Preview: Affirmative Fractions

Brands are recognising the importance of making high-quality products and services available at a fair price.

• Income inequality in the UK is predicted to rise in the next four years, according to the Resolution Foundation
• Research by Pew Research Center shows that, across several measures, gaps persist in social and economic wellbeing between black and white

Traditionally, discount pricing has been a blunt reactionary tool, such as during Black Friday or Boxing Day sales. But the future points to a far more streamlined and intelligent dynamic between customers, retailers and suppliers.

In New York, Ermes Group is using IBM’s Cloud-based pricing technology Watson Commerce to optimise in-store sales. Watson Commerce automatically marks down products that are not performing, then works out what the new price of a product should be, and when the reductions should come into effect.

Discount retailer Target similarly launched a new pricing concept via its Food + Future coLab incubator, which enables customers to pay for certain produce, including strawberries and raspberries, based on how fresh they are. A scanner developed by MIT can detect nutrient levels in products, leading to a price difference of £0.40 ($0.50, €0.46) between fresher and older produce.