Pricing Heroes: The Retail Pricing Podcast for Practitioners & Executives

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we speak with Danilo Zatta, one of the world's leading pricing minds — as described by the Financial Times — and a LinkedIn top five pricing thought leader. Danilo is a global pricing and top-line growth advisor to blue-chip companies and private equity investors, and the author of more than 20 books. He joins us to discuss his latest, Revenue Growth Management: How to Capture Hidden Value in FMCG and Retail, a practical playbook for commercial teams navigat...

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we speak with Alex Halkin, Founder and CEO of Competera, returning to the show two years after his first appearance in 2024. In that conversation, Alex predicted a major shift toward AI-driven, contextual pricing in retail. Today, he revisits those predictions, assesses how the space has evolved, and shares what's coming next — from autonomous pricing decisions to four-dimensional optimisation models and algorithmic trading-style speed. Key Topics: How AI ad...

In this special year-end episode of Pricing Heroes, we revisit one of our most widely listened-to conversations of the year: our 2025 pricing predictions roundtable. Recorded in January, this episode brought together nine leading pricing experts to share their perspectives on the forces they believed would shape pricing throughout the year ahead. Now, as 2025 comes to a close, those predictions read less like forecasts and more like a reflection of the realities pricing teams have spent the y...

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we speak with Caroline Cookson, Founder of Cookson Partners and former Global Strategy and Analytics Leader at Brown-Forman. With more than 15 years of experience in finance, brand strategy, and commercial leadership, Caroline has helped shape pricing strategies for world-class spirits brands including Jack Daniel’s, Glendronach, and Gin Mare. Caroline shares how pricing can connect brand positioning, consumer psychology, and retail execution — and why fairn...

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we speak with Pooja Gerera, VP Insights and Strategy — formerly VP of Sales and Pricing — at Zooplus, Europe’s leading online pet retailer. Over nearly a decade, Pooja has helped scale Zooplus’s pricing function from a small, experimental team into a data-driven commercial engine spanning 20 European markets. She shares her journey from systems engineering and telecom pricing to leading one of Europe’s most advanced retail pricing organizations, building aut...

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we speak with Barrie Carmel, a pricing, margin, and revenue management consultant with more than 30 years of experience, including senior leadership roles at Bed Bath & Beyond and Michaels. Barrie shares her journey from foodservice into retail pricing leadership and reflects on what it means to balance precision and speed, manage promotions and customer perception, and lead pricing in an era of public scrutiny. Key Topics: Lessons from transitioning bet...

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we speak with Lee Mackedanz, Founder and Managing Partner of Value Capture Consulting, and a veteran pricing executive with leadership roles at Kohl’s, JCPenney, Fossil Group, Office Depot, SuperValu, and Advance Auto Parts. Lee shares his journey from merchant at Best Buy to becoming a pricing leader responsible for more than $700 million in incremental sales and margin improvements. He explains what it takes to build credibility with merchants, lead organi...

How is AI transforming the way retailers price products and forecast demand? In this episode of Pricing Heroes, the leading retail pricing podcast, we speak with Jayadeep Shitole, Principal Data Scientist of Applied AI and Machine Learning at Walmart Global Tech. With over a decade of experience building large-scale pricing and forecasting systems, Jayadeep shares expert insights on how retailers can implement AI-powered pricing strategies that are dynamic, transparent, and aligned with real ...

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we speak with Seth Nieman, former Vice President of Pricing Strategy & Transformation at Rite Aid, and former pricing and merchandising leader at Wakefern Food Corp and Lidl US. Seth shares his journey from helping launch Lidl’s U.S. pricing strategy to leading Rite Aid’s pricing transformation during its emergence from bankruptcy. He explains how pricing can serve as the conscience of the organization, and what it takes to build scalable architecture, a...

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we speak with Corina Manea, Vice President of Commercial at flaconi, Germany’s leading online beauty retailer. Corina shares her journey from Team Lead of Pricing to VP, and how she helped flaconi evolve from manual pricing processes to AI-powered optimization. She explains what makes pricing in luxury beauty so complex, how flaconi balances speed with strategic control, and why pricing teams are uniquely positioned to drive commercial transformation. Key To...

