Why Price Matters

The eCommerce landscape has changed dramatically over the last 10 years, yet through this state of flux, one thing has remained the same: price matters.

And while much attention has been garnered around building more consumer trust via better return policies and customer testimonials — both essential factors in delivering a great online experience — 60% of shoppers still say that price is the most important factor in their decision-making process.

Certainly, the concept of getting the price right is old news to most e-retailers, what is surprising is how limited the pricing practice has kept pace with today’s dynamic eCommerce environment.

With more choices, lower consumer attention span, and real-time price wars — retailers are still managing pricing in a manual and static way, without taking into account this new reality at a time when it matters more than ever.

You don’t even need to look too far to really appreciate this — with the likes of Amazon changing prices more than 2 million prices times per day, it is easy to see why most businesses are continuously under threat.

The central truth is, pricing is at the heart of almost all critical decision making where the consequences of getting it wrong can have a large-scale impact on the overall success of any business — from lower revenues due to overpricing to unprofitable margins.

Studies suggest that businesses can achieve over 1% in revenue improvement and up to 9% in profitability improvement with the use of effective pricing solutions alone.

BlackCurve’s Data-Driven Price Optimisation Platform

It is this very fundamental concept that is at the core of Nauta Capital’s most recent investment: BlackCurve.

Announced this week, we’re delighted to have led a £1.5M investment in the London-based pricing optimisation company’s round.

Founded in 2016, BlackCurve is a SaaS company which helps e-Commerce retailers more efficiently manage and optimise their pricing strategies to drive higher levels of revenues and profitability. The Company has developed a fully scalable and data-driven smart pricing solution that simplifies the complexity of pricing from end-to-end.

Their AI-powered platform, analyses data from a range of sources including sales history, website performance, stock levels and competitor pricing, to give retail clients a unique 360 view of their pricing strategy so they can create effective pricing rules and maximise their profitability.

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Serving mid to large multichannel retailers across segments including sporting equipment, DIY, garden and outdoor, as well as consumer electronics, beauty and healthcare, BlackCurve’s platform optimises the prices of more than 1 million products and does more than 15 million price changes per month.

And it’s these numbers, coupled with compelling market dynamics and the platform’s unique data-driven approach, that drove Nauta’s interest in the company.

Furthermore, in addition to impressive traction achieved in just two years, what makes BlackCurve a welcome addition to our portfolio is its stellar leadership team.

Co-Founded by Philip Huthwaite (CEO) and Charles Huthwaite (Machine Learning & Analytics Director) — the father and son duo have deep industry understanding and the passion required to scale BlackCurve into the market-leading pricing optimisation solution for retailers.