Term

What is Account-Based Pricing?

2 MIN READ

Last updated:

Account-Based Pricing Explained

Account-based pricing is a B2B model where product prices depend on the customer’s company account rather than being the same for every buyer. Pricing can reflect contracts, customer groups, tiers, locations, currencies, or negotiated exceptions.

The term is often used broadly for any pricing experience determined by the authenticated business account. The platform identifies the company, location, or buyer group and applies the corresponding price list or pricing logic. This is more precise than consumer segmentation because the price is usually tied to a commercial relationship rather than a marketing audience.

Account-based prices may reflect:

• A negotiated contract or customer price list.

• Distributor, dealer, reseller, or membership tier.

• Region, branch, currency, tax status, or delivery location.

• Product eligibility, quantity breaks, or account-level promotional agreements.

The ecommerce experience must apply these rules consistently in search, product pages, cart, quote, and checkout. Showing the correct price only at the final step creates confusion and support work. For ERP-connected B2B, account-based pricing is typically strongest when the commerce platform consumes authoritative prices or price rules rather than maintaining an independent copy of complex commercial logic.

Example: A Gold dealer and a standard dealer can receive different price lists after login even though both browse the same catalog, with the correct account classification coming from CRM or ERP.