinforced this focus on strategic pricing: “Finding and offering the right product at the right price at the right time to the right customer is essential for successful commercial operations. Every other growth initiative will deliver little value without the right price.”
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The 2025 Pricing for Profitable Growth Outlook highlights key insights into market pressures, pricing strategy adjustments, and resource allocation for effective price optimization. Specific areas covered in the report include:
- How inflation influences pricing strategies: Before adjusting prices for inflation, manufacturing leaders prioritize revenue gain goals (45 percent), while distribution leaders focus on margin maintenance (38 percent) and meeting customer demand (37 percent). Both groups identify value-based pricing (28 percent) as their top optimization strategy, followed by market-based pricing (25 percent).
- Pricing automation grows while AI use stalls: Automation advances pricing capabilities, but AI adoption remains limited. Approximately half of respondents (49 to 53 percent) report fully integrated systems for setting prices, guidance, and product suggestions. However, only 29 percent use AI to streamline operations, increase efficiency, and boost profitability. Those using AI are primarily leveraging it for pricing process improvements (50 percent), rather than for pricing intelligence (28 percent).
- The need for a strong pricing function: Market volatility demands agile pricing models. More than half of respondents (52 percent), all from companies with 500+ employees, rely on teams of 11 to 20 people focused on pricing. Ninety-five percent plan to increase hiring for these roles in 2025.
The report gathered responses from manufacturers (67 percent) and distributors (33 percent) across the U.S. and Europe. Survey participants included senior-level sales (64 percent), finance (30 percent), pricing (3 percent), and marketing (2 percent) professionals with sole decision-making responsibility over pricing.