How GrowthOps Unlocked a Smarter Pricing Strategy

Pricing branded merchandise is notoriously difficult. Too high and you alienate casual buyers. Too low and you undermine perceived value before the product even reaches the shelf.

When GrowthOps was briefed to develop a pricing strategy for a global client’s branded collectibles range, the client needed more than a number. They needed to understand demand, identify the right audiences, and find a positioning that would maximise both sales and perceived value, all without guesswork.

GrowthOps turned to Ideally's built-in Van Westendorp pricing sensitivity test to map real consumer price tolerance across four thresholds: where a product feels too cheap to trust, where it feels like a bargain, where it starts to feel expensive, and where demand drops off entirely.

But the team didn't stop at pricing data. By profiling respondents around their purchasing behaviours, they segmented the audience to understand not just what people would pay, but who was willing to pay more, and why.

This was done via two tests. Test one, tested a broad range of collectible items to establish acceptable price ranges and identify the optimal pricing window.

By the real strategic value?  This came from how GrowthOps used audience segmentation alongside the data. Segmenting the audience allowed them to understand who was willing to pay more, and what factors drove that willingness, moving beyond pricing theory to begin identifying the most promising demand segments and marketing angles.

Test two retested the top-performing items with stronger creative presentation and improved visual cues, measuring directly whether how a product looks changes how much people will pay for it.

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The research confirmed a clear optimal pricing window for the merchandise range. But the more valuable finding was hiding in the audience data within the pricing insights.

A distinct high-value segment emerged: consumers who regularly purchase blind box collectibles. This group showed significantly lower price sensitivity than the broader market. When this segment was factored into the strategy, the viable price ceiling increased meaningfully, unlocking a more profitable positioning that a surface-level analysis would have missed entirely.

Beyond pricing, test two confirmed something equally important: how to market the products to maximise demand. Improved creative presentation increased both perceived value and willingness to pay. Uncovering that pricing strategy and creative execution aren't separate decisions. They're directly linked.

GrowthOps ultimately delivered more than a pricing recommendation. The work produced a data-backed pricing strategy, clearer audience targeting, and practical guidance on product positioning and creative development, demonstrating how research, marketing, and creative execution can work together to increase both demand and value.

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