prAIcing · Free merchant tool
Discount break-even calculator
Will that weekend sale or Black Friday code actually make money? See how many more orders a discount needs just to keep the same gross profit.
Formula: extra volume = discount ÷ (margin − discount). Gross margin only; fees and ads raise the hurdle.
Extra orders needed for the same gross profit
+100.0%
At a 40% margin, a 20% discount leaves 20% per unit. You need 2.00× your normal unit sales to break even on gross profit.
Discount break-even table
Extra unit sales needed to keep gross profit flat.
| Margin ↓ / Discount → | 5% | 10% | 15% | 20% | 25% | 30% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20% | +33% | +100% | +300% | Loss | Loss | Loss |
| 30% | +20% | +50% | +100% | +200% | +500% | Loss |
| 40% | +14% | +33% | +60% | +100% | +167% | +300% |
| 50% | +11% | +25% | +43% | +67% | +100% | +150% |
| 60% | +9% | +20% | +33% | +50% | +71% | +100% |
Blanket discounts are a guess. prAIcing tests smaller price steps on half your shoppers and keeps a change only when revenue or profit per visitor supports it — within the margin floor you set.
From an assumption to shopper evidence
Your shoppers reveal the tradeoff. Your agent does the work.
A guessed elasticity can make a discount look attractive when it actually destroys margin. prAIcing compares two prices in a controlled 50/50 test and measures revenue or profit per product-page visitor. That evidence informs the next pricing decision — not a competitor’s price alone.
01 · Set the objective
Maximize Sales, Profit or Volume. Define minimum margins, step limits and locked products.
02 · Test & measure
Compare concurrent shopper groups. Measure outcomes per visitor so unequal traffic does not masquerade as demand.
03 · Learn & retest
Roll out a supported winner or keep the original. Revisit the decision as demand and seasons change.
04 · Work across the catalogue
A catalogue with 1,000+ SKUs needs prioritization, not 1,000 manual spreadsheets. Focus tests on products with enough traffic, then work through the queue.
Scale, honestly: current Autopilot runs up to 3 simultaneous tests per store. Catalogue size is not concurrent test capacity; traffic and test duration determine throughput. This is a rolling testing workflow, not a claim that thousands of SKUs have been tested simultaneously or that every product will improve.
Explore the testing methodCommon questions
How much more do I need to sell to make up for a discount?
Required extra volume = discount ÷ (gross margin − discount). With a 40% margin, a 20% discount needs 100% more units — double the sales — just to earn the same gross profit.
What if the discount is larger than my margin?
Then every discounted unit sells at or below cost. No volume increase recovers the gross profit; the promotion only makes sense for clearing stock or acquiring customers you expect to return.
Does this include ad spend and payment fees?
No. It uses gross margin (price minus product cost). Fees and promotion ad spend make the required uplift larger. Use the margin calculator for full per-unit costs.
Are discounts always bad?
No. A promotion can pay off when it brings genuinely new customers, clears aging stock or lifts basket size. The point is to know the volume hurdle before you run it, and measure it afterwards.
How does prAIcing approach discounts?
Instead of blanket store-wide cuts, prAIcing can test small price steps with concurrent 50/50 shopper groups and keep a change only when revenue or profit per visitor supports it. Scheduled promotions respect your minimum-margin guardrail.
Stop guessing discounts. Let your shoppers show what works.
Set your goal and limits. Let the agent handle the testing cycle, while you focus on your next collection, customer experience or growth initiative.
Private beta · WooCommerce & Shopify · 30 days free once admitted