priceswhen

Priceswhen is a term used in price analytics to denote the timestamp associated with a specific price value for a product or service. It identifies when the price becomes valid within a market, region, or retailer, and is a key component of price history datasets. The concept helps distinguish the moment a price is set from the moment it is observed.

In data terms, a priceswhen record typically includes fields such as item_id, price, currency, market or region, and priceswhen itself (formatted as ISO 8601). Some datasets also store end_of_validity to indicate how long the price remains applicable. Together, priceswhen and price create time-aligned price series that support accurate comparisons across sources and time zones.

Applications of priceswhen include competitive price monitoring, dynamic pricing, monetary and consumer price index construction, and historical price analysis for merchants and researchers. By anchoring price values to a precise moment, analysts can reconstruct price trajectories, detect sudden shifts, and model price exposure for inventory decisions.

Challenges include ensuring timestamp accuracy, handling price revalidations, time zone consistency, and missing or conflicting data. Data governance practices—such as standardizing currency, region codes, and validity windows—are essential for reliable analyses.

See also: price history, time series, timestamp, dynamic pricing, price index.