Revenue management is the process of maximizing business revenues by using data to set optimal pricing and product offerings for specific customers at a specific time. This field was pioneered by airlines in the 1970s to set ticket prices based on demand forecasting, and was subsequently adopted by hotels, car rental companies, television advertising sales, and many other industries. Revenue management has proven to be a particularly important and effective strategy for businesses with fixed costs and capacity selling a disposable or perishable product in a competitive marketplace.
The wealth of data available in today’s digital era has created more opportunities than ever to harness the power of revenue management. With in-depth data on consumer online shopping behavior, competitor pricing, and other customer analytics and marketing analytics, companies can use sophisticated market segmentation analysis techniques to identify which types of consumers should be targeted with which products and prices. Similarly, data for demand forecasting and operations research have become more granular than ever, allowing for more accurate predictive analytics to further optimize pricing and inventory management.