Reading the ladder
Most categories settle into three or four price rungs. Shoppers learn them without ever naming them, and a price that falls between rungs reads as an error rather than a position.
Working it backwards
- Find the rungs before setting the margin target
- Decide which rung you are buying into, then build the cost sheet to fit
- If you cannot reach a rung, change the pack size, not the price
A price is a claim about which shelf neighbours you belong with.