Volume Pricing for CPQ
They need 500 fittings. Your quote still prices the first 50. Let quantity tiers update unit price as the line grows.
Volume pricing · session
Quantity → tier → unit price
| Qty | Unit | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1–24 | €120 | |
| 25–49 | €112 | |
| 50–99 | €104 | Applied |
| 100+ | €96 |
Applied
50–99
Unit
€104
Total
€7,800
Add 25 units to reach €96/unit
What this controls
At quantity
Tier applies when qty crosses the break
Unit price
Break and unit rate visible on each line
On the quote
Total reflects tier before approval
The challenge
They need 500 units. The quote still prices the first 50.
Procurement asks for a revised quantity on a hose-and-fitting assembly. The rep copies the old quote, changes the qty field, and leaves unit price at the small-order break. The customer accepts. Finance discovers the order shipped at list because nobody re-checked the volume table.
Volume breaks sit in a PDF price book or a tab on the ERP export. Reps memorize the first two tiers and guess the rest. Dealers on the portal quote tier one while inside sales applies tier three on the same SKU.
Dynamic pricing rolls up options on the configuration. Customer-specific pricing applies the account list. Discount management governs exceptions below floor. Volume pricing is different: as quantity on a line crosses published breaks, unit price steps down without a manual lookup.
Inquiry to config to price to approval to order should reflect the qty on the quote, not the qty the rep assumed when they opened the catalog.
How it works
How Mercura applies quantity tiers on the quote
Pricing ops define break schedules in Mercura: qty thresholds, unit prices, and optional product families that share a ladder. When a rep, dealer, or buyer changes quantity on a quote line, Mercura evaluates the ladder and updates unit price before dynamic roll-up, account lists, or discounts apply. Contract-pricing and customer-specific pages cover negotiated account rates; this page is how published qty breaks track the line as it grows. Tier tables need an owner when list prices refresh.
Price waterfall
How pricing layers combine on a deal
Illustrative stack · each page highlights its own contribution
Commitment model
Annual / cumulative volume
Illustrative scenario · only where commitment ladders are configured
Annual commitment
1,000 units
Purchased YTD
780
Current order
150
New total
930
Current commitment tier → next threshold tracked on the account
What's included
What volume pricing covers
Tier
- Quantity break tiers applied when line qty changes
- Shared ladders across product families where pricing ops defines them
Apply
- Unit price and active break visible on each quote line
- Same tier logic for inside sales, dealers, and self-service portals
- Quote total reflects breaks before approval and PDF generation
Combine
- Works with dynamic pricing, account lists, rules, and discounts
Trace
- Updates when volume price books are republished
- Traceability of which break drove the line unit price
The difference
Volume tiers before and after CPQ
Manual tier lookup
- 01 Reps quote tier one and adjust after procurement sends the PO qty
- 02 Break tables in PDF price books or offline spreadsheets
- 03 Dealers and inside sales apply different assumptions on the same SKU
- 04 Revised qty on a reorder leaves unit price unchanged
- 05 Finance reconciles volume discounts after the order ships
With Mercura
- 01 Changing qty on the line applies the matching break
- 02 Unit price and active tier visible from the first revision
- 03 Dealers and reps share published qty ladders
- 04 Reorder quotes recalculate breaks when qty changes
- 05 Margin review sees the tier the price book expects at that qty
Real-world example
Example workflow: hose and fitting quantity breaks
Qty 500 lands in tier 3 · unit price updates on the quote
A distributor of industrial hose, couplings, and adapters publishes six quantity breaks per SKU family. Reps used to quote the 1–99 tier and fix unit price when the customer clarified plant-wide qty. After loading break ladders in Mercura, increasing line qty from 80 to 400 on the quote drops unit price to the 250+ break, dealers see the same ladder on the portal, and reorder quotes recalculate when maintenance orders a different batch size without a second pricing pass.
Business impact
Why volume pricing is qty context, not a bigger discount
Volume pricing is how CPQ honours published qty breaks at quote time. It complements dynamic roll-up, customer-specific lists, rule-based surcharges, contract rates, and discount approval. Mercura does not replace your ERP as system of record for list prices. Someone must maintain break tables when catalogs refresh. If disputes start with "we were quoted the wrong tier", tying ladders to line qty in CPQ aligns inquiry, configuration, price, approval, and order with the quantity on the quote.
Business impact
Automatic tier accuracy
Quantity break tiers applied when line qty changes.
Near-threshold upsell
Unit price and active break visible on each quote line.
Fewer manual lookups
Quote total reflects breaks before approval and PDF generation.
Compare
Contract pricing vs volume pricing
Contract pricing
Formal agreement defines commercial terms over a validity period
Scope · time · products
Volume pricing
Quantity or commitment determines a tier
Quantity thresholds
A contract may contain volume terms, but the two concepts are not the same.
Pricing map
How starting price, adjustments, live calculation, discount control, and margin fit together
Starting price
Adjustment logic
Live calculation
Commercial control
Profitability check
Correct tier · unit price updated
See quantity tiers update when line qty changes
Book a demo and raise qty on a quote line until the next break applies before approval.
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