Insights from over 1,000 e-commerce pricing tests

Advertise to 51,320 E-Commerce Businesses

Promote your tool, service or upcoming event - Reach Founders

In today’s newsletter 

• Insights from over 1,000 e-commerce pricing tests

• Ad Set Budget vs. Campaign Budget

• Find Customizable Products Instantly

• The Power of Hiring Right

  Let's dive into it!👇

Need FREE Strategy advice?

• Email Marketing - Talk to Ibrahim

• Paid Ads - Talk to Sai

• Growing on Social Media - Talk to Hana

Insights from over 1,000 e-commerce pricing tests

I just read an in-depth article on Harvard Business Review that digs into the results of over 1,000 A/B pricing tests conducted across more than 300 e-commerce retailers. The article explains how systematic price experiments can uncover a winning pricing strategy—both for list prices and shipping fees—and reveals some surprising insights.

What the Article Speaks About:

• It emphasizes that finding the right price is crucial for maximizing both demand and margins. Retailers often rely on ad hoc pricing methods, which leave money on the table.

• By running controlled experiments, you can directly measure consumers’ willingness to pay and adjust pricing strategies accordingly.

• The study shows that even small changes can have a significant impact on revenue and profitability.

Key Takeaways:

• Overpricing is Common: In tests where a new price won, 54% of the time it was a different (often lower) price, with 59% of these winning prices being lower than the current one. This indicates many retailers set their prices too high.

• Significant Adjustments Matter: In over half of the tests, the winning price was at least 10% different—and sometimes as much as 30%—from the control price, proving that meaningful tweaks can drive noticeable improvements.

• Shipping Strategies Count: When testing shipping conditions, experimental shipping rates won 57% of the time, and 60% of those winning strategies actually involved charging more, challenging the typical “free shipping” mindset.

Action Summary for You:

1. Review Your Pricing: Take a close look at your current pricing strategies. Are you possibly overpricing your products?

2. Test Systematically: Consider implementing A/B tests for both list prices and shipping fees. Small, well-planned tweaks can yield a 6% boost in gross profits.

3. Leverage Data: Use the data from your tests to inform pricing decisions rather than relying on instinct.

4. Stay Competitive: Regular experimentation helps you keep pace with changing market trends and consumer behavior.

If you’re serious about optimizing your pricing strategy, this article is a must-read.

Continue reading…

Ad Set Budget vs. Campaign Budget: Which One Makes You More Money?

CBO vs. ABO — which one works better? It all depends on your campaign stage.

If you’re in the testing phase, Ad Set Budget Optimization (ABO) is your best bet. 

It keeps you in control, making sure Meta’s algorithm doesn’t decide a winner too soon. 

Want clean data to know what’s actually working? ABO delivers that. 

Spend $20-$50/day per ad set, run tests for 48 hours, and you’ll spot your strongest creative.

Once you’ve got a clear winner — meaning your Hook Rate is over 30% and your CTR looks solid — it’s time to switch gears. 

That’s where Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO) comes in. 

Meta will push your budget toward what’s working, making scaling faster and easier. 

You can gradually increase budgets by 20-30% every couple of days without sabotaging results.

But what if things go south? 

If your CPA starts climbing and your Hook Rate drops below 20%, no amount of budget shifting will save it. 

That’s not a CBO vs. ABO issue — it’s a creative problem. 

Your ad isn’t grabbing attention or driving action. Fix the creative before spending more.

And if you’re stuck? A hybrid approach works wonders. 

While you scale with CBO, keep 10% of your budget for ABO testing. This keeps fresh ideas in the pipeline and prevents creative fatigue.

So remember:

• Testing? Use ABO.
  

• Scaling? Go CBO.
  

• Not sure? Fix the creative first.
  

When you follow the data, making money with Meta Ads isn’t a gamble — it’s a strategy.

Turn Ideas into Reality: Find Customizable Products Instantly!

Inspired by a product idea but want to make it uniquely yours? Struggling to find suppliers who can bring your vision to life with the highest margin? With Alibaba Lens, the AI-powered image search Chrome extension, you can instantly find customizable products at the best wholesale prices—all without switching tabs!

📸 Simply screenshot any product, and Alibaba Lens will find customizable options from over 200 million products and 1.5 million verified suppliers worldwide. No more endless supplier searches, no more generic products—create something truly your own.

Why Alibaba Lens?

✅ AI-Powered Precision: Advanced image + text search delivers fast, accurate sourcing results
✅ Brand-Ready Customization: From private labeling to unique product designs, easily source from suppliers who help build your competitive edge
✅ Seamless Integration: Go from idea to production—all within your browser

Join over 5 million smart buyers using Alibaba Lens to create high-margin, custom products and build stronger brands. Start customizing today—add Alibaba Lens to your browser for free!

Get Limited-time Free Access

The Power of Hiring Right

This tweet perfectly sums up the impact of hiring on small, high-growth teams:

Your team’s performance hinges on cultural fit as much as on skills. One great hire can elevate the entire team, while one poor fit can drain energy and slow progress. As founders, it’s crucial to hire slow and fire fast to maintain a strong, aligned culture. Protect your team from misalignment and watch your performance multiply.

Have any questions that you need help with?

Ask here - look out for Friday’s issue where Ibrahim will answer them.