PriceSpider Ecommerce Connected

In this episode of PriceSpider’s podcast, E-Commerce Connected,  our global sales executive Anthony Capozzoli sat down with David G. Howell, founder of David G. Howell and Associates, a full-service online brand protection and marketplace channel management strategy consulting agency, to discuss how brands can uncover the identities of unauthorized third-party sellers.

There are many reasons why brand manufacturers want to identify and protect themselves from unauthorized third-party sellers. A seller that is not connected directly with the brand is most likely also not sharing revenue with the brand. While retail partners will provide reporting and profits to manufacturers, an unauthorized seller flies under the radar and keeps profits to themselves.

Sellers outside of the structured distribution channel have no incentive to follow pricing guidelines, frequently making products available outside of minimum advertised pricing (MAP) and Minimum Resale Pricing (MRP) policies. Unauthorized sellers also don’t have any motivation to comply with brand quality guidelines and will often send damaged, lower-quality items that should have been removed from circulation. Sometimes, these unauthorized dealers will even send fake or knock-off products, truly tarnishing the brand image. Finally, those retailers that are complying with MAP, MRP and quality control guidelines don’t appreciate being undercut by unauthorized sellers.

In order to combat unauthorized third-party sellers, manufacturers first need to figure out who the seller is and how to reach them. That’s where Howell and his team come in. They help manufacturers investigate and track down responsible parties for these unauthorized sellers. In the podcast, Howell explains five of his 10 tactics that help brands narrow down their search. To get the full 10 tactics click here.

* Focus on the Amazon storefront – Even if there isn’t a contact name readily available, sometimes information can be found by searching through vendor FAQ, returns and refunds, shipping, policies, products and reviews. search for any information that might be helpful to narrow down your search, such as states available for shipping, or what locations are taxed. Negative reviews can be especially telling, as the vendor will often provide contact information such as an email or returns shipping address right in their response.

* Submit a Personal Information (PI) Request – Sometimes sellers have accounts through multiple platforms. If you’re able to connect sellers back to an eBay account, eBay can provide contact information from a PI request.

* Use multiple search engines – Each search engine will deliver different results. Chrome, Firefox, Safari and any other search engines you like will all use different algorithms and deliver different results. Try multiple search terms, or if you have parts of information like a seller ID number or address, try searching for those as well.

* Domaintools.com – If you’re able to get a domain name, this website is an excellent resource. You might be able to track multiple websites and brands that are reselling your items back to one person. This premium service offers historical domain registration information even if the owner put up privacy settings at a later date.

* Product Buys – The near-final step! Once you have a pretty good idea who the seller is, you can try to secure the final piece of evidence by purchasing and then returning an item. If you’re purchasing through Amazon make sure orders aren’t Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) because that won’t provide you with any additional information. Also, be smart about your purchase. You don’t even have to buy your product! Buy something that is low-cost and small and make sure to use an anonymous form of payment.

Pricing Policy: Part One – What to know when creating a Pricing Policy

An organization without a handle on pricing policy exposes itself to unnecessary risk. Learn the basics of practical pricing policy and get some food for thought about the best policy solutions for your company.

Listen to Gene Zelek, a partner at Taft Chicago and an expert in pricing policy, as he shares some insight into the smart implementation of price protection policy.

 

What to know when creating a Pricing Policy

MRP vs. MAP

In the world of pricing policy, there are essentially two kinds to choose from MAP or MRP.

Minimum Advertised Price, or MAP, covers only offer price. With MAP, the product page and in-the-cart price for an online seller would be covered, but not the checkout price. For physical retail situations, MAP covers what is outside the store, like mail or newspaper advertising, but not in-store displays or price tags.

Minimum Resale Price, or MRP, however, covers all offers plus the actual selling price—essentially everything MAP covers, plus displays, flyers, price tags, and so on. Of the two, MRP is more comprehensive.

But how do you decide which policy is best for you?

 

Diagnosis

Companies experiencing loss might want to immediately institute MAP/MRP policy, but there are a few considerations to look at first. Begin by identifying problems facing your organization. Zelek says the most common cause is resale price erosion, occurring when distribution is uncontrolled.

Try first culling discounters from your resellers, which can be done without a formal policy in place. Next, try to restrict distribution. For example, you can selectively raise prices by first charging all resellers the same price, and then offering rebates to certain select partners.

 

Strong, clear policy—with a sting.

If a policy is determined to be the best option, ensure that the policy is understandable and relevant and that it involves real, enforceable consequences. The goal is to induce a chilling effect, or an immediate psychological impact, which achieves policy compliance among the majority.

Beyond that, commitment becomes key—you must follow through on enforcement. Failure to enforce consequences risks losing not just money, but credibility, by demonstrating that your policy can be disregarded. As Zelek says, if you don’t have the commitment, don’t bother.

 

Achieve Success by Knowing Your Structure, and Your Limits

Have you identified the level at which the problem is occurring? Is it retail, wholesale, or both? Are all products involved or just a few? Are there possible contract conflicts with suppliers or vendors due to inconsistent terms? How big is your reach and budget for enforcement?

Consider also the means of distribution—is it one- or two-step, through direct sales or through secondary distributors?

Understand that you must pick your battles if there is a lot to regulate—it may be practical to monitor only your most important SKUs. Likewise, monitoring the entire internet is impossible. Using a sampling process is the best method for tackling this issue.

 

Best Practices for Monitoring and Rollout

Retailers have a vested interest in keeping their competitors in compliance, so avail yourself of the “snitch” or “tattle-tale” network: supplement your monitoring by taking complaints from your partners. A well-designed form on your webpage is all it takes to prevent false reporting here.

Above all, you must maintain flexibility—too rigid a policy becomes unenforceable. Monitor at will, but also consider setting measures like MAP “holidays,” and tiered penalty structures, to help retailers acclimate. Further, policy rollout should be soft and should include a pre-rollout period before real enforcement begins...