Complete Guide to MAP Monitoring – 2024 Edition

MAP, or Minimum Advertised Price, sets the benchmark for product pricing, representing the minimum allowed price for retailers or authorized sellers in the United States and Canada to advertise the product. For brand owners, preserving market value is crucial. A situation where a retailer, authorized seller, or unauthorized seller offers a price below the brand’s permitted limit can damage the brand’s reputation. A strong MAP monitoring platform is vital to track, report, and enforce such violations, ensure brand integrity and maintain a healthy reseller-channel relationship.

What is MAP Monitoring?

MAP monitoring is the systematic process of tracking Minimum Advertised Prices (MAP) across diverse online channels to ensure compliance with pricing standards by both authorized and unauthorized sellers.

You may wonder why MAP violations have been a persistent problem for years across many verticals. Kellogg School of Management paper ‘Determinants of MAP Violations‘ written by Ayelet Israeli, Eric T. Anderson, and Anne T. Coughlan, specifically notes “We find that higher prices, free shipping, larger assortment size and authorization to distribute are associated with lower violation rates. In contrast, high distribution intensity is associated with higher violation rates. We also show that retailers are more likely to violate MAP when the policy is expected to expire soon. When a pricing violation occurs, we show that the extent of violation (offered price relative to MAP) is less when shipping is free, retailers are authorized, and distribution is more intensive.” 

To simplify this complex repetitive MAP monitoring task and offer guidance on managing the MAP channel program, GrowByData offers an automated MAP monitoring and enforcement professionals service to support the brand’s or authorized wholesaler’s channel monitoring business.

Here are the 4 Benefits of MAP Monitoring for a Retail Channel Manager:

1. Protect Your Brand Value: Breaching minimum advertised prices can negatively impact your brand’s value. Monitoring ensures authorized resellers adhere to MAP, reducing the risk of devaluing your brand. You can also find unauthorized sellers that may be carrying your products. You may also spot potentially fraudulent products.
2. Identify MAP Violations: GrowByData quickly identifies real-time violations by continuously monitoring retailer prices through our dashboard. This enables prompt detection and correction of MAP violations.
3. Data-Driven Decision-Making: MAP monitoring provides valuable insights into pricing trends and marketing dynamics, facilitating data-driven decision-making
4. Improve Relationships with Authorized Sellers: Proactively monitoring and enforcing MAP policies demonstrates a commitment to supporting authorized sellers, and fostering positive relationships and collaboration.

How do you NOT select the wrong MAP Monitoring Tool?

MAP monitoring is a very dynamic industry with channel violators and marketing platforms constantly changing tactics.  A one-size-fits-all tool will NOT serve your needs. So it would be best if you had a customized MAP enforcement solution to constantly change and ensure you monitor and enforce MAP policies. You need a partner who talks to you to understand your needs and adjust their tools and services to align with you. If you don’t consider these, you may have more work to do monitoring your MAP program. You may see many wrong MAP violations and miss the fraudulent ones. We have learned these through our years of MAP monitoring across small, mid, and large brands across categories.

Read GrowByData’s Guide on Mistakes that Buyers Make Before Purchasing MAP Monitoring Software.

How is GrowByData designed to make MAP enforcement easy?

GrowByData’s Map Monitoring Software features to ensure precise and proactive identification of MAP violations. What sets GrowByData apart from the other automated tools is that in the market they don’t account for a brand’s unique business model.

Here is an example of the MAP report you get to show violations by reseller by day.

Here are 8 features of GrowByData’s Map Monitoring to give you comfort that you have selected the right solution –

1. Accurate Product Discovery: Ensure precise matching of your products at the variant level across channels with –
   • Auto-Matching
   • Human Matching
   • Hybrid – Auto & Human
2. Easily Track Product SKUs/Controlled MAP Compliance Monitoring: Easily monitor product SKUs and control MAP compliance based on your business needs.
3. Monitor by Authorized & Unauthorized Sellers: Track and differentiate between authorized and unauthorized sellers using our dashboard, pinpointing MAP violators with precise data for future actions.
4. Identify New MAP Violators: Identify new MAP violators effortlessly through the GrowByData dashboard, allowing proactive measures against emerging MAP violations.
5. Customized Weekly Summarized Findings include:
   Weekly Insights to ensure you stay informed without having to log into the dashboard.
   1. SKUs with the Most MAP Violations
   2. Resellers (Authorized & Unauthorized) with Most Violations
   3. Platforms (Google shopping, Amazon, