How senior consumer goods leaders balanced pricing, discounts, margins, and tariffs, and what it means for 2026.
Pricing delivered meaningful gains for consumer goods companies in 2025, but it did not fully close the gap on growth. Based on insights from senior consumer goods executives across North America and Europe, the 2026 Executive Pricing Benchmarks: Consumer Goods report reveals how pricing strategies performed under pressure and where execution continues to fall short.
The findings show that while companies achieved 8.4 percent net price growth, driven by a combination of list price increases and tighter discount discipline, revenue targets were still missed by an average of 2.7 percent. Margin protection remained strong, with EBITDA gaps contained to 1.2 percent, particularly among larger enterprises. Discount reductions emerged as one of the most effective levers, with 45 percent of organizations successfully reducing discounts, especially in the mid-market segment.
Looking ahead to 2026, the report highlights a shift toward tactical execution. Leaders are increasing investment in pricing data, systems, and tools, yet many continue to struggle with change management, implementation complexity, and internal capability gaps. Tariffs remain a major external pressure, impacting the majority of organizations, with most companies choosing to absorb costs rather than risk volume loss. These decisions are reshaping how consumer goods firms think about price realization, margin trade-offs, and competitive positioning going into the year ahead.
Download the full report to explore detailed benchmarks by company size, pricing strategy, discount behavior, pricing technology maturity, and tariff response, along with practical insights to help consumer goods leaders refine pricing decisions in 2026.
Download the full 2026 Executive Pricing Benchmarks: Consumer Goods to explore the complete data, charts, and execution frameworks.
Revenue Management Labs conducted the 2026 Executive Pricing Benchmarks Survey through an online survey between November and December 2025, gathering insights from 330+ senior leaders across Europe and North America. Respondents included Vice Presidents, Directors, and C-suite executives, all with direct responsibility for pricing strategy and financial performance.
The survey benchmarks pricing performance from 2025 alongside revenue, pricing, and margin targets for 2026. Questions were designed to assess how organizations are using pricing to drive growth, manage margin pressure, and adapt to changing demand and cost conditions across industries.
In addition to financial outcomes, the survey captures pricing strategy maturity, including value-based pricing adoption, discount discipline, bundling, analytics capabilities, governance models, and the growing use of AI in pricing decision-making. Results are analyzed both in aggregate and by industry to highlight where pricing ambition is accelerating and where execution gaps remain.
58% of respondents represent companies with annual revenues of US$500 million or more*.
Software and technology companies are entering 2026 with growth focused pricing strategies, but execution challenges remain. The 2026 Executive Pricing Benchmarks – Software & Technology report reveals how leading firms are shifting toward value based pricing, disciplined monetization, and retention driven growth to close the gap between pricing intent and financial outcomes.
Business Services leaders are entering 2026 with ambitious growth and margin targets, even as pricing execution, governance, and operational discipline lag behind strategic intent. The Business Services benchmarks provide data-driven insight into where pricing must evolve to support sustainable expansion and profitability.
Industrial leaders enter 2026 with ambitious pricing and growth targets, but execution gaps continue to leave value on the table.
The 2026 Executive Pricing Benchmarks reveal how pricing leaders are planning for growth, margin recovery, and AI-enabled execution. Based on insights from 337 executives, the report shows why pricing ambition continues to rise, and what it takes to translate targets into results.
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