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With so many pathways for retailers to “go rogue” on pricing and branded content, there is now a growing demand for one-size-fits-all solutions to keep the sales chain in line, minimize customer confusion & normalize cash flow.

For better and for worse, the Internet has rapidly given birth to an endless marketplace of goods and services, more vast and complex than anything society could have dreamed of even ten years ago. These days, brand manufacturers are facing competition among thousands of retailers. Even more alarming, online sellers often set prices or create marketing and sales materials favoring their specific needs over those of the brand they are partnered with.

While a solid Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) agreement with each link in the sales chain – which often takes into account the maintenance of both pricing and brand identity/value – is a great start, ensuring compliance is a whole other ballgame.

If only there were ways to instantly analyze, and address several online retailers, rogue or otherwise, in a sales chain of thousands…. Enter PriceSpider’s MAP Guard.

THE SQUEAKY PRICING GETS THE GREASE

The most important element to monitor in your extended brand family is the literal bottom line. Not only can a lower, unauthorized price tag directly affect profit margins; it can create widespread confusion (and even anger) among returning and new customers alike. To make things worse, it can lead to a domino effect among other ethically-challenged sellers who will follow suit to try and maximize their own sales volume.

Once the buzz is out, the effect of inconsistency among retailers can be hard to reverse. Fortunately, the MAP Guard monitoring program PriceSpider has developed can help brand leadership pinpoint problems and address them head on, in real-time, from any smart device.

Through the convenience of a single portal, users can now view organized lists and comparison charts to spotlight violators and engage with them through an online digital platform. There’s nothing like a digital cease-and-desist to set things back on track. But, MAP agreements are about more than just consistent pricing.

THE CRITICAL COMPONENT OF BRAND MESSAGE

“Although MAP agreements protect seller margins, price isn’t the only concern. Brand identity is also a valued factor to retailers.” – Tara Johnson, CPC Strategy

After spending years or even decades building a voice for your product(s), and the last thing your brand needs is to have its messaging veer off course. No matter where you list your goods, or who lists them, advertising and marketing should remain consistent.

Now, with the increasing expectations for enhanced branded content, or A+ content as Amazon calls it, company leaders are working harder than ever to incorporate high definition imagery, video, colorized charts and well-written, story-esque descriptors to grab the shopper’s attention and compete with almost too many competitors to count.

Consumers want to be familiar with the products they peruse and not be turned off by conflicting verbiage, descriptors or offers. And NO ONE wants to find out that a purchase doesn’t function as advertised (one of the worst possible scenarios).

After years of research and development, PriceSpider’s Brand Monitor software can help brand manufacturers meet this challenge by showing brands how and where their products are sold. Brand Monitor will analyze how accurate your product content is at a  retailers site against your approved content.

By using powerful tools such as Brand Monitor and MAP Guard, you can ensure your retailers are representing your brand with the proper visuals, descriptions and price points.