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The end of manual pricing: how decision automation increases profitability in retail

Felix Hoffmann | Co-founder and CEO | 7Learnings
Retail pricing has become so complex that manual methods and rigid rule-based systems can no longer manage effectively. With thousands of SKUs, multiple sales channels, and fast-changing market dynamics, even the best pricing teams face limits that result in slow reactions, inconsistent decisions, and lost profitability. This article argues that the solution lies in decision automation powered by artificial intelligence. Predictive pricing solutions transform millions of data points into proactive, outcome-driven actions that align with strategic business goals such as profit growth, revenue maximization, or inventory efficiency. A case study with fashion brand Tom Tailor illustrates how AI-driven pricing automation can boost revenue (+6.7%), improve sell-through, and reduce manual workload. Far from eliminating human control, decision automation empowers teams by combining transparency, override options, and goal-setting capabilities. Retailers that embrace pricing AI shift from static, rule-based processes to dynamic, scalable, and strategic levers of growth, which is particularly important when facing fast-moving competitors like Temu and Shein.
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Felix Hoffmann,is the co-founder and CEO of 7Learnings, where he focuses on helping brands and retailers improve profitability through AI-driven decision intelligence. His company developed a predictive pricing solution that goes beyond traditional rule-based “if-then” models by analyzing internal data—such as product details, price history, costs, marketing, and inventory—alongside external factors like weather, seasonality, and competitor pricing to determine optimal price scenarios, often increasing customers’ sales by around 10%. With more than 15 years of experience in pricing and marketing optimization, Hoffmann previously led the global price optimization algorithm as product owner at Zalando and worked for six years as a pricing consultant at A.T. Kearney. Originally from East Germany and raised in Brandenburg an der Havel, he studied internationally—including time at University of California, Santa Barbara and a double degree from ESCP Business School—and now lives in Berlin with his family, where he enjoys playing beach volleyball at Beachmitte. About 7Learnings 7Learnings offers an AI-powered pricing platform for retailers and brands and is pioneering the comprehensive optimization of pricing and performance marketing. With 7Learnings' machine learning algorithm, retailers and brands can predict the impact of pricing decisions, determine the optimal price for all products, and reduce manual work by up to 80 percent. The solution has been rigorously tested in numerous A/B experiments and consistently delivers measurable performance improvements and profit increases of more than ten percent. 7Learnings was founded in Berlin in 2019 by Felix Hoffmann, Eiko van Hettinga, and Martin Nowak. Its customers include international companies such as Westwing, Bonprix, Tom Tailor, Tamaris, and DK Company.