Optimizing Prices Across 400K+ SKUs: How Build.com Uses Wiser Data to Stay Ahead

Background

Build.com, a leading online home improvement retailer, offers a vast selection of products across bathroom, kitchen, lighting, hardware, and more. With access to one of the strongest distribution networks in the United States, Build.com ensures fast and reliable delivery for its customers.

Recognizing the highly competitive nature of the $400 billion home improvement market, Build.com understood the importance of dynamic pricing to succeed in e-commerce. Consumers increasingly expect a wider selection and faster access to products than traditional big-box retailers can offer. To maintain its competitive edge and optimize pricing strategies, Build.com partnered with Wiser to enhance its pricing intelligence and operational efficiency.

Challenge

Before working with Wiser Price Intelligence, Build.com faced several challenges that limited its ability to make data-driven, pricing decisions:

• Limited SKU-Level Data:Build.com lacked granular visibility into how individual SKUs performed against competitors. With a limited understanding of SKU elasticity, the team struggled to predict how price changes would impact demand, sales velocity, and margins for individual products.
• Manual Pricing Processes:Competitor price tracking was manual and reactive, across multiple retailers, leading to broad, inefficient pricing adjustments. Instead of making SKU-specific changes, Build.com frequently adjusted prices at the category level, resulting in over-discounting on some products - eroding margins - while leaving other SKUs overpriced and uncompetitive. This broad approach limited pricing precision, making it difficult to optimize both profitability and market positioning.
• Dynamic Market Conditions:Prices, promotions, and inventory levels at competing retailers changed rapidly, as often as multiple times a day. Without a real-time, data-driven pricing strategy, Build.com struggled to respond quickly and effectively to these shifts.

By relying on manual processes and broad pricing adjustments, Build.com risked losing competitiveness on key products while unnecessarily cutting margins on others. To solve these challenges, they turned to Wiser for a more strategic and automated approach to pricing.

Solution

Wiser Price Intelligence provided Build.com a strategic advantage. By automating manual processes, delivering real-time and actionable insights, and enabling a dynamic, data-driven means for optimizing prices across their entire catalog, Wiser empowered Build.com to stay ahead in an increasingly competitive market.

• Real-Time Pricing Data:Instant access to competitor in-cart pricing, including shipping costs and product availability, ensures that Build.com can make informed, up-to-the-minute pricing decisions, across all 400,000+ SKUs in their catalog.
• Integrated Margin Optimization:Wiser’s data is seamlessly integrated into Build.com’s existing business intelligence and web analytics systems, streamlining workflows and improving decision-making efficiency.
• SKU Elasticity Insights:Build.com now understands which SKUs are highly sensitive to price changes and which remain stable, allowing for precise price adjustments that maximize margins without sacrificing competitiveness.
• Competitive Insights Beyond Pricing:In addition to pricing data, Build.com receives daily insights on assortment opportunities, manufacturer promotions, and competitor focus areas at both SKU and category level.

By partnering with Wiser, Build.com gained the ability to monitor the market dynamically, respond to price fluctuations in real time, and refine pricing strategies with greater precision, ultimately strengthening its market position.

“We have a vast amount of insight into our market on a category, sub-category and even individual product level. We can also track competitor reactions to past price changes to help us forecast results before we implement new strategies.”

Devan Van Hout

Chief Merchant

Results

Since implementing Wiser Price Intelligence, Build.com has achieved significant improvements in sales, profitability, and operational efficiency, gaining a strategic advantage in the competitive home improvement market.

• Increased Sales & Profitability:By shifting from category-wide pricing adjustments to SKU-level strategies, Build.com can now fine-tune individual product prices based on elasticity, ensuring competitive pricing while maximizing margins.
• Faster, Data-Driven Pricing Decisions:Previously reliant on manual price tracking and updates, Build.com now makes real-time, automated pricing adjustments, allowing for quicker, more effective decision-making.
• Stronger Negotiating Power with Manufacturers:Wiser provides visibility into manufacturer promotions, enabling Build.com to leverage competitive insights in supplier negotiations.
• Operational Efficiency:Seamless integration of Wiser’s data into Build.com’s existing business intelligence and analytics systems has eliminated time-consuming manual processes, freeing the team to focus on higher-value strategic initiatives.

Through its partnership with Wiser, Build.com has fortified its competitive edge, demonstrating the critical role of advanced price intelligence in driving eCommerce success.

Conclusion

Build.com’s partnership with Wiser has transformed its approach to pricing, shifting from manual, reactive adjustments to a real-time, data-driven strategy. By leveraging Wiser, Build.com has gained greater control over SKU-level pricing, improved profitability, and increased operational efficiency, ensuring it remains competitive in the fast-moving home improvement market.

Beyond just providing data, Wiser has become a trusted, strategic partner, working closely with Build.com to ensure pricing strategies align with both short-term market conditions and long-term business goals. The ability to monitor real-time competitor pricing has allowed Build.com to refine its pricing decisions with greater accuracy and agility. The seamless integration of Wiser’s insights into Build.com’s business intelligence and analytics systems has eliminated inefficient manual processes, allowing teams to focus on higher-value strategic initiatives rather than time-consuming price tracking.

For retailers looking to optimize pricing, improve profitability, and stay ahead in dynamic markets, Wiser offers the ideal solution.