Special Announcement – 2026 Executive Pricing Benchmark Report

The findings point to a clear shift: pricing still matters, but pricing alone is no longer enough.

Key takeaways

• The report compares 2025 pricing targets with actual results.
• It shows what companies are planning to do with pricing in 2026.
• Pricing has supported growth across many industries, but volume pressure is becoming harder to ignore.
• Changing customer and buyer behavior requires a broader growth plan.
• Industry-level benchmarks can support budgeting, planning, and performance management.

A fourth year of executive pricing insights

In a lighthearted special announcement, Michael and Avy introduce the fourth edition of the executive pricing survey. The report is designed to answer one of the questions pricing teams hear most often: What are other companies planning to take for price?

That question is useful, but the real value comes from the wider context. Leaders can look at the gap between what companies intended to achieve and what actually happened. They can also compare those results with expectations for 2026.

For boards and executive teams, this creates a practical reference point. Instead of setting a pricing target in isolation, leaders can consider how their plans compare with broader market behavior and with companies facing similar conditions.

What the benchmark covers

The report focuses on three connected areas:

Area	What it helps leaders understand
2025 targets	The pricing increases companies aimed to deliver
2025 results	What those companies actually achieved
2026 plans	The pricing actions leaders expect to take next

The report also includes different industry cuts, helping readers view the results through a more relevant lens. Pricing decisions in consumer goods, software, manufacturing, healthcare, and business services do not follow the same pattern. The right benchmark depends on the market, the customer base, cost structure, and commercial model.

That is why Revenue Management Labs emphasizes customized pricing analysis rather than broad averages alone. A benchmark can show where the market is moving. It cannot, by itself, determine the right move for a specific business.

The big shift: volume impact is showing up

One of the clearest findings is that many companies have leaned heavily on pricing over the past few years. In several industries, price increases helped protect margins and support growth during a period of cost pressure and uncertainty.

Now, the volume impact is becoming more visible.

Customers are changing how they buy. Some are trading down, delaying purchases, reducing order sizes, or looking more closely at alternatives. Business buyers are also under pressure to control spending and prove the value of each purchase.

This does not mean pricing should be abandoned. It means pricing decisions need to become more precise. Leaders may need to consider:

1. Which customer segments can absorb an increase.
2. Where price sensitivity is rising.
3. Whether discounts are protecting volume or simply giving away margin.
4. How product, service, and value changes support the price.
5. What commercial teams need in order to put the strategy into practice.

AI can help identify patterns in transaction and customer data faster, but it should support—not replace—pricing judgment. Revenue Management Labs combines embedded AI with practitioner expertise to help teams find the margin levers that fit their business and market reality.

What this means for 2026 planning

The findings carry a direct message for budgeting and performance management. A pricing plan should not be treated as a single annual increase, added to a financial model and forgotten.

Instead, executive teams should connect pricing with a wider commercial plan. That may include product mix, customer retention, sales execution, promotions, packaging, and value communication.

A practical 2026 planning process could include:

• Setting pricing targets by segment, product, and market.
• Building volume and retention scenarios around each target.
• Tracking realized pricing separately from list-price changes.
• Reviewing discounting and price leakage throughout the year.
• Giving sales and account teams clear guidance on how to defend value.
• Adjusting the plan as customer behavior changes.

The benchmark report provides an external reference. The next step is applying that reference to the company’s own data, capabilities, and growth priorities.

Pricing is still central, but it cannot work alone

The 2026 Executive Pricing Benchmark Report offers a useful reality check. Pricing remains one of the strongest available levers for improving performance, but repeated increases are not a complete growth strategy.

As volume pressure builds, companies will need to balance price with customer value, commercial execution, and a closer understanding of buyer behavior. The strongest plans will be practical enough for teams to use and specific enough to produce measurable results.

For leaders planning the year ahead, the central question is no longer simply, “How much price can we take?” It is “Where can we take price, how will customers respond, and what else must change to support profitable growth?”