What is a Pricing Analyst?

Ever wondered why your favourite bottle of shampoo went up by £1.50? A pricing analyst was behind that.

Now before you whip out your Tesco Clubcard, there are a whole range of factors as to how the products and services we use every day are priced. Pricing analysts ensure that products and services are priced fairly and according to market standards.

Read on to find out more about what they do and how you can start a career as a pricing analyst.

• What does a pricing analyst do?
• How do you become a pricing analyst?
• What skills do I need to become a pricing analyst?
• How much does a pricing analyst earn?

---

---

What does a pricing analyst do?

As a pricing analyst, you’ll help a company determine the cost of a product or service. You’ll work with a lot of data and use various methods to develop a solid pricing strategy.

Some types of analysis you’ll do include…

• Impact analysis. This method is used to try and predict any negative impacts a price change could have on the company to help you think of ways to avoid that happening or put fail-safes in place just in case
• Competitor analysis. Here you’ll find out what other companies in your industry are doing, how successful (or unsuccessful) their products are and how the market reacts to them
• Market research. Every pricing analyst aims to understand how the industry works and what’s going on in the current market. It helps to keep prices competitive and reflective of the current market.

You’ll work alongside various teams within a company, including finance, marketing and sales.

What responsibilities does a pricing analyst have?

You’ll have many responsibilities within your role on a day-to-day basis. Let’s look at a few of those…

• Analyse historical financial data and industry trends to provide recommendations for pricing decisions
• Market research to identify new trends and opportunities
• Working alongside the financial department to create pricing strategies following industry standards and financial objectives
• Develop detailed pricing proposals for potential clients
• Present insights and recommendations based on performance analysis
• Keep up-to-date on industry trends and market needs.

Industries that use a pricing analyst

If the goal is to sell something, whether it’s the latest Barbie doll or even as simple as your fave Tesco ready meal, you can guarantee that a pricing analyst will make that happen. Every industry will need to call for the help of a pricing analyst. These include,

• Agriculture
• Construction
• Finance and banking
• Insurance
• Law
• Manufacturing and distribution of goods
• Pharmaceuticals.

---

How do you become a pricing analyst?

Firstly, having a degree helps a bunch. Employers want candidates who have a Bachelor’s degree in finance, economics or similar.

On top of that, employers will ask for experience in a range of tools and programmes such as;

• Microsoft Office
• PowerBI
• SQL.

Need some experience? You have options.

Getting a job right out of university can feel difficult at times, but there are ways to help make that process much easier – all before you graduate too. How? With an internship or placement.

Around 49% of students are rehired by their internship or placement employer, so it’s worth getting in on the action.

There are loads of employers offering pricing analyst work experience. Some of these include…

• Centrica
• General Electric
• Intel Corporation
• PwC
• Samsung
• Shell
• Volkswagen Financial Services.

There are also loads of graduate pricing analyst opportunities available after graduation.

“I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement. I feel as if I have been treated as any other person would be and that I am a valuable member of the team. I believe I have been given enough responsibility to allow me to develop as much as possible during my time (even during the pandemic).”

Pricing Analyst, Volkswagen Financial Services

You’ll also need a variety of soft and hard skills to help you land that all-important role. Read on to find out what ones you’ll need.

---

What skills do you need to become a pricing analyst?

Skills are VITAL. They help to set you apart from the rest of the competition. You probably have quite a few of these skills already. There are a few, so we’ve split some of the skills you’ll need into hard skills and soft skills.

Hard Skills Also known as technical skills, these are skills that you’ll need to carry out your job. There are a few for a pricing analyst, but here are three really important ones.	Soft Skills These are behaviour skills that show employers how you’ll work and interact with your colleagues. These are skills that you’ve been working on since… well, birth. So it’s a given you’ll have loads of these.
Data analysis. This skill is all about reading data to find useful information that you’ll use to make decisions. You’ll source data from various places. These can include sales records or current/past industry trends and insights.	Communication. Consider this 99% of your role as a pricing analyst. You’ll work alongside various teams as well as management and company founders. Your verbal communication will need to be on point as you’ll often present your findings and plans in a presentation.
Report writing. As a pricing analyst, you’ll spend a chunk of your time writing reports. You’ll write reports that supplement pricing strategies by giving more details into the why, as well as writing processes, conclusions of analysis and project outcomes.	Attention to detail. When working with data and creating pricing strategies that impact a company’s sales, attention to detail will be super important. So get in the habit of checking things several times and several times again.
Data mining. Think of data mining as data analysis’ cousin. While they both work with data, they have huge differences. Data mining is the process of cleaning data so you have more of the good stuff and nothing irrelevant in what you want to analyse. This step boosts your data analysis skills by 200%.	Critical thinking. As an analyst, your critical thinking skills will come in handy as you’ll be using them every day. Critical thinking will help you get the answers you’re looking for when researching and solving any issues you might come across.

---

Not sure if you have all the skills you need for your chosen career? Find out about 8 skills you can pick up at university.

---

How much does a pricing analyst earn?

How much you earn all depends on your employer, level and experience, but rest assured there is money to be made.

As a junior pricing analyst, you could earn a salary anywhere between £26,000 and £29,300 per year. This will quickly move up to £36,000 upwards per year.

Wanna work your way to becoming a manager? You could stand to earn around £70,000 per year.

---

Looking to start your career as a pricing analyst or find another job in finance? Click below to find work experience opportunities. We have loads of finance roles available RIGHT NOW.

---