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we speak with Per Sjöfors — also known as The Price Whisperer — and the founder and CEO of Sjöfors & Partners. With over 35 years of executive experience and more than 750 companies advised, Per shares his unique approach to pricing, grounded in behavioral economics, AI-driven insights, and deep market research. We discuss the true impact of tariffs on pricing strategies, the psychological thresholds that influence customer behavior, and why most compani...

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we speak with Josh Pollack, President and Principal Consultant at Pollack Retail Solutions. Josh shares insights from his 25+ years of experience in retail strategy, including stints at Sam’s Club, Circuit City, ALDI, PetSmart, FullBeauty Brands, and Cabela’s. He delves into why merchandising and pricing teams must work in tandem, how to balance short-term margin gains with long-term brand health, and where AI-driven dynamic pricing can either strengthen or ...

How will AI, inflation, and shifting market dynamics impact pricing in 2025? In this special episode of Pricing Heroes, we asked nine top pricing experts to share their boldest predictions for the year ahead. From the rise of AI-driven pricing to the risks of dynamic pricing missteps, this episode explores the biggest trends shaping the future of pricing—and what retailers must do to stay ahead. Featured Experts: 🎙️ Stephan Liozu – Chief Value Officer, Zilliant 🎙️ Per Sjöfors – Author of The ...

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we sit down with Dr. Markus Husemann-Kopetzky, founder and managing director of the Price Management Institute, a boutique consultancy specializing in price management and price communication. As a senior research fellow, university lecturer, and advisor with more than a decade of experience in management and consulting roles, including over five years at Amazon as a senior manager of pricing and business analytics, Markus brings unique insights from both ac...

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we sit down with Sheetal Chavan, the Commercial Pricing Lead at Zalando, one of Germany's largest online retailers selling shoes, fashion, and beauty products. With six years of experience in pricing and a diverse background across various business functions, Sheetal shares her journey into the pricing profession and offers valuable insights for both newcomers and seasoned professionals in the field. Sheetal recommends several resources for those interested...

In this special episode of Pricing Heroes, we welcome back our very own Alex Galkin, who joins us for our conversation with today's guest, Maciej Kraus. Maciej is a Managing Partner at Movens Capital, a growth equity firm, where he helps companies generate more profit for their development and growth. He is also a guest lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the author of three books, including "The Future of Pricing: A Guide to the Next 10 Years of AI" and his forthcoming b...

In this episode of Pricing Heroes, we dive deep into the fascinating world of behavioral economics with Melina Palmer, the founder and CEO of Brainy Business, a consultancy dedicated to applying behavioral economics principles to business growth. Melina is also the author of three insightful books, including The Truth About Pricing, which is the focus of our discussion for this episode. With a background in marketing and brand strategy and a master's degree in behavioral economics, Melina bri...

Our guest on this episode of Pricing Heroes is Ayon Bhattacharyya, the Founder & CEO of Biz Growth Spurt, a consultancy helping B2B SaaS and tech companies drive profitable growth through product marketing and price optimization by taking a value-based, data-driven approach. Ayon has more than 15 years of experience leading pricing and commercial strategy across various industries with dozens of global brands, including British Airways, News Corporation, Equifax and Telefonica O2. In this...

Our guest this week is our very own Alex Galkin, Founder & CEO of Competera. We invited Alex on the podcast to discuss a recent report on the “Future of Pricing: How AI is Transforming Retail Pricing” published by Coresight Research. In this episode, Alex discusses the shift he's seeing towards AI-powered price optimization in retail, highlights the differences in AI capabilities currently being deployed in real-world scenarios, explains why retailers should trust AI to empower their pric...

Our guest on our recent episode of Pricing Heroes is Dr. Tim J. Smith, a foremost thought leader in the pricing community. Tim wears a variety of hats in the pricing profession. He is the Founder and CEO of Wiglaf Pricing, an Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Economics at DePaul University, an academic advisor at the Professional Pricing Society, and the author of four books on pricing, including Pricing Done Right and Pricing Strategy. Those of you who are active on LinkedIn may know him as...

