Re-thinking pricing and promotions

The consumer goods retail industry is facing a fundamental dilemma. There is no historical data that can guide today's strategy, but market-standard models for pricing and promotions have typically relied on regressing the past. The industry has long leveraged historical data to extrapolate what might work today, and while there may be value in that analysis, what worked yesterday may not fit today's context. If the past two years have taught us anything, it's that "now" is always changing. The dynamics at play in today's environment quickly reveal why the techniques and algorithms the industry has traditionally deployed when it comes to prices and promotions are no longer enough.