Pack Price Architecture

Pack price architecture determines which sizes you sell, at what price points, and how each one sits alongside the rest of the shelf. It’s one of the fastest levers in FMCG, and one of the easiest to get wrong on gut feel.

Price it too high, and shoppers walk. Price it too low and you hand margin to the retailer. Get the pack sizes wrong, and you cannibalise your own range.

Story Insights is a specialist shopper insights agency. We use a type ofconjoint market research known as shelfchoice modelling research to show you exactly how shoppers trade off size, price and brand, so your next pricing decision is backed by evidence, not opinion.

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APAC Markets Served
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    Talk to Our Team

    Free 30-minute strategy call, no obligation.

    Trusted by leading CPG & FMCG brands

    Coca-Cola Nestlé McDonald's Lactalis Carlton United Breweries Chobani Campari Dulux Edgewell FrieslandCampina
    path to purchase mapping

    What Is Pack Price Architecture?

    Pack price architecture is the structure behind your range. It covers the pack sizes you offer, the price you put on each, and the gaps between them.

    When done well, it gives every shopper a clear step up or down. It protects your premium lines, defends your entry price points and lifts revenue per purchase. Done badly, it leaves gaps competitors fill, or puts your own products in a fight with each other.

    Shoppers don’t evaluate one price in isolation. They compare across sizes, brands, formats and retailers in seconds. Your architecture has to hold up in that moment.

    The Questions We Answer

    Most pack price architecture projects start with a commercial problem. Typically, it’s one of these:

    • Which pack sizes earn their place? And which are diluting the range?
    • Where is the right price gap between sizes? Too narrow wastes margin. Too wide pushes shoppers out of the brand.
    • How much price headroom do we have? Before volume drops off.
    • What happens if a competitor moves? Or if the retailer launches a private label alternative.
    • Is a multipack, bundle or new size worth launching? And what will it take from the existing range?
    • How do we justify the architecture to the retailer? With evidence they can’t wave away.

    How We Do It: Conjoint Analysis and Choice Modelling

    We don’t ask shoppers what they’d pay. They’ll tell you what they think you want to hear. We put them in realistic buying scenarios and watch what they choose.

    Conjoint analysis presents shoppers with a series of product options. Each one varies by pack size, price, brand and promotion. Every choice reveals what they value and what they’ll trade away to get it. Run across a large enough sample, and it quantifies the real worth of each feature, down to the dollar.

    Choice modelling research takes it further. It simulates a shelf, so we can test how shoppers behave when your range, competitors, and pricing all change at once. We can model share, volume and revenue under different scenarios before you commit to a single one in market.

    That lets us test the decisions that are expensive to reverse:

    • A price increase across the range
    • A new pack size or multipack
    • Removal of a slow-selling SKU
    • A change to your promotional ladder
    • A competitor undercutting you

     

    Every scenario comes back with the numbers attached.

    What You'll Get

    Our retail analytics consulting is designed to support the full range of commercial challenges FMCG and retail teams face:

    Price sensitivity by pack size, so you know where demand holds and where it breaks

    Share and revenue simulations across different range and price scenarios

    Cannibalisation analysis, showing what a new pack takes from your own lines versus the competition

    Optimal price gaps between sizes and tiers

    A prioritised recommendation: what to change, why, and in what order

    Retailer-ready evidence to support your sell-in and range review conversations

    The Story Insights Difference

    Here’s something that separates us from the larger research organisations.

    Senior-only consulting. The people who scope your project are the people who run it. With 50+ years of combined experience, our consultants have sat on both sides of the pricing conversation, brand and retailer.
    Data agnostic, method smart. We don't push a proprietary platform. We pick the approach that best answers your question, and we'll tell you if conjoint isn't the right tool.

    Behaviour over opinion. Our work is grounded in what shoppers do, not just what they say. That's where pricing decisions are won or lost.
    Action-led recommendations. Every project ends with direction. What to price, what to pack, what to drop, and the commercial impact of each call.
    Global reach, local understanding. We're based in Melbourne and work across Asia-Pacific and Europe. We know how Coles, Woolworths and the Australian grocery and liquor channels behave. And we know how price sensitivity shifts from market to market.
    How We Work

    From brief to actionable clarity

    01

    Discovery & Brief

    We immerse in your category and business objectives before any research begins.

    02

    Research Design

    Bespoke methodology — quantitative, qualitative, or integrated calibrated to your questions.

    03

    Fieldwork & Analysis

    Data collection across APAC, benchmarked against IRI and Mintel intelligence.

    04

    Strategic Output

    Decision-ready recommendations built for retailer reviews and board sessions.

    market strategy

    Where Pack Price Architecture Fits

    Pricing doesn’t sit on its own. Your architecture should connect to the rest of your commercial strategy.

    It strengthens broader FMCG market research by turning pricing questions into measurable answers. It builds on customer behaviour analysis to show why shoppers switch sizes, brands or retailers. And it feeds directly into category management services, so your pack and price decisions support the category plan.

    When to Call Us

    Clients usually come to us when something feels off:

    • Volume is slipping, and you’re not sure if price is the cause
    • A price increase is on the table, and the risk is unclear
    • A range review is coming, and you need to defend your lines
    • You’re planning a new size, multipack or bundle
    • A competitor or private label has changed the price landscape
    • Your last pricing project produced a report, but not a decision.
    Client Portfolio

    Trusted by category leaders

    Coca-Cola Nestlé McDonald's Lactalis Carlton United Breweries Edgewell Chobani FrieslandCampina Campari Bostik Carman's Dulux Paints CCEP Chen Foods

    12+ Markets Served

    Australia New Zealand Singapore Malaysia Philippines Indonesia Chobani Thailand Vietnam Taiwan Hong Kong China Europe

    Get Your Pricing Right Before the Market Tests It for You

    If you’re managing price, pack or range decisions and want evidence you can stand behind, talk to Story Insights. Tell us what you’re trying to solve, and we’ll tell you how we’d approach it.