Can I Test Prices on All My Products at Once?

You've decided to test your prices. Smart move. Now comes the natural question: should you test everything at once, or start small?

The answer: it depends on what you want to learn.

You can test sitewide to understand overall price elasticity. You can test collections for quick, actionable wins. Or you can test individual products for deep insights.

Let's explore which approach fits your goals.

What Are the Different Ways to Test Prices?

Match your testing scope to what you want to learn

Sitewide pricing test

Apply a pricing change across your entire catalog. High traffic, but traditionally no context. You get macro numbers: "5% increase changed conversion by X%."

With our built-in analytics filters on Intelligems, you can now segment sitewide test results by specific product groups, order value ranges, or individual products. This gives you granular insights from sitewide testing.

Use this when your question is truly about overall positioning: "Should we position ourselves as premium or value across our entire brand?" But ask yourself: does testing everything answer your question, or would testing one collection get you there? And are you willing to implement pricing changes across your entire catalog at once?

Collection-level test (recommended)

Focus on one collection with similar products and similar characteristics. Here's the value: you get good traffic AND contextual learning within a controlled segment.

You're testing products that behave similarly, appeal to similar customers, and have similar price expectations. This gives you actionable insights about how customers respond to price changes in that specific category.

This is the recommended starting point. Best balance of traffic, control, and contextual understanding. You learn something you can apply to similar products.

Individual product test

Deep dive into a single product's price sensitivity. Test larger price variations on hero products or items you're repositioning.

Good for flagship products where you want granular insights before making major pricing decisions.

Which Testing Approach Should I Choose?

Match your testing scope to your goal

You want comprehensive insights, but you also want them fast. Test everything and you'll wait forever for results. Test too narrow and you miss the bigger picture.

Most brands default to either testing their entire catalog (because it feels thorough) or testing a single product (because it feels safe). But the sweet spot for most brands is somewhere in between.

Your testing scope should match your actual business question. If you're asking "Should we reposition our entire brand as premium?" then yes, test sitewide. But if you're asking "Are our sweaters priced right?" then testing just the sweater collection gives you better, faster answers.

Choose collection-level testing when:

• You want contextual learning within a product category

• You're optimizing systematically and want actionable insights

• You want to understand how similar products respond to price changes

• You need both control and good traffic

• You're just starting with price testing

Choose sitewide testing when:

• You have strategic positioning questions (premium vs value)

• You're willing to change all prices at once

• You're testing broad pricing changes (e.g., "raise everything 5%")

• You can use analytics filters to segment results afterward

Choose individual product testing when:

• You're repositioning a hero product

• You want deep insights on a flagship item

• You can test larger price variations

• One product deserves focused attention

For most brands: start with collection-level testing. Best balance of traffic, control, and contextual understanding. You learn how customers respond within a specific category, giving you insights you can apply to similar products.

What's the Simplest Test I Can Run?

Follow these steps to find certainty in your pricing

You don't need a PhD in statistics to run a valid price test. You don't need fancy tools or complex experimental designs. You just need a systematic approach that gives you clear answers.

The straddle test is the simplest way to learn what works. Pick one collection. Test prices on both sides of your current price. Measure what matters. The steps below walk you through exactly how to do this, start to finish.

Step 1: Pick Your Collection

Start with your best-selling collection:

• Lots of data quickly (high traffic)

• Meaningful business impact

• Decent margin across the collection

Step 2: Set Your Straddle Test

Test prices on both sides of your current price. If you're selling at $150:

• Control: $150 (current price)

• Test lower: $135-140 (5-10% down)

• Test higher: $165-170 (5-10% up)

These represent 5-10% price changes from your baseline - the sweet spot for initial price testing.

Why 5-10%? Big enough to see clear results quickly. Small enough to stay reasonable. You picked $150 for a reason - you're not jumping to $250 overnight.

Step 3: Run Until Confident

Don't get lost in vanity metrics. Four numbers tell you everything you need to know:

• Conversion rate: How many visitors buy

• Average order value: How much they spend

• Revenue per visitor: Conversion × AOV

• Profit per visitor: Revenue minus costs per visitor

Why profit per visitor matters most:

You might grow revenue while compressing margins so much that profit goes down. A 5% conversion drop with 15% higher prices often increases profit. Only profit per visitor tells you if you're actually winning.

Run for at least two weeks to capture full weekly shopping patterns. Different days of the week expose your test to different variables: Monday might be payday for many customers, Tuesday might see a competitor's promotion, weekends might bring different shopping behavior.

This full weekly cycle gives you confidence when patterns stabilize and tell a consistent story day after day.

Step 4: Act on What You Know

Look at profit per visitor for each group. The winner might surprise you. Sometimes higher prices with lower conversion drive more profit.

Now you have certainty instead of doubt.

One caveat: Respect your margin requirements. Your finance team likely has minimum margin thresholds you need to maintain.

How Long Should I Run My Test?

Your data will tell you when it's ready

Run your test for at least two weeks to capture full weekly shopping patterns.

Track daily and watch your confidence grow. Act when the data tells a clear story.

Check daily to ensure things run smoothly. When the pattern becomes clear and consistent, you're ready to decide.

Remember: pricing isn't permanent. You can change prices and change them back. You don't need perfect certainty to make a decision - just enough confidence to act.

Common Mistakes That Waste Time

Avoid these testing pitfalls

The most painful mistakes aren't the ones that give you wrong answers. They're the ones that waste weeks or months before you realize you're testing the wrong thing.

I've seen brands run sitewide tests when they really just needed to understand one product category. I've watched teams test individual products one by one when a collection-level test would have given them systematic insights in the same timeframe. The scope mismatch kills momentum before you even get started.

Testing the wrong scope for your goal. Sitewide tests answer strategic questions. Collection tests give quick wins. Individual product tests provide deep insights. Match your scope to what you want to learn.

Testing during sales. Promotional periods skew results. Run tests during normal shopping periods.

Changing mid-test. You invalidate everything. Let tests run their course.

Ignoring profit. Revenue alone misleads. Always measure profit per visitor.

Stop Guessing. Start Testing.

Most brands struggle with pricing because they don't match their testing approach to their goals.

Sitewide testing validates broad strategy (and with analytics filters, you can segment results for granular insights). Collection testing gives you contextual learning within a controlled segment. Individual product testing provides deep insights on hero items.

For most brands, start with collection-level testing:

• Pick your best-selling collection

• Run a straddle test (5-10% up and down)

• Measure profit per visitor

• Know what works

• Move to the next collection

You don't need to test everything at once. You need to test the right scope for your goals.

Ready to discover what your customers will actually pay? When you're ready to test smart and know for sure, let's get you testing beyond what's typical.