Smart Pricing: Automate Your Poultry Product Pricing Strategy

Why Smart Pricing Matters

Are you still manually updating product prices based on gut feeling or outdated spreadsheets? If you're like most poultry farmers, pricing can be one of the most time-consuming and stressful parts of running your business. Set prices too high, and you lose customers. Set them too low, and you're leaving money on the table.

Smart Pricing changes everything.

With PoultryPro's Smart Pricing feature, you can automatically analyze your sales history, inventory costs, and market patterns to set optimal prices that maximize your profits while staying competitive.

How Smart Pricing Works

The system looks at:

• Recent sales history - What customers actually paid
• Inventory costs - Your actual cost basis (FIFO method)
• Sales velocity - How quickly products move
• Seasonal patterns - Price variations over time
• Manual overrides - Your business rules take priority

Three Pricing Strategies

🎯 Balanced Strategy (Recommended)

Perfect for most farm operations with a mix of product types.

Configuration:

{
  "useSalesPricing": true,
  "salesLookbackDays": 90,
  "minSalesSamples": 2,
  "useMedianPrice": false
}

Best for:

• Normal day-to-day operations
• Mixed product portfolio (eggs, meat, birds)
• Stable market conditions
• Monthly price reviews

How it works:

• Analyzes last 3 months of sales
• Requires at least 2 sales for confidence
• Uses weighted average (recent sales matter more)
• Falls back to cost-based pricing if insufficient data

Example: Your "Large Eggs (Tray)" sold for $350, $380, $365, $375 over the last 90 days. Smart Pricing calculates a weighted average of $370, applies your standard margin, and suggests $395 as the optimal price.

🔒 Conservative Strategy

Ideal for high-value items or seasonal products where price stability matters.

Configuration:

{
  "useSalesPricing": true,
  "salesLookbackDays": 30,
  "minSalesSamples": 5,
  "useMedianPrice": true
}

Best for:

• Expensive breeding stock
• Seasonal products (e.g., turkeys, capons)
• High-margin specialty items
• Volatile markets

How it works:

• Looks at only the last month
• Requires 5+ sales for pricing decisions
• Uses median price (ignores extreme outliers)
• Very cautious about price changes

Example: You sell premium "Rainbow Rooster Pullets" for $800-$1,200. The median of recent sales is $950. Smart Pricing uses this stable middle price rather than being swayed by your $1,200 outlier sale.

⚡ Aggressive Strategy

For new products or when you need to quickly respond to market changes.

Configuration:

{
  "useSalesPricing": true,
  "salesLookbackDays": 14,
  "minSalesSamples": 1,
  "useMedianPrice": false
}

Best for:

• New product launches
• Fast-moving inventory
• Competitive markets
• Testing price points

How it works:

• Recent 2 weeks only
• Accepts single sale as valid signal
• Weighted average favors latest prices
• Rapid price adjustments

Example: You just started selling "Organic Free-Range Eggs." After your first sale at $450, Smart Pricing immediately uses this as your baseline for future pricing suggestions.

Real-World Example: Mixed Farm Operation

Let's walk through a complete example of how Mercy, a commercial layer farmer, uses Smart Pricing.

Mercy's Challenge

Mercy runs "Sunrise Poultry Farm" with 5,000 layers. She sells:

• Large eggs (trays)
• Medium eggs (trays)
• Culled layers (live birds)
• Day-old pullet chicks (seasonal)

Her old process:

• Manually checked competitor prices weekly
• Updated Excel spreadsheet
• Called customers to verify market rates
• Spent 3-4 hours every Friday on pricing
• Still worried about leaving money on the table

Mercy's Smart Pricing Setup

Step 1: Configure Pricing Strategy

Mercy navigates to Inventory → Price List → Smart Sync and configures:

For eggs (fast-moving, competitive):

• Balanced strategy
• 60-day lookback
• Minimum 3 sales
• Weighted average

For birds (high-value, seasonal):

• Conservative strategy
• 30-day lookback
• Minimum 5 sales
• Median pricing

Step 2: Run Initial Sync

POST /api/organizations/by-subdomain/sunrise-farm/inventory/products/price-list/sync

{
"useSalesPricing": true,
"salesLookbackDays": 60,
"minSalesSamples": 3,
"dryRun": true  // Preview first!
}

Dry run results:

Step 3: Review and Apply

Mercy reviews the suggestions:

• ✅ Large Eggs: Great! She was underpricing
• ✅ Medium Eggs: Makes sense, market is soft
• ✅ Culled Layers: Manual override protecting her floor price
• ⚠️ Pullets: Still using cost-based (seasonal item)

She removes dryRun: true and applies the changes.

