You know the headlines.

No point in rehashing them.

🤑 Mehtab Bhogal with 10 proven strategies to raise prices

🏆 Matthew Bertulli explains how small brands can still win

🏡 Mike Beckham on “mowing,” $40M in costs, and wartime

Along with this week’s biggest consumer news to prove it’s not just doom ‘n gloom.

🎁 Plus, an  all-in-one resource  at the end to (hopefully) make applying the tactics as helpful as possible.

Mehtab Bhogal Finance Operators

10 Pricing Tactics to Combat Tariffs

Getting REKT by tariffs?

With margins already compressed …

The bad news? Nothing works consistently. The good news? At least a few of these methods should work for you.

Remember that different customer segments react differently to price changes. Sometimes, you need to nuke one to juice more from others and build a healthier business.

This is important to keep in mind because as you increase prices, you might see a huge dropoff and not enough benefit.

You either need to revert or keep pushing prices to the point where losing your bottom cohort is not a big deal. The longer your consideration cycle, the more complicated it becomes.

1. Increase Prices Outright
2. Unbundle Free Products
3. Force Minimum Quantities
4. Introduce Fees & Premiums
5. Add Shipping Speed Options
6. Anchor With Pricing Tiers
7. Remove Your Cheapest Items
8. Apply Strategic Shrinkflation
9. Add No-Brainer Upsells
10. Reassess Channel Strategy

1. Increase Prices Outright

This straightforward approach can work surprisingly well. Sometimes, it backfires.

My preferred method is to raise prices significantly, see what happens, and get a feel for how elastic they are. If it’s a big hit in conversions, we decrease slightly.

Only after settling on a rough range do we A/B test.

Contribution margin (actual dollars) is what you should optimize. Even if the ratio goes down, if the number of contribution dollars goes up … you’ve won. Another way to frame this is gross profit per visitor.

Don’t overthink it. Sometimes the simplest approach yields the best results.

2. Unbundle Free Products

Look at your bundled offerings critically.

What can you eliminate? What can you start charging for that you currently offer for free?

We implemented this at a craft kit company that included items like a complimentary glue stick. Removed it, nobody complained, and we saved a ton of money. I think it was like low five figures a month flowing straight to the bottom line.

This operates in reverse, too.

Think True Classic. It’s built on bundling. The cost of one shirt is okay. Not great. Instead, it merchandises everything into packs by default — three, six, or 12. Plus, there’s no welcome discount; only cash back on second purchases.

Or, you can flat out …

3. Force Minimum Quantities

For an example, go check out Use Cheeky. Shane Rostad has shared multiple times about how the unit economics on one bar of soap don’t work. What does he do?

He does not sell one bar. Four, eight, or 12. That’s it. The other big example? Costco!

Check your existing data to see what common quantities people add to cart, where the dropoffs occur, etc.

Then, don’t let someone purchase one of something. Only make it possible to buy two or four or a subscription or whatever lets you maintain margin every time someone buys anything.

4. Introduce Fees and Premiums

Have you ever spec’ed out a cool car? Maybe something like Zach Stuck’s G-Wagon? You visit an online configurator, explore the different paint colors, click on one you like, and notice there’s an upcharge. There’s a reason they do that. Because they can.

You should be charging a premium where possible.

Sometimes it’s shipping speed. Sometimes it’s premium processing. Sometimes it’s design. Simple Modern does this with a ton of its licensed and seasonal colorways. Same tumbler. Same bottle. Different design. Higher price.

Fees or premiums feel different than price hikes to consumers, even when they total to the same amount.

5. Add Shipping Speed Options

For shipping speeds, you don’t need that much testing. You can pull existing repurchase rate or LTV by delivery time.

If you see people receiving their orders faster in one area and it doesn’t impact repurchase, then you should make the slower service your default and upcharge for the rest. You know there’s room; you probably won’t hurt repurchase rates.

This is a data-driven method that lets you make immediate enhancements without expensive trial and error.

Raising or eliminating free shipping does take trial and error. But it’s worth it as long as your key metric is contribution dollars, followed by changes to reorder rate in LTV.

6. Anchor With Pricing Tiers

ANCHORING WORKS. Good, better, best pricing. Highest, middle, and lowest cost.

