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Frameworks, core principles and top case studies for SaaS pricing, learnt and refined over 28+ years of SaaS-monetization experience.
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In today's competitive SaaS landscape, your Order Management System's pricing and packaging strategy can be the difference between accelerated growth and stagnation. While product capabilities matter, how you structure, present, and monetize your OMS solution often determines market penetration and revenue potential.
According to OpenView Partners' 2023 SaaS Benchmarks report, companies that revisit and optimize their pricing strategies at least annually see 30% higher growth rates than those with static approaches. Yet many OMS providers continue using legacy pricing models that fail to align with actual customer value.
This guide walks through a structured approach to revamping your OMS pricing and packaging strategy to maximize both customer acquisition and lifetime value.
Understanding the Strategic Importance
Before diving into tactics, it's critical to understand why pricing strategy deserves executive attention:
Revenue Amplification: McKinsey research shows that optimized pricing typically delivers 2-7% revenue increases—translating directly to bottom-line growth with minimal additional costs.
Market Positioning: How you package and price your OMS solution signals its value positioning against competitors and influences which market segments perceive it as the right fit.
Customer Success Alignment: Properly structured pricing ensures customers derive value proportional to what they pay, improving satisfaction and retention.
Growth Framework: The right pricing model creates natural expansion pathways as customer needs evolve—a critical factor for SaaS valuation multiples.
The 6-Phase Approach to OMS Pricing Strategy
Phase 1: Market and Customer Research (4-6 Weeks)
Begin with comprehensive research to ground your strategy in market realities:
Customer Value Analysis:
- Interview 15-20 current customers across different segments to understand:
- Which OMS features deliver the highest perceived value
- How they measure ROI from your solution
- What pricing models they prefer and why
Competitive Audit:
- Analyze 5-7 direct competitors' pricing models, packaging tiers, and pricing communication
- Review 3-4 adjacent solutions (e.g., ERP, inventory management) for cross-industry insights
Value Metric Exploration:
- Identify potential OMS-specific value metrics that could form the basis of your pricing
- Order volume
- Transaction value
- Number of channels/integrations
- Warehouse locations
- User seats
According to Profitwell's SaaS pricing study, companies using value metrics aligned with customer outcomes achieve 65% higher retention rates than those using arbitrary pricing units.
Phase 2: Internal Data Analysis (3-4 Weeks)
Usage Pattern Analysis:
- Extract 12-18 months of usage data to identify:
- Feature adoption patterns across customer segments
- Resource consumption correlations with customer growth
- Natural usage tiers that emerge from the data
Cost Structure Mapping:
- Calculate your fully-loaded cost to serve different customer types
- Identify which features or integrations drive disproportionate support or infrastructure costs
Revenue Performance Review:
- Analyze current customer cohorts to identify:
- Expansion revenue patterns
- Churn risk indicators
- Profitability variations across segments
Phase 3: Strategy Development (2-3 Weeks)
With research complete, develop your strategic framework:
Packaging Architecture:
- Define 3-5 distinct package tiers aligned with identified customer segments
- For each tier, determine:
- Core value proposition
- Feature inclusion/exclusion
- Scalability parameters
Pricing Model Selection:
- Based on research, select your primary pricing approach:
- Per-order model
- Tiered transaction value
- Hybrid subscription + usage
- Feature-based differentiation
Monetization Strategy:
- Determine which aspects of your OMS deliver unique value warranting premium pricing
- Identify natural upsell/cross-sell pathways between packages
According to a 2023 Gainsight study, OMS solutions with clearly differentiated tiers see 40% higher conversion rates from trials and demos compared to single-offering providers.
Phase 4: Financial Modeling & Validation (3-4 Weeks)
Before implementation, rigorously test your strategy:
Revenue Impact Modeling:
- Create financial models projecting how the new strategy affects:
- New customer acquisition
- Customer lifetime value
- Revenue retention and expansion
- Overall business growth trajectory
Customer Migration Simulation:
- Model how existing customers would map to new packages
- Calculate revenue impact of grandfathering vs. migration strategies
Validation Testing:
- Conduct structured interviews with:
- Prospective customers (8-10)
- Current customers (10-15)
- Sales team members (5-7)
- Customer success managers (3-5)
Forrester's 2023 B2B SaaS Pricing report indicates that companies that conduct formal pricing validation reduce implementation risk by 62% and improve revenue forecast accuracy by 40%.
Phase 5: Go-to-Market Planning (3-4 Weeks)
Develop a comprehensive implementation plan:
Internal Readiness:
- Sales enablement and training
- Updated commission structures
- Customer success transition planning
- Billing system adjustments
External Communication:
- Customer communication strategy
- Website pricing page redesign
- Sales collateral development
- Competitive positioning guides
Transition Timeline:
- New customer acquisition cutover date
- Existing customer migration schedule
- Grandfathering policies (if applicable)
Phase 6: Implementation & Optimization (Ongoing)
Phased Rollout:
- Begin with new customers only
- Pilot with a subset of existing customers
- Full implementation based on results
Performance Tracking:
- Establish KPIs to measure success:
- Conversion rate changes
- Average contract value trends
- Customer acquisition costs
- Expansion revenue growth
- Customer satisfaction impact
Ongoing Optimization:
- Review performance quarterly
- Make tactical adjustments as needed
- Plan for annual strategic review
Critical Success Factors for OMS Pricing Projects
Executive Sponsorship:
Successful pricing transformations require visible C-suite support to navigate internal resistance and prioritize resources.
Cross-Functional Involvement:
Include product, sales, marketing, finance, and customer success representatives from the start to ensure all perspectives are considered.
Customer-Centric Approach:
Base decisions on actual customer value perception rather than internal cost structures or competitive matching.
Data-Driven Decisions:
Invest in robust data analysis to ground your strategy in usage patterns and customer behavior rather than assumptions.
Sales Enablement:
According to SiriusDecisions, companies that invest heavily in sales enablement during pricing changes see 82% higher adoption rates of new models.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Feature-Based Pricing Alone:
OMS providers often make the mistake of differentiating packages solely by feature access rather than underlying value metrics.
Overlooking Implementation Costs:
Factor in the true total cost of ownership for customers, including integration and training costs that may not appear in your direct pricing.
Complexity Creep:
Research from ProfitWell shows conversion rates drop 4.9% for every additional pricing dimension added—keep your model intuitive.
Inadequate Grandfathering:
Failing to properly plan for existing customer transitions can create significant churn risk.
Conclusion
A well-executed pricing and packaging strategy for your Order Management System can transform your business economics while better aligning with customer value perception. The key is approaching it as a structured, data-driven project rather than an ad-hoc exercise.
The most successful OMS providers have moved beyond legacy pricing models to embrace value-based approaches that scale naturally with customer success. By following this framework and investing appropriate resources in each phase, you can develop a pricing strategy that serves as a genuine competitive advantage while simplifying the buying decision for prospective customers.
Remember that pricing is never "done"—the most effective companies treat it as a continuous optimization process, reviewing and refining as both market conditions and their product capabilities evolve.