These companies slashed prices and saw sales jump
When customers are feeling squeezed, reducing prices can seem like an obvious route to protecting demand. But price cuts only create value when they are selective, economically sustainable and grounded in a clear understanding of customer behaviour.
In a recent article for Inc., Annabel Burba explored how several consumer brands reduced prices and saw sales rise sharply — by as much as 73% in one case.
The article features insights from Untapped Pricing’s founder and CEO, Jenny Millar, and Senior Partner Ann Padley, on why lower prices can sometimes unlock growth, the risks of reacting too quickly to competitors, and the importance of communicating price changes with confidence.
In the article, you’ll learn:
- Why selected price reductions can create a disproportionate increase in demand
- How brands including Dime Beauty, E.l.f. Cosmetics and Dieux Skin approached lower pricing
- Why price reductions should be driven by strategy rather than competitive panic
- How to identify the products where a lower price could work hardest
- Why confident, transparent communication matters whenever prices change
Price reductions can be a powerful growth lever, but they should never be treated as a blanket response to weaker demand. If you are considering slashing your prices, read Untapped’s companion article on what to try before cutting prices.
Article excerpt
Customers Feel Squeezed. These Companies Slashed Prices—and Saw Sales Jump as Much as 73 Percent
Published by INC. ‧ 25 June 2026 ‧ By Annabel Burba
Featured quotes from Untapped’s Jenny Millar and Ann Padley
“After raising prices by $1 last year, E.l.f. Cosmetics conducted an experiment where it dropped the price of its Halo Glow skin tint from $18 to $14, CEO Tarang Amin said during the company’s most recent earnings call. Sales jumped nearly 40 percent—causing E.l.f. to reevaluate its pricing strategy and start testing lower prices across its product range.
That doesn’t mean lowering prices is always the right move. Jenny Millar and Ann Padley, authors of business book The Pricing Sprint, tell Inc. the most common mistake they see business leaders make is basing their own pricing on what competitors are doing.
‘Price reductions can work, but only when they’re really strategic,’ Padley says. “I would really warn people away from panic discounting, like, ‘Oh no … our competitors dropped the price, we need to drop the price now.’” In general, she recommends making a few key high-margin products or services cheaper rather than lowering prices across the board.”
Rethinking your pricing strategy? Start here.
If pricing decisions feel high-stakes or fragmented, this guide offers a clearer way forward.
The Untapped Pricing Strategy Guide outlines how we help leadership teams bring structure, evidence, and confidence into pricing strategy.
It’s a useful starting point for anyone ready to make pricing work harder for the business.
