Taylor Wells

03/06/2026

Construction companies are winning projects, but increasingly struggling to make money from them.

Many continue to rely on aggressive bidding and fixed-price contracts, while labour, material, and energy costs keep rising.

The question is whether fixed-price contracts still work in a market where costs are no longer predictable.

→ https://taylorwells.com.au/margin-expansion/
https://www.constructionnews.co.uk/sections/long-reads/opinion/the-construction-sector-is-still-pricing-for-a-world-that-no-longer-exists-02-06-2026/

03/06/2026

The challenge is no longer whether businesses can raise prices; it is whether they can defend them.

Businesses need to recover rising costs and protect margins, but customers, regulators, and governments are increasingly questioning where legitimate cost recovery ends and price gouging begins.

As scrutiny intensifies, the gap between commercial necessity and public perception is becoming one of the biggest risks in pricing.

→ https://taylorwells.com.au/price-gouging-cases/
https://www.shoosmiths.com/perspectives/stories/articles/price-gouging-under-scrutiny-what-uk-businesses-should-prepare-for

As UK regulators sharpen their focus on price gouging, businesses should review pricing governance, evidence for increases, regulatory exposure and reputational risk.

03/06/2026

AI vendors charge for usage. Businesses are accountable for results. The growing gap between the two is becoming one of the biggest challenges in AI monetisation.

Read more: The AI Price War Is On—How to Build Pricing Models That Win → https://taylorwells.com.au/ai-pricing-models/
https://www.computerworld.com/article/4179539/the-ai-pricing-conundrum-it-started-as-a-nightmare-now-its-worse.html

02/06/2026

Home Depot just made a billion-dollar bet on professional customers. Not on products. Not on price. On productivity.

Customers want more. Businesses are spending more to deliver it.
The problem is that margins are not keeping up.

Read more: How Much Is Price Leakage Really Costing Your Business? → https://taylorwells.com.au/price-leakage/
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/21/home-depot-pro-business-growth-strategy.html

02/06/2026

John Deere's shift towards software, data, and subscriptions highlights a broader trend across industrial manufacturing.

The question is whether customers will continue paying for productivity gains or whether they will begin questioning why capabilities they once considered part of ownership now come with an ongoing fee.

Read more: Why B2B Subscription Pricing Is a Growth Lever → https://taylorwells.com.au/b2b-subscription-pricing/
https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/john-deere-expands-precision-ag-subscription-services

29/05/2026

The greatest risk of surveillance pricing may not be regulatory scrutiny, but the growing perception that prices are based on what customers can pay rather than what products are worth.

What begins as a pricing optimisation strategy can quickly become a profitability problem.

29/05/2026

Airlines are using AI to make fares more dynamic, but customers are starting to question whether prices reflect demand or simply their willingness to pay.

The real risk is not dynamic pricing, it is passengers losing confidence that the fare in front of them is fair.

29/05/2026

Walmart shows how the line between supply chain and pricing is disappearing.
Walmart built its reputation on supply chain excellence. However, the question now is whether even the world's largest retailer can stay ahead of logistics costs that are rising faster than their pricing power.

29/05/2026

Electronic shelf labels promise greater efficiency, but they also make every price change more visible and more open to scrutiny.
Many customers still expect the shelf price and checkout price to match.
When they do not, efficiency starts looking like manipulation.

29/05/2026

Many businesses have modernised their products and customer experience, but their pricing and monetisation systems are still stuck in the past.
Slow legacy pricing systems delay market responses, create billing complexity, and leave revenue and margin opportunities on the table.
The greatest threat to margin growth may be a business's inability to adapt its pricing fast enough.