US retailer Academy Sports + Outdoors keeps the faith with Revionics AI powered pricing platform

Revionics, an Aptos company specialising in AI retail pricing, reports that Academy Sports + Outdoors has extended its use of the Base Price and Markdown Optimisation solutions.

Originally founded in 1938 as a family business in Texas, Academy has grown to more than 300 stores across 21 states. Its product assortment focuses on key categories of outdoor, apparel, footwear, and sports and recreation through both national brands and a portfolio of private label brands.

Deploying Revionics technology, Academy is able to: optimise pricing across products and categories with reporting on the impact and value generated by price changes; refine markdown cadence and depth to clear seasonal inventory profitably and keep on-shelf selections fresh; accurately forecast customer demand and price sensitivity to ensure optimal pricing and a positive price image; scale pricing operations efficiently to manage an expanding store portfolio and localised shopper preferences.

“When I first joined Academy, we had approximately 70 stores, and our pricing team was manually analyzing individual stores and markets,” says Russell Kolb, Vice President, Pricing, Merchant Systems and Master Data Management at Academy.

“But now, we have more than 300 stores, and we leverage technology to help identify the right price across all stores and our highly varied assortment. That’s where the Revionics tools really shine - we’re able to unlock pricing strategies that deliver consistent value to shoppers and achieve stronger results, while easily scaling to manage more stores and products.”

“We have a fantastic working relationship with the Revionics team; they are responsive and consistently provide realistic timelines and solutions to help us achieve our goals,” he adds. “They stay in tune with our specific business needs and broader industry trends, often bringing us proactive ideas to explore. That level of collaboration allows us to constantly innovate our own processes and find new ways to drive results.”

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.