Today's guest is Karan Sood, the Director of Sales Operations at Rakuten Kobo, a Canadian seller of ebooks, audiobooks, e-readers and tablet computers. Karan is a “Top Pricing Strategy Voice” on LinkedIn, recognized for his active contributions of insights and engaging content to the online pricing community. He has 16 years of experience in pricing, working for prominent global brands, including YellowPages, Mitsubishi and General Motors. In this episode, Karan discusses his professional jo...

Today's guest is Dr. Stephan Liozu, the Founder of Value Innoruption Advisors, which is a consulting boutique specializing in industrial, digital, and value-based pricing. He is the author of 14 books on pricing, including his most recent book, Monetizing and Pricing Sustainability, which he co-authored with Fabien Cros. Stephan has also written many articles on strategic pricing for the Journal of Professional Pricing. Stephan currently sits on the Advisory Board of the Professional Pricing ...

Today’s guest is Dr. Danilo Zatta, one of the “world’s leading pricing minds” according to The Financial Times. For more than 20 years, Dan has been advising corporations and private equity investors across industries and geographies about commercial excellence, monetization and profitable growth. Dan is also the author of more than 20 books, including, an international best seller that’s been translated into 10+ languages, The Pricing Model Revolution: How Pricing Will Change the Way W...

Our guest today is Oliver Banks, global retail influencer, host of “The Retail Transformation Show,” and author of Driving Retail Transformation: How to Navigate Disruption and Change, available March 2024. In this episode, we explore the intricacies of change management and pricing strategies crucial for retail success in an ever-evolving market landscape. Banks shares his insights on overcoming human resistance to change, adapting to competitive pricing pressures, and the complexity...

Out today's guest is Johan Karlsson, a pricing analyst at Clas Ohlson. Embark on a thrilling journey with Johan Karlsson as he reveals the secrets of the retail pricing world. Discover how his childhood fascination with pricing at his parents' gas station ignited a passion that led him straight into this exciting field. From legacy approaches to cutting-edge AI solutions, Johan's insights will captivate and inspire you to unravel the mysteries behind setting the perfect p...

Today's guest is Zen Ore, Executive Manager of Commercial Pricing Strategy at one of the world's biggest grocery retailers. Tap 'Play' to discover how the approach of retail (and not only) pricing evolved over the last decade and what is 'the new generation of pricing consultancy'. Get in touch with us ---------- Get your free copy of Get Ready for the Future Of Pricing with our A-Z Guide. For more information about AI pricing solutions, check out our Corporate sponsor Competera....

Our today's guest is James Tenser, Retail Tech Marketing Strategist, the President of VSN Media, and a Top 100 Retail Influencer for 2023 by Rethink Retail. Listen to find out the Three Key FMCG Trends That Impact Pricing explained by James Tenser. Get in touch with us ---------- Get your free copy of Get Ready for the Future Of Pricing with our A-Z Guide. For more information about AI pricing solutions, check out our Corporate sponsor Competera.ai.

Our today's guest is Stephan M. Liozu. Stephan M. Liozu is the Founder of Value Innoruption Advisors, a consulting boutique specializing in industrial, digital, and value-based pricing. He is the author of 12 books on pricing. He has also written many articles on strategic pricing issues for the Journal of Professional Pricing. Stephan sits on the Advisory Board of the Professional Pricing Society and LeveragePoint Innovation. Dive deeper into the details of Change Management and Pricing Tact...

Our today’s guest is Juan Díez Barrientos - Pricing manager at one of the biggest Nordic home and furniture retailers based in Stockholm (one of the biggest home retailers in Sweden, Finland, and Norway). Ex Implementation Manager Lead at IBM. Check out the main patterns and strategies home retail is introducing amid rising inflation to keep customers sentiment high and secure margins. Get in touch with us ---------- Get your free copy of Get Ready for the Future Of Pricing with ...

Our first guest is Dr Markus Husemann-Kopetzky - pricing advisor, researcher and educator, ex. Amazon Senior Manager for Pricing and Business Analytics, Founder of the Price Management Institute and author of the Handbook on the Psychology of Pricing and the (lovely) Pricing Nuggets. Dr Husemann-Kopetzky has shared how some retailers win during uncertainty in the market and why an elasticity-based approach to pricing is the key to success. ---------- Dr Markus Husemann-Kopetzky's LinkedI...