While growing a brand, it’s natural to assume that more distribution is advantageous. Manufacturers are thrilled when they reach top-tier wholesale distributors, leading to increasing sales and overall satisfaction. However, during this growth phase, it’s challenging to foresee potential issues lurking just around the corner. With increased distribution comes a rise in unauthorized sellers. Many “bedroom entrepreneurs” obtain data feeds from a wholesale distributor (WD) and list your products at rock-bottom prices on Amazon and eBay. Identifying these sellers can be difficult since some go to great lengths to conceal their identities. Before long, your loyal brick-and-mortar dealers struggle to compete with online sellers and threaten to halt stocking orders, posing a genuine problem. Additionally, new wholesale distributors may refuse to carry your brand until you resolve your pricing issues.
Attempting to address violators by placing them on a do-not-sell list can be effective, but what if it doesn’t work? Where are they sourcing the products? Perhaps your new WD isn’t enforcing the do-not-sell list you provided, or the seller has accounts with multiple WDs. Situations like this are common and can be time-consuming to resolve.
Does this scenario sound familiar? As your business grows, managing sales channels should be a top priority, requiring a long-term strategy when developing the terms and conditions for your pricing policy.
• Will you permit sales on third-party marketplace sites?
• Should you implement a MAP or MRP policy?
• Is a preferred dealer program necessary?
• What are the penalties for violations?
• How many WDs do you want?
There are numerous factors to consider, but most importantly, be ready to monitor and enforce your policies, regardless of the type. Professionally enforcing MAP is a “self-correcting” approach to addressing over-distribution, leaving a smaller group of sellers to manage.
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