Monitoring and Enforcing Your MAP Pricing Strategy
When it comes to initiating or enhancing the monitoring and enforcement of your brand’s Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) policy, it can be quite a challenge, especially if your online product catalog boasts thousands of SKUs. How can you efficiently handle such a vast catalog while also keeping a vigilant eye on price violators?
The good news is that we frequently encounter this challenge when working with various brands, and we’ve gathered some valuable tips to make this endeavor both feasible and rewarding.
-Avoid Over-Mapping Your Products
Imagine you have a catalog of 5,000 SKUs, possibly in the realm of apparel or footwear, with half of those SKUs discontinued and another third privately labeled for a specific retailer. In such cases, focus your MAP monitoring and enforcement efforts solely on the remaining portion of your catalog.
-Be Selective in Listing SKUs
Keep in mind that, as the brand, you have full control over which items are included in your MAP pricing list. There’s no obligation to encompass all SKUs within your MAP policy. With a well-crafted policy and proper communication to retailers, you can adjust which items are part of the MAP list as needed.
-Opt for a Representative Sample for Tracking
Let’s face it—a catalog featuring 5,000 to 10,000 SKUs is likely cost-prohibitive to monitor entirely. That’s why nearly every brand with a large catalog chooses what we refer to as a “representative sample” of SKUs for inclusion in our monitoring and enforcement platforms. For example, if you have a 4,000 SKU catalog, consider including your best-selling SKUs along with a diverse assortment of products that collectively represent your entire product range. For instance, a shoe brand might select a men’s size 10 and a women’s size 8 across all colors and styles to indicate that sellers who neglect these essential sizes for any shoe style are probably not significant players.
-Allocate the Necessary Resources
This applies not only to brands with extensive catalogs but is crucial for any brand offering a high-volume online inventory. Regardless of your catalog size, dedicating time and personnel to review tracking data, address recorded violations, and implement offline or escalated enforcement measures when necessary is essential.
No brand can rely solely on automation, standardized notices, or voluntary seller compliance to maintain meaningful MAP compliance.