Discount depth: reading the gap between selling price and MRP

The definition, in words

Every packaged product sold in India carries a maximum retail price, the MRP printed on the pack. Shopping apps display a selling price and often the MRP beside it, struck through. Discount depth is the difference between the two, divided by the MRP, and written as a percentage. A product whose selling price equals its MRP has no discount. The further the selling price falls below the MRP, the deeper the discount.

Keep both inputs beside the result: the selling price and the MRP used in the calculation.

This guide is about how to measure the gap. For the short definition, see the glossary entries for discount depth, MRP and selling price. For why an app’s price differs from the pack, read why a Blinkit price is not the price. For evidence, run the free price parity check or open the price parity data.

A worked example from real readings

Each row below is one price Rewalto read: one pack, at one pin code, on one day. The depth is the MRP minus the selling price, divided by the MRP.

The products differ, so these depths are not a ranking of the apps. They show the calculation on real readings, and why each figure needs its MRP, pin code and date beside it. A row at 0% is a pack selling at its MRP that day: no discount. The same pack can carry a different depth at another pin code, or on the same app a day later. Records like these, read daily by pin code, are in the commerce data.

Source: Rewalto’s free sample of price readings, read from the Rewalto API on 30 October 2026 and kept as saved (copy 7a0695f3aff3).

Two inputs, both of which can move

The selling price changes with the app, the seller, the pin code and the day. Promotions, bank offers and platform-wide sale events all act on it. A price read at one pin code at one time is a fact about that moment.

The MRP looks fixed, but it is not always consistent. The same product can show different MRPs on different apps, or a different MRP after a pack change, or a stale MRP on an old listing. A discount that looks deep may be a discount from an out-of-date MRP. Because of this, a discount depth figure should always be reported with the MRP it was calculated from, and any disagreement in MRP between apps should be shown as a fact rather than smoothed over.

There is a further trap in comparing across pack sizes. A 500 g pack at a deeper discount is not necessarily cheaper per gram than a 250 g pack at a shallower one. Compare price per unit where the comparison matters, and discount depth where the question is how far a price is being cut.

What discount depth can and cannot tell you

It can tell you how aggressively a product is being promoted on an app, how that compares with your rivals' products at the same pin codes, and whether the depth is stable or changing. A brand can use it to check whether a promotion it agreed is showing as agreed, or to see whether a seller is pricing below the level it was expecting.

It cannot tell you who funded the discount. A reduction may come from the brand, the seller or the platform, and the page rarely says which. It cannot tell you whether the discount caused any sales, and it cannot tell you why the price moved. A price record shows what was displayed, and claims about intent go beyond what a capture can support.

See the guide on price alerts and proof for what to ask of any system that flags a price against MRP.

A sound way to track it

Choose a fixed list of products, apps and pin codes. Read selling price and MRP together at a regular time, and keep the readings in one table with the product, pack size, app, pin code and time. Calculate depth per reading. Then look at the pattern: the typical depth per product, how it moves over weeks, and where it differs sharply between pin codes.

Set out clearly what counts as a promotion. A brief dip on a sale day is different from a depth that has crept up and stayed. Look at several weeks before you call something a trend, and mark known events such as platform sale periods so they do not read as a pricing shift.

• Same products, apps and pin codes each time, with price and MRP together.
• Show depth over weeks, and mark sale events on the timeline.

Using it in retailer and internal conversations

Discount depth is most persuasive when it is specific. A dated record showing that a product carried a given depth at named pin codes on named days gives your account manager something the retailer can check. A general claim that a rival is always cheaper does not.

Internally, it helps to separate two questions. Is the price below the floor you agreed? That is a compliance question, answered by comparing price with your threshold. And how deep are the discounts your category is running? That is a market question, answered by comparing depth across brands. Mixing them leads to muddled decisions.

For the neighbouring measures, see digital share of shelf and the guide on private label, where own-label price gaps are a common concern.

How Rewalto records prices

Use the data catalogue to check which price records are available. Review the fields, source details and dates before calculating a discount. Older sample reports illustrate how to present a record; they do not establish current dataset coverage.

A price record shows what was displayed. It cannot establish why the price changed or who funded the discount. Check Watches for the current availability of recurring updates.

Pitfalls when reporting discount depth

Averages hide the story. An average depth across all your products and pin codes can look modest while a handful of products are heavily discounted in one city. Report the spread as well as the typical value, and show the products or locations at either end.

Sale events distort trends. Platform-wide sale periods pull depths up for a short time and then release them. If you compare a sale week with a normal week without saying so, you will read a pricing shift that is really a calendar effect. Mark the events on the timeline and compare like with like.

Bank and coupon offers are not always in the displayed price. A shopper may pay less at checkout than the listing shows, or the listing may show a price that assumes an offer. Be clear about which price you are recording, and say that offers applied at checkout are outside the reading unless the page displays them.

Watch for pack changes. When a brand changes a pack size or a printed MRP, a comparison with the earlier record is no longer like for like. Note the change date and start a new series, so that a fall in depth is not really a new pack with a new MRP.

Finally, do not present depth as a measure of brand health. A deep discount can drive volume, and a shallow one can reflect strong demand. The number is a description of the price on the page. What it means for your business depends on your margins, your promotions and your competitors, and those are yours to judge.

Before sharing a discount chart, open a few of the records behind its largest changes. Confirm that the pack size and MRP are comparable and that a missing price was not treated as zero. Keep checkout offers separate when they depend on a payment method or basket condition. If you exclude a record, note the reason so another analyst can reproduce the calculation.

Where to go next on price against MRP

To compare one pack across apps, follow same product, different price across apps. To see one SKU priced differently store by store, read price consistency across dark stores. To catch a rival’s cut sooner, read competitor promo lag, and for sale weeks, festive sale price tracking.

For the words behind the numbers, see price gap and price parity. If you need this as a regular check, see MAP monitoring and pricing and promotion.

Common questions