Price elasticity quantifies how demand responds to price changes. With the right controls, it helps teams optimize pricing, plan promotions, and forecast revenue impact.
Data Format
- Required:
price,quantity(orrevenue) - Recommended:
date/time,product/store(for segments),promoflags, competitor price, seasonality effects - Granularity: transactional or aggregated by day/week; aim for ≥ 500 observations per item/segment
Estimation Basics
- Log‑log regression: elasticity ≈ coefficient on log(price)
- Panel fixed effects: control for stable item/store effects and time shocks
- Controls: promotions, holidays/seasonality, marketing, inventory constraints
- Uncertainty: report confidence intervals and robust standard errors
Validation & Pitfalls
- Endogeneity: price may respond to demand. Prefer instruments or experiments for causal interpretation.
- Confounding: include key drivers (promos, seasonality, competition) to reduce bias.
- Regime changes: watch for structural breaks; re‑estimate when conditions shift.
- Heterogeneity: segment by product, region, or customer to capture different elasticities.
Using the Results
- Simulate revenue/profit curves to identify recommended price ranges
- Compare elasticity across segments to guide differentiated pricing
- Run what‑if scenarios (promo on/off, competitor moves) for planning