Revenue Management is dying

RM is dying, yup, i said it and you think i went f** bananas. Let me give you 2 examples from just this week:

1. The German government (and others) adding a rule to dynamic price changes: only once a day you can increase but you can decrease as much as you like...

2. FIFA tickets: Fans outraged at prices - unaffordable for some...and so "strange" that some matches are so expensive whilst others so cheap...

Revenue Management is dying, not because it stopped working. BUT and here is the BUT: Because people are starting to see and above all FEEL it.

The invisible game we’ve been playing

We’re in a supermarket - me and my little man Hayden. Three shelves, same category, different prices. Bottom shelf is cheap, middle shelf is “normal,” top shelf is premium. Typical marketing set up coupled with human behaviour theory - nobody complains. Nobody writes a LinkedIn post about injustice. We just pick what fits us and move on.

A few hours later, same day, same kid: Hayden wants chocolate after dinner. Suddenly, the rules change. It’s no longer about the product, it’s about the conditions. Did he behave? Did he finish homework? Has he already had enough sugar? The “price” is now effort, timing, negotiation.

Earlier, different prices didn’t make sense to him. Now he’s actively trying to move himself into a better deal. Same system. Different context. Completely different acceptance.

People love it…until they don’t (aka when its cheaper its good)

Here’s the reality nobody likes admitting: People love revenue management when they win.

When they get the early bird deal. When they find a cheaper rate. When they get upgraded because demand is low. When they feel like they outsmarted the system.

But the moment it flips: They book late and pay more. They realize someone else paid less. They miss the “right timing.”

Now suddenly the system is broken. Not because it changed. Because their position in it did.

The thought experiment nobody likes

Let’s remove revenue management for a second. No dynamic pricing. No segmentation. No timing advantages. No flexibility-based pricing. Everything is fixed.

Now ask yourself honestly. Would you be okay paying the same for a flight booked six months in advance as someone booking two hours before departure? Would you be fine if hotels removed all cheaper advance rates and just priced everything at the highest possible level to protect revenue?

Would you enjoy a world where there are no deals, no upgrades, no smart buying decisions… just one fixed price for everyone? The "we are all equal camp" is getting warm and fuzzy here.

Sounds clean. Until you realize it’s just more expensive and less flexible.

The part we don’t talk about

Revenue management creates a two-class system: Those who can navigate it. And those who can’t.

The ones who understand timing, flexibility, and options play the game well. The ones who don’t end up paying more, often without realizing why.

That’s not new. That’s how almost every system works. The difference now is that people are starting to notice.

From invisible to obvious

For years, revenue management worked quietly in the background. Prices moved, availability shifted, offers appeared and disappeared. Most people didn’t question it.

Now they do. They see patterns. They see fluctuations. They start asking questions.

And the moment something feels designed, it stops feeling neutral. It starts feeling intentional.

So what’s actually dying?

Not revenue management (yeah that was clickbait, kinda, tiny bit, but worked considering you read all the way to here...so hop hop...read to the end).

The invisible version of it. The one that didn’t need to explain itself. The one that assumed logic was enough. The one that operated purely on data without thinking about how it feels on the receiving end. That version is done.

What comes next

The next version doesn’t remove pricing intelligence. It adds human intelligence. It understands that people don’t just react to price, they react to how that price makes them feel. It connects data with behavior, logic with perception, optimization with trust.

Because at the end of the day, revenue management isn’t something companies invented.

It’s something we all do. With our time. With our energy. With our kids. In relationships. In everyday decisions.

We constantly adjust based on conditions. We just don’t call it revenue management when it’s our own life.

The Conclusion: Revenue management isn’t dying. It’s being exposed.

And once something is exposed, it has to evolve.

Because the real question going forward isn’t whether your pricing is smart. It’s whether it still makes sense when people actually see it.

Love, Fabi

Bit about me: I’m Fabian Bartnick, also known as Fabi — a Commercial Intelligence Leader who helps companies make better decisions by connecting data, marketing, sales, revenue management, and communication.

Over the past years I’ve built and exited hospitality tech companies, trained thousands of leaders worldwide, invested in startups, and helped organizations align their commercial teams to drive measurable growth.

TL;DR: I make people better and companies more money by changing the way they think.

If you’re ready to align your sales, marketing, and data into one unstoppable growth engine connect with me on LinkedIn.