Building Materials Pricing Strategy

Pricing Strategy - Building Materials

Building Materials Pricing Strategy

The building materials industry is often characterised by the words ‘commodity’, ‘cost plus’ and ‘contracting margins’.

Building materials industry Insight

Sales teams are increasingly expected to do more with less and this often results in unintended margin erosion.

With the rise in demand for housing and civil construction, there has been a major building boom underway in the Australian market.

Many companies have been able to retain margin percentages and, in some cases, grow margins. However, many other companies have simply sold more volume at the same margin or slightly lower margins driven by price discounting or increased rebates. It has been a case of profitless prosperity. The opportunity to generate earnings growth has gone unrealised.

The building materials industry is undergoing substantial changes in the way materials are purchased. The rise and rise of professional procurement Executives has undermined traditional, relationship based selling which has been a pillar of revenue and margin protection in the past.

Building materials companies now have large product ranges and customer bases due to a spate of M&A activity in the sector over the last 20 years.

Some segments have been protected from imports while others have experienced substantial price pressures due to excess inventory and transfer pricing strategies. These strategies are frequently undertaken by global players who are prepared to sell into Australia at cost, or just above, and repatriate profits into more favourable tax systems.

There is increased pressure on sales teams to generate more value for their customers.
With the increasing complexity of supply chains, changing customer expectations, and more determined competitors, less than ideal results occur due to rushed decision making, limited information, or a lack of technique and process. However, there are margin expansion opportunities amid this pressure and chaos.

Expertise

Our experience in the building materials industry includes working with companies such as those in aluminium extrusions, cement, fasteners, fit out components, flooring products, structural timber and steel products.

Areas where we can help your business include:

We have worked with some of Australia’s leading building materials companies to improve margins and profitability in what are often considered to be commodity products.

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