Price war in the beauty sector: what to do when your competitors adjust prices faster than you
Marketplaces 24/04/2025
In the beauty sector, where competition is fierce and brands operate across multiple sales channels, price wars have become an increasingly common challenge. Those moments when you see your competitors lower prices before you do, gaining more visibility and winning over your potential customers, generate a sense of urgency and vulnerability that's difficult to manage.
The solution? React faster. But not through improvisation or fear, but with a strategy based on data, technology, and a long-term vision.
Price wars in this sector are often the result of a combination of factors:
Failing to react or reacting poorly to a competitor's price cut can have significant consequences:
Lost sales . The customer compares and chooses the cheapest option if they don't perceive a differential value.
Margin erosion . Constantly lowering prices reduces your profitability.
Loss of brand control . If your distributors or retailers change prices uncontrollably, your brand's positioning could be damaged.
Supply chain mismatch . If you don't have visibility into your overall pricing strategy, you could overproduce or run out of stock of key products.
Has this ever happened to you?
The key is to stay ahead. To achieve this, you need real-time information and a well-defined, dynamic pricing strategy .
It's not enough to simply check what your competitors are doing once a month. You need tools that allow you to understand their prices, on which channels, how frequently they change, and how they affect your market position.
With solutions like DIP Insights, you can access a customized alert system that notifies you in real time when a competitor adjusts their prices.
Are you going to compete on price, added value, or exclusivity? Not all brands need to lower prices to win. The important thing is to be clear about your brand position and be consistent. Of course, even in premium strategies, you need room to maneuver to adjust prices promptly if the market demands it.
Tips:
One of the biggest challenges for beauty brands is maintaining constant visibility over the sales prices offered by retailers or distributors. Staying on top of these prices is key to maintaining competitive positioning and ensuring commercial consistency across points of sale.
Tips:
It's not about changing prices every time your competitors do. But you can create automated rules to react quickly when certain conditions are met. For example: "If Competitor X lowers the price of Product Y by 10% on Amazon Spain, apply a 5% price reduction for 48 hours."
Tips:
It's of little use to have the best price if your product isn't available. Or vice versa: maintaining a high price when you have overstock can be a missed opportunity.
Have you ever had to defend why you launched a promotion... just when it was out of stock? Or worse yet: watch your competitors clear out a product while you're stocking up on it...
With the catalog and inventory visibility offered by DIP Insights, you can align pricing decisions with the actual availability of your products and those of your competitors.
Price wars in the beauty sector cannot be avoided. But they can be won. The key is to move from a reactive strategy to a proactive one, based on data, technology, and a clear vision of your brand positioning.
Tools like DIP Insights give you the visibility and control you need to avoid always trailing your competitors. Because in an environment where speed wins, being prepared makes all the difference .
The solution? React faster. But not through improvisation or fear, but with a strategy based on data, technology, and a long-term vision.
Why there is a price war in the beauty sector
Price wars in this sector are often the result of a combination of factors:
- Extremely high competition in marketplaces and retailers. Beauty brands coexist in saturated digital spaces, where price comparisons are immediate.
- Constant promotions. Whether through seasonal campaigns (Black Friday, summer sales) or aggressive tactics, price drops have become a common tool for capturing traffic and market share.
- Lack of differentiation. When products are similar or perceived as equivalent by the consumer, price becomes the sole decision criterion.
This causes many brands to enter a reactive (and negative) dynamic: they lower prices to avoid losing market share, without clear strategic management.
What impact can a poorly managed price cut have?
Failing to react or reacting poorly to a competitor's price cut can have significant consequences:
Lost sales . The customer compares and chooses the cheapest option if they don't perceive a differential value.
Margin erosion . Constantly lowering prices reduces your profitability.
Loss of brand control . If your distributors or retailers change prices uncontrollably, your brand's positioning could be damaged.
Supply chain mismatch . If you don't have visibility into your overall pricing strategy, you could overproduce or run out of stock of key products.
Has this ever happened to you?
- Having to justify to management why your competitor beat you to the punch with an aggressive Amazon promotion just before a key launch…
- Or that awkward moment when the retailer points out that another distributor of yours is selling it cheaper in the middle of the campaign...
How to anticipate and react faster than your competition
The key is to stay ahead. To achieve this, you need real-time information and a well-defined, dynamic pricing strategy .
1. Continuously monitor your competition
It's not enough to simply check what your competitors are doing once a month. You need tools that allow you to understand their prices, on which channels, how frequently they change, and how they affect your market position.
With solutions like DIP Insights, you can access a customized alert system that notifies you in real time when a competitor adjusts their prices.
2. Define your pricing strategy (and make it flexible)
Are you going to compete on price, added value, or exclusivity? Not all brands need to lower prices to win. The important thing is to be clear about your brand position and be consistent. Of course, even in premium strategies, you need room to maneuver to adjust prices promptly if the market demands it.
Tips:
- Check whether your channel pricing strategy reflects the value of the product.
- Establish “safe zones” of minimum price to maintain positioning.
3. Monitor your distributors' prices
One of the biggest challenges for beauty brands is maintaining constant visibility over the sales prices offered by retailers or distributors. Staying on top of these prices is key to maintaining competitive positioning and ensuring commercial consistency across points of sale.
Tips:
- Detect which partners are not aligned with your RRP (Recommended Retail Price)
- Use competitive pricing data as an argument for renewing agreements.
4. Automate responses
It's not about changing prices every time your competitors do. But you can create automated rules to react quickly when certain conditions are met. For example: "If Competitor X lowers the price of Product Y by 10% on Amazon Spain, apply a 5% price reduction for 48 hours."
Tips:
- Set automated rules to respond to specific pricing changes in your category or channel.
- Set up activation time windows for tactical promotions (e.g., 24-48h flash campaigns).
5. Connect pricing with stock
It's of little use to have the best price if your product isn't available. Or vice versa: maintaining a high price when you have overstock can be a missed opportunity.
Have you ever had to defend why you launched a promotion... just when it was out of stock? Or worse yet: watch your competitors clear out a product while you're stocking up on it...
With the catalog and inventory visibility offered by DIP Insights, you can align pricing decisions with the actual availability of your products and those of your competitors.
Conclusion: Anticipation + Technology = Competitive Advantage
Price wars in the beauty sector cannot be avoided. But they can be won. The key is to move from a reactive strategy to a proactive one, based on data, technology, and a clear vision of your brand positioning.
Tools like DIP Insights give you the visibility and control you need to avoid always trailing your competitors. Because in an environment where speed wins, being prepared makes all the difference .