The Results

Time saved: 3.5 hours per week → 15 minutes per month

Revenue impact:

• 10% increase on large eggs: +KES 175,000/month
• Better inventory turnover on medium eggs
• Protected floor prices on high-value items

Peace of mind:

• Pricing based on data, not guesswork
• Automatic adjustments as market changes
• Manual control when needed

Advanced Features

Margin Protection

Configuration:

{
  "minimumMarginPercent": 30,  // Never price below 30% margin
  "useManualOverrides": true   // Respect manual price locks
}

Manual Override System

You maintain full control:

1. Price Locks - Prevent smart pricing from touching specific products
2. Floor Prices - Set absolute minimum prices
3. Ceiling Prices - Cap maximum prices (regulatory compliance)
4. Seasonal Rules - Different strategies by time of year

Example: During the holiday season, you might lock turkey prices high regardless of what the algorithm suggests.

Inventory Sync Integration

This is especially useful for:

• Culled layers from production flocks
• Ready-for-sale broilers
• Breeder stock sales

Getting Started with Smart Pricing

Step 1: Ensure Clean Data

Before enabling smart pricing:

1. Review sales history - Clean up any test or duplicate entries
2. Verify inventory costs - Ensure transactions properly recorded
3. Set manual overrides - Lock prices you don't want auto-adjusted
4. Configure margins - Set your minimum profit margins

Step 2: Test with Dry Run

Always test first:

{
  "dryRun": true,  // See preview without applying
  "useSalesPricing": true,
  "salesLookbackDays": 90
}

Review the preview to understand what would change.

Step 3: Start Conservative

Begin with the Conservative strategy:

• Higher minimum samples (5+)
• Shorter lookback (30 days)
• Median pricing (ignore outliers)

Once comfortable, switch to Balanced or Aggressive as needed.

Step 4: Schedule Regular Syncs

Set up weekly or monthly pricing reviews:

• Monday mornings after weekend sales
• First of the month for monthly planning
• Before high-volume sales periods

Best Practices

✅ Do's

• Review changes - Always check dry run results before applying
• Monitor margins - Track profit margins over time
• Keep history - Maintain clean sales records for accurate analysis
• Use manual overrides - Lock prices for strategic products
• Start conservative - Begin with cautious settings, adjust as you gain confidence

❌ Don'ts

• Don't blindly apply - Always review suggested changes
• Don't ignore outliers - Investigate why certain sales were extreme
• Don't over-adjust - Give prices time to work before changing again
• Don't forget costs - Ensure inventory costs are up-to-date
• Don't abandon judgment - Your business knowledge still matters

Common Questions

Q: Will Smart Pricing work with limited sales history?

Yes! The system automatically falls back to cost-based pricing when insufficient sales data exists. As you build history, pricing becomes more intelligent.

Q: Can I still manually set prices?

Absolutely. Manual price locks always take priority. Smart Pricing only adjusts unlocked products.

Q: How often should I run Smart Pricing?

Recommended frequencies:

• Fast-moving items (eggs): Weekly
• Medium-velocity (meat): Bi-weekly
• Slow-moving (breeding stock): Monthly
• Seasonal products: Before season starts

Q: What if Smart Pricing suggests a price lower than my cost?

It won't. The system always respects your minimum margin settings and never prices below cost.

Q: Does it work for farms with multiple flocks?

Yes! Smart Pricing aggregates sales across all flocks to give you comprehensive market intelligence.

Take Control of Your Pricing

Stop guessing and start pricing with confidence. Smart Pricing gives you the tools to:

• ✅ Maximize profits automatically
• ✅ Stay competitive in your market
• ✅ Save hours each week
• ✅ Make data-driven decisions
• ✅ Maintain full control when needed

Ready to get started? Navigate to Inventory → Price List → Smart Sync in your PoultryPro dashboard and run your first dry run today.

Have questions about Smart Pricing? Join our farmer community forum or contact support for personalized guidance.