Zilliant Survey Finds a Majority of Companies Still Rely on Manual Pricing Methods Despite High Stakes for Revenue and Growth Demands

84% report strong pricing power, yet most capture 50% or less of intended increases due to inefficiencies and other barriers

Zilliant, the leader in pricing lifecycle management, today released findings from its “2025 Pricing Technology Trends: Bridging the Gap Between Strategy and Execution” report, revealing a critical disconnect between organizations’ confidence in their pricing power and their actual execution capabilities. The survey of senior pricing executives across industries shows that while businesses express strong confidence in their pricing strategies, many continue to rely on manual processes that limit their ability to fully realize price increase objectives and help them navigate turbulent economic headwinds.

The survey found that while 84% of organizations report strong or very strong pricing power, 58% realize less than half of intended price increases. This execution gap persists even though many reported high satisfaction with current pricing technologies.

“Today’s businesses face a striking paradox: high confidence in pricing power alongside significant challenges in price realization,” said Pascal Yammine, CEO of Zilliant. “This disconnect signals that organizations must evolve beyond manual approaches and siloes to embracing pricing technologies that enable strategic advantage, sustainable profitability and competitive differentiation. As we still struggle with the aftershocks of supply chain disruptions, inflation and now tariff uncertainty, resolving this paradox is more crucial than ever.”

Key findings from the survey include:

• Despite high reported pricing power, only 25-39% of organizations have formal pricing methodologies.
• 56% use some form of pricing management software, but Excel remains deeply entrenched, with 42% using it mostly and 19% using it exclusively.
• Most organizations (52%) need 31-60 days to implement price increases, while a significant portion (21%) requires more than 60 days.
• The frequency of pricing updates is accelerating, with 38% of companies executing six or more price updates in 2024, compared to just 24% in 2023.

Pricing Processes: The Capability-Execution Gap

Even though respondents reported strong pricing power, they also shared common execution issues across different segments of the pricing process. These include:

• While 39% of organizations have an established pricing council to oversee their pricing operations, few (25%) have price performance analytics available to gauge effectiveness.
• People/mindset issues (28%) represent the largest source of pricing frustration.
• Top operational pain points include inefficiency from manual processes (36%) and errors from manual management (35%).

Pricing Tools Drive Better Revenue Growth and Profits

The survey also revealed clear correlations between specific pricing tools and business performance:

• Respondents managing their pricing activities using mostly technology are 20% more likely to declare better profit performance relative to their competitors, versus those using mostly manual methods.
• Respondents managing their pricing activities using mostly technology are 5% more likely to declare better revenue growth relative to their competitors, versus those using mostly manual methods.

Statistical analysis identified the top drivers of business outcomes:

• Dedicated price elasticity tools, dynamic price management software and pricing optimization tools most strongly influence pricing power.
• Formalized value-based pricing processes, pricing optimization tools and dedicated price elasticity tools primarily drive relative profit performance.
• Established pricing councils most significantly impact revenue growth, formalized value-based pricing processes and formal price increase processes.

“These findings provide compelling evidence that technology-enabled pricing processes deliver measurable competitive advantages,” said Stephan Liozu, chief value officer at Zilliant. “The survey reveals that even with substantial investments in pricing personnel, organizations struggle to execute effectively without the right technology foundation. The good news is that businesses recognize this gap—97% of respondents are either actively investing in, evaluating or discussing potential pricing technology investments over the next two years. This clearly recognizes that pricing technology has become a strategic imperative for future competitiveness and profitability.”

People Are the Main Adoption Barrier

The survey also identified that the primary challenges to pricing technology adoption are human-centered rather than technical. The top barriers include resistance to change (35%) and the perception that pricing is not strategic (34%), while the biggest operational pain points are inefficiency from manual processes (36%) and errors from manual management (35%).

While implementation challenges remain, the survey presents an optimistic outlook, with 94% of companies expecting growth in 2025 and 59% reporting profit performance better than their competition—creating a favorable environment for pricing technology investments as companies seek to maintain their competitive edge.

The full report with additional insights and Zilliant’s recommendations is now available for download here. For more information about Zilliant and its intelligent pricing and sales solutions, please visit Zilliant.com.

About the Survey

The research was conducted among 550 pricing professionals, including pricing managers or leads, directors/heads of pricing, VPs of pricing and pricing analysts/specialists across diverse industries. Organizations of various sizes were included, with the majority of companies surveyed having substantial pricing teams.

About Zilliant

Zilliant eliminates Pricing Anxiety and transforms pricing into business power. Zilliant’s Precision Pricing Platform automates and optimizes pricing operations with real-time intelligence, rallying your entire organization around a single source of truth to protect margins and drive growth. Learn more about how Zilliant helps businesses transform pricing from a source of anxiety to a source of power at Zilliant.com.

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