I’d highly recommend including at least a few very expensive products on your site that make your main offer look like a great deal. Especially if you have a smaller product line.

Think about luxury retailers. When you walk into one of those stores, they have these insanely expensive purses. Then they sell you some little handkerchief for “only” a few hundred dollars, and you think, “Wow, that’s not much!”

In reality, their margins are bonkers. They make a killing on those “cheaper” items.

It’s harder to do this if you’re a new brand — you’re not going to charge $1,000 for a little cut of silk, but you can use higher-priced products to mentally move your brand upmarket and get away with charging more for your other SKUs.

7. Remove Your Cheapest Items

These are usually net-negative products. It’s worse if the value-to-weight ratio on shipping is off.

Is it possible to have a bunch of products listed for $30 on my website and make money in ecommerce? With a $10 acquisition floor, sure. At a $30–$40 CAC, it’s way tougher.

I’d seriously consider eliminating all my cheap SKUs.

For big catalogs, some people specifically search for the cheapest thing they can buy. You don’t really want them as a customer, and you won’t lose much.

8. Apply Strategic Shrinkflation

People are not good at perceiving size. You can use that to your advantage. Uniquely in ecommerce.

Keep in mind that when you shrink something, you also shrink the packaging. Your postage costs should decrease, your cost of packaging should go down — you’re consuming less cardboard — and your cost of the actual fill should reduce, too.

This tactic has ripped for us at a few brands.

It’s particularly effective for Amazon vendors, where small changes in box size can drop you into a lower shipping rate category, saving a dollar per shipment.

It often goes completely unnoticed by buyers.

9. Add No-Brainer Upsells

Quick warning on this one. When you let them accumulate at the PDP level, upsells can backfire by increasing fatigue.

Experiment placing your upsells at different points in the journey to find a balance between conversion and cart value. Small additions can significantly impact your bottom line when exposed to your entire customer base.

When enough shoppers take the upsell options, you’ll see a noticeable improvement in your margins without having to change your core product pricing.

Think of these as micro-optimizations that add up to meaningful dollars over time.

10. Reassess Your Channel Strategy

Different platforms have different price elasticity rules. Walmart consumers behave differently than your DTC fans.

Some manufacturers are bringing merchandise to Walmart shelves for $10-12 that would be unthinkable in other avenues. Your competitive positioning and channel strategy dictates how quickly you need to make decisions.

If you’re omnichannel, once you start down the pricing road, the die is cast — you got to go all the way with it. If we’re talking about 25%, 30%, or more price increases, that is a major repositioning of the brand.

The distribution mix you choose becomes even more critical in this environment.

What Happens Next?

Right now, it’s BRUTAL. I have a friend getting destroyed — they need to boost prices 35% to maintain current gross margins. Even a 30% price hike would only get them profit-neutral.

Nobody can predict how this will unfold.

The supply chain will likely be a disaster — a month or two where almost nobody’s shipping anything, then all of a sudden a couple months where everybody’s trying to ship a ton of stuff. Ocean rates will become volatile. Shopify’s stock already dropped 30% in a month ($106 to $73) as investors see what’s coming.

But this isn’t panic time; it’s decision time.

The cream will rise to the top during this reset period, creating opportunities for strong operators to gain market share.

Focus on your pricing strategy and operational efficiency, not reconfiguring supply chains to avoid tariffs. By implementing them thoughtfully, you can minimize the impact while positioning for growth when markets stabilize.

Above all, preserve cash and maintain optionality.

Matthew Bertulli CEO, Pela Case x Lomi

Tariffs: How Can Small Brands Still Win?

“Liberation” day has come and gone.

As one of my American brand-owner friends texted, “The only thing this liberates me of is my profit.”

For those of us selling consumer goods, the impact is a first-order effect. For those of you in services or software, it’ll be second or third order.

Why? Because consumer spending is the hallmark of the American economy. It isn’t innovation, no matter what the guys from Silicon Valley tell you. It’s consumerism. That’s the base layer of all the money. Especially discretionary.

If people slow down spending, the trickle-up impacts are felt in 80%+ of the broader economy.

