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Promo-Adjusted Effective Price Calculator

Reviewed for 2026, updated September 8, 2026.

Converts a competitor's list price, promo depth and share of days on promo into the average price shoppers actually see over a period, then compares it with yours, for brands and retailers reading a competitor's promo calendar.

Your numbers

Results update as you type.

Your estimate

Competitor's effective price...
Your effective price...
Your effective price vs theirs...
List price vs effective price...

Estimates only. Assumptions are listed below, and you can change every input.

A competitor who lists at $80 but runs 25% off a third of the time is not really an $80 competitor. Shoppers who wait for the sale pay $60, and the average price on any given day across the period is somewhere in between. Comparing list prices alone hides this, which is how brands convince themselves they are priced below a rival who is actually cheaper in practice for weeks at a time.

This calculator computes a time-weighted effective price for a competitor and for you: list price reduced by the promo depth for the share of days the promo runs, and full list price the rest of the time. It then shows the gap between the two effective prices and states plainly how your list-price position compares with your effective-price position. The estimate is only as good as the promo calendar you observed, and it weights by days, not by units sold, so it is a price signal, not a revenue figure.

How to use this tool

  1. Enter the competitor's regular list price, their typical promo discount, and the share of days you have seen them on promotion over a period you trust, ideally 90 days or more.
  2. Enter the same three numbers for your own product. If you never run promotions, set your promo discount or promo share to 0.
  3. Compare the effective prices and read the summary line. If your list-price position and your effective-price position tell different stories, the promo calendar, not the list price, is what shoppers are responding to.

What the math assumes

  • Effective price is list price times (1 minus promo depth times share of days on promo), which assumes one constant promo depth and full list price on every non-promo day.
  • The average is weighted by days, not by units sold; if promos pull in a lot more volume, the volume-weighted average price is lower than shown.
  • Coupons, bundles, loyalty rewards and free shipping are not modeled unless you fold their value into the promo depth.
  • The period you observed is assumed to be representative; a window that happens to include a holiday event will overstate the year-round effective price gap.
  • Gaps are calculated relative to the competitor's price, so a positive gap means your price is higher than theirs.

Frequently asked questions

How do I estimate a competitor's share of days on promo?

Count the days a promotion was live on the product over the window you monitored and divide by the total days in that window. If you only have a few spot checks, treat the result as rough and widen the window before acting on it.

What if the competitor runs promos of different depths?

Use the depth that covers most of their promo days, or run the calculator once per depth with that depth's share of days and average the effective prices by hand. A single blended depth is fine for a first read.

Does a lower effective price mean the competitor is winning?

Not on its own. It means shoppers see a lower average price, which matters most for products people compare and can wait for. Whether it wins depends on their volume, their margin and whether the promos are funded by a supplier or by their own margin.

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More free tools from RivalPricr

  • Price Position Index Calculator: Shows where your price sits against up to four competitor prices as an index, a percentage gap to the average and to the cheapest, and a rank, for brands and retailers checking price positioning on a single product.
  • Competitor Price Change Detection Lag Calculator: Estimates how long a competitor's price move goes unnoticed at your current check frequency, how many product-days per month you are exposed, and how much revenue is at risk during that lag, for teams deciding how often to check competitor prices.

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