We’ve all heard about the “race to the bottom” where e-commerce sellers try to undercut each others prices on a product until profit margins are razor thin or they end up taking a loss on the sale. No one wins when this is allowed to happen.
Here’s what happens:
Brick and mortar stores cannot compete and will drop the product from their inventory.
The product is devalued in the eye of the consumer. They won’t think that they are getting a good deal, they will think that prices were previously inflated and they were getting ripped off on a cheap product.
Value Added Sellers will avoid your brand. No matter how great a product is, if the MAP is being violated and no steps taken to enforce it, we will likely take a pass. There is plenty of opportunity to work with other brands where we can predict a stable profit margin.
While most brands have a minimum advertised price to avoid all this, the problem is enforcing it. Enforcing MAP on Amazon does take some work but is not as complicated as it may seem. Start by registering your brand with Amazon, then partner together with a professional Value Added third party seller to systematically identify and eliminate the unauthorized sellers.
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