Let’s talk …

Don’t go through any one-way doors.

This means don’t do something big like picking up your supply chain and reshoring it in the US to avoid tariffs.

There is absolutely zero evidence to suggest that large-scale tariffs are anything more than Trump negotiating the way he always does — ask for the ridiculous, settle for something closer to sanity.

You don’t want to make decisions that are hard to go back on.

This is a dynamic game right now with rules shifting almost daily. Cooler heads will prevail in this environment.

Raise prices while you have air cover.

Most brands have no choice on this front.

Some of these tariffs are egregious, and you can’t absorb them as a company. Many of my network have already raised prices 10-30% where they could.

Today, we have the benefit of air cover from all the tariff news dominating the media. Consumers might be more receptive to good messaging about price increases than they will be in 3-6 months if this drags on.

I say “could” because some categories have shit price elasticity. If this is you, it will be a game of chicken to see which companies raise and which absorb (all or some) the costs.

Play into your strongest positioning.

There are a lot of vectors with which to approach this. These are the two most impactful I can see.

The first is liquidity and availability of cash. Here, big brands and public companies possess the advantage. They have access to very cheap capital and probably lots of it. Unlikely to be true for challengers, the startups.

The other is speed. This is where startups can win.

Even if you’re in a large category with big incumbents, most challenger brands compete in niches within their category. This might give you more pricing power + the ability to justify increases with your customers.

It definitely gives you the ability to zero in on your business’s core functions, recalibrate spend, and strip out nonessentials.

Do not waste the advantage of speed.

Get clear on who will absorb the costs.

There are at least four vested-interest parties in any consumer brand to consider regarding tariff cost absorption.

• Brand
• Retailers
• Manufacturers
• Customers

If we’re being intellectually honest, all four will have to step up and absorb some amount of this. The only question is how much gets allocated to each party.

Companies would prefer that the customer absorbs it, but we’ve already discussed how this might not be the biggest bucket, given price elasticity in many categories.

The lion’s share falls on manufacturers and brands. This is when you find out how much of a “partner” your vendors truly are.

As leaders or operators, we have to scrutinize the shit out of our SG&A (Opex). Comb through every expense. You probably have too much software. Too many people. Too many pet projects that are for “future value.” Too many perks.

This is a good time for austerity.

Hoard cash and be more conservative with any larger-scale investments. As an example, I know brands that are delaying launching new products this year until they can be certain of where tariffs land as it impacts pricing and GTM strategy.

Forecast loosely. Control what you can.

When projecting, approach with extreme caution.

We’ve seen the pattern before — companies forecasting during massive market shifts often get it catastrophically wrong. Some overstock, expecting continued demand; others understock, based on pessimism.

Either path can lead to disaster. We are truly in a fuck-around-and-find-out environment. The game is changing.

When you get into highly volatile macro environments like this, great operators have an opportunity to take market share from slower, less prepared competitors.

Your positioning matters. Your decision-making matters. Your liquidity matters.

But what matters most is letting go of our egos, facing our fears, admitting what we can’t control … and throwing ourselves into only what we can.

That’s liberation.

THE FEED

​Tariff War Room: Section 321, M&As, Soft Landing for Distressed Brands & More​

​How to Define Your Customer Profiles with Sarah Levinger​

​Our Takes on Saratoga’s Viral Moment, Meta’s Andromeda & AI’s Role in Creative​

Mike Beckham CEO, Simple Modern

Over the weekend, I mowed my lawn.

And thought about tariffs.

Like you, I don’t know what the future holds. But we are clearly in a new era with new costs that have to come from somewhere.

For my company, we expect the price tag to be just under $40,000,000 this year alone.

Ironically, we’ve invested millions in domestic manufacturing. For many nuanced reasons, we still can’t produce a large percentage of our products in the US.

This is true for many companies — not a lack of willingness; a lack of financial and operational viability.

1. Raise prices
2. Reduce expenses
3. Accept lower profits

In every business, there are essential costs, and there are costs that make life easier. There are activities the company needs to survive, and initiatives that contribute at a nominal level. There are softwares you cannot live without, but there are many more that make work more enjoyable and less monotonous.

The road ahead is going to be bumpy.

