What is pricing analytics?

Pricing analytics is the process of collecting, consolidating and reviewing pricing data from your ERP, sales history and market sources so you can set prices that protect margin and win business. For distributors, this means understanding how pricing varies by customer, product, rep and branch — and seeing how discounting decisions compound across your range over time.

How does Phocas help me prevent margin erosion?

Phocas connects to your ERP and brings pricing, discounting and margin data into one live view. You can set automated alerts when products or customers fall below your margin floor, track discounting trends as they happen and identify which areas of the business have structural pricing problems — before they show up in your month-end report.

What is the difference between a discount and a rebate – and why does it matter for margins?

A discount is a price reduction applied at the time of sale; it hits your margin immediately. A rebate is a refund applied after the sale, once specific volume or loyalty conditions are met. For distributors where supplier rebates are a significant part of margin, tracking them accurately is critical. Phocas Rebates gives you visibility into both payable and receivable rebate programs so you know your true margin, before and after rebates.

Can I track pricing by individual sales rep or branch?

Yes. Phocas Analytics lets you drill from total business margin down to a specific rep, branch, product or customer in a few clicks. You can see where pricing is inconsistent across your network, which reps are discounting above the norm and where branch-level variation is costing you margin.

How do I connect pricing decisions to my forward financial plan?

Phocas Budgets & Forecasts connects directly to your analytics data. You can model the revenue and margin impact of a pricing change; such as a new discount level or price increase, in your forward financial plan before it's agreed. This gives both your sales team and finance team the same view of what a pricing decision means for the business going forward.

Does Phocas connect to my ERP for pricing data?

Yes. Phocas connects to 200+ data sources including ERPs like Epicor, Sage, Klipboard, SAP, NetSuite, Infor, Microsoft and many more. Your pricing, discounting and margin data comes directly from your ERP — no manual exports, no data cleaning.

How does Phocas help with pricing on slow-moving stock?

Phocas links inventory turnover data to pricing; so you can see how targeted price adjustments on slow movers improve stock turns without sacrificing your overall margin. You can use the Turn and Earn Index to identify products where the margin earned doesn't justify the inventory investment, and then make pricing decisions based on that analysis rather than gut feel.

Pricing strategies that protect your margins

When pricing decisions live in your reps' heads or deal-by-deal spreadsheets, profit margins erode in ways that are hard to unpack. Phocas gives your commercial and finance teams a live view of pricing, discounting and margin performance, so every decision is visible and defensible.

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Pricing strategies that protect your margins

Why pricing strategy matters

Margin rarely disappears all at once,
it erodes deal by deal

For businesses selling across trade accounts, branches and field reps; whether that's electrical supplies, automotive parts, building products or plumbing and HVAC, pricing pressure is constant and rarely simple. Product ranges run to thousands of SKUs, pricing agreements differ by customer, and competitive pricing can shift before the ink is dry on last quarter's budget. The gap between a deliberate distributor pricing strategy and a reactive one quietly compounds into margin you can't recover.

The problem isn't usually intent — it's visibility.

61%

of distributors are prioritizing stronger pricing strategies

19%

don't have clear visibility into how discounting impacts their overall performance

27%

of distributors discount 2–5% of stock; controlled but with margin impact that adds up

Source: Inventory Trends in Wholesale Distribution Report 2026

Connect pricing, planning and performance

When your pricing data lives in your ERP system, your discount decisions live with your reps, and your margin performance only surfaces at month-end, there's no practical way to connect them in time to act.

Phocas brings that data together in one place — so your commercial team can see margin by product, customer and rep in real time. This allows your sales team to understand the full cost of a discount before they offer it, and your finance team can see how pricing decisions are flowing through to gross margins as they happen.

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Six ways to build a smarter pricing strategy

A sound pricing strategy isn't about guessing, it's about having the right data to hand when decisions need to be made. Here's how Phocas put pricing analytics into practice.

Know your most and least profitable customers

Not all revenue is equal. With Phocas you can analyze gross profit margin by customer, product and region — so your sales team focuses effort where the return is real, not just where the invoice or sales volume is largest.

Understand the true cost of discounting

Every discount offer has a margin cost that compounds across hundreds of deals. Phocas Analytics shows reps the live profit margins on products or customers before they go into a negotiation. So they can see exactly what a discount offer costs before they offer it.

Set benchmarks, automate alerts

Once you know your margin floors, Phocas lets you set automated alerts as part of your price optimization process; firing the moment a product category or customer falls below them. Your team responds to margin erosion as it happens, not weeks later when it shows up in the P&L.

Re-engage lapsed customers

Customers don't always leave loudly; they just quietly stop ordering. In a few clicks, Phocas lets your sales team see exactly which customers have gone quiet, how long since their last order, what they used to buy and the margin those transactions delivered. So every re-engagement starts with insight, not a cold catch-up.

One price doesn't fit all

Different customer segments and channels respond differently to price — a building products wholesaler serving trade accounts operates on entirely different pricing to one serving eCommerce or retail channels. Phocas surfaces those patterns by seasonality, geography, rep or buying group, so data-driven pricing decisions reflect real demand.

Turn slow stock into pricing opportunities

Slow movers tie up cash but aren't always easy to spot. Using Flex Modes in Phocas Analytics, distributors can calculate a Turn and Earn Index to identify SKUs where the return doesn't justify the stock investment — and prioritize which products need a price point review, a revised markup or a stocking decision.

Know which customer segments to prioritise

Segment customers by value: identify loyal and high-value accounts so effort goes where your pricing model delivers the strongest return
See what's driving performance: drill into transaction frequency and average sales value to spot accounts that may be more price-sensitive
Filter by rep, territory or branch: pinpoint where competitive pricing is working, and where it needs addressed
Act before revenue is lost: surface churn-risk accounts early enough to have a meaningful pricing conversation before they go elsewhere

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Maximize rebate margins

Supplier rebates are a direct lever on your profit margins — but only if you can see them clearly. Phocas Rebates gives you near-miss analysis, target tracking and a before/after view of how rebates affect your true margin across products, customers and branches.

Visibility: instantly see which products and vendors drive the most rebates
Hit targets: use near-miss analysis to see exactly how close rebate targets are, adjust purchasing decisions before periods close
Analyze: compare profit margins by customer, branch, product, supplier – before and after rebates
Capitalize: track target accruals and explore 'what if' scenarios to uncover new earning opportunities
Margin control: see true product costs after rebates to improve pricing and purchasing decisions

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Model the impact of pricing changes

A pricing decision made today shows up in your margin report next month – and when market conditions shift mid-year, a static budget has no way to respond. With Phocas Budgets & Forecasts, you can model the impact of pricing changes on revenue and profit margins in your forward financial plan, making your pricing process something your commercial team controls proactively.

Run pricing scenarios: enter price and cost assumptions per product into the Phocas Lookup tab and the budget model automatically recalculates the impact across every affected row
Adjust assumptions as conditions change: pricing assumptions sit in a separate tab, not embedded in formulas, making it simple to update a price or margin input mid-year and see the flow-on effect immediately
Align sales and finance: give your teams the same forward view of margin impact before pricing decisions are agreed

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Frequently asked questions

Understand the past, operate better today, and plan well for the future

Whether you want to get your data organized for your team or you’re looking to combine business intelligence capabilities with financial reporting, planning and forecasting… We can help.

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Pricing strategies that protect your margins

Margin rarely disappears all at once,
it erodes deal by deal

Connect pricing, planning and performance

Six ways to build a smarter pricing strategy