CEOs are going into wartime mode. They are going to be looking to slash operating expenses. They aren’t going to pay others to do something they can do themselves. They are only going to be spending money on essentials.

It is going to be a tough few weeks for service providers. There will be a lot of churn and some massive price reductions.

Profits will be hard to come by.

Recent studies have shown that 50% of the discretionary spending in this country comes from the top 10%. That top 10% owns equity in private and public companies.

Whatever your opinions about income distribution in America, that group currently drives the discretionary economy. That top 10% will spend significantly less in the months ahead. We are likely headed for a recession.

To survive and thrive, you must drive results. CEOs are making hard decisions to protect their company from going under.

Seek feedback on how you can produce the value your employer needs. Don’t assume “no news is good news.” Bias to action in looking for ways to contribute. Take on more. Find efficiency.

This period is going to be hard, but there will be some great things that come from it.

I have been an entrepreneur for 16 years. I would estimate that 80-90% of the best ideas I have seen implemented were the result of challenging business climates.

Pressure helps us focus and make tough decisions. Lack of resources spurs creativity and new approaches. During easy times, there’s a buildup of things that need to change. But because there is no pressure, nothing happens.

When the going gets rough, it leads to long overdue decisions.

For most of the last 10 years, I have paid someone to mow my lawn. Recently, I decided to start doing it myself again.

As I was mowing, I kept returning to one thought: We are entering the “mow your own lawn” era for businesses.

The Trends

Curated by the editor of CPG Wire, this week’s five biggest headlines in consumer news — it’s not all doom + gloom.

1. Hershey Buys LesserEvil For $750M: PR Newswire​

The Hershey Company intends to acquire LesserEvil Snacks, a Connecticut-based manufacturer of better-for-you popcorn and salty snacks. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but The Wall Street Journal put the price tag at $750M.

The clean snack category has been on fire lately.

In addition to LesserEvil exiting, PepsiCo acquired Siete Foods for $1.2B last year, and Flowers Foods acquired Simple Mills for $795M earlier this year.

2. True Classic Valuation Hits $850M: Business of Fashion​

True Classic — the DTC-turned-omnnichannel apparel brand launched in 2019 — is now being valued at $850M after securing a strategic investment from 1686 Partners.

In 2023, True Classic’s sales jumped 40% year-over-year to $207M while EBITDA quadrupled to $19M. 1686 Partners is a private equity firm founded by David Wertheimer, heir to the Chanel fortune + an investor in apparel & beauty businesses.

3. Mela Acquired By KJ Holding Corp: Business Wire​

KJ Holding Corp, the owner of Calypso Lemonades, expanded its beverage portfolio by acquiring Mela, a fast-growing purveyor of hydrating watermelon beverages. Mela was founded by Dominic Purpura in 2022 and retails at Target, 7-Eleven, Kroger, and Albertsons. KJ Holding Corp will be able to leverage their distribution capabilities to scale Mela to new heights.

4. Nixie Secures Nearly $27M: Twitter​

According to an SEC filing, better-for-you beverage brand Nixie raised $26.9M in funding and added Invus Managing Director Evren Bilimer to its board. Nixie debuted in 2019 with a line of organic sparkling waters before expanding into the better-for-you soda category last year.

Prior to launching Nixie, husband-and-wife team Peter + Nicole Dawes founded and sold Late July Organic Snacks.

5. Glen Powell Launches Condiments Brand: Food & Wine​

Actor Glen Powell teamed up with two CPG veterans to launch Smash Kitchen, a clean condiments brand that’s now available nationwide at Walmart. Powell founded the brand with Sameer Mehta (co-founder of pet food brand Jinx) and Sean Kane (the co-founder of Hello Bello and The Honest Company).

This was a long one. So was last week’s.

To help you make all the strategies your own, I’ve put everything into a single Google Doc.

• Mehtab’s 10 proven pricing tactics
• Matt on how small brands can win
• Mike’s parable on mowing + wartime
• Sean Frank’s state of DTC in 2025

If it’s helpful, please make a copy for yourself or your team. Feel free to share it. And write me back with any questions.

With thanks and anticipation,
Aaron Orendorff 🤓 Executive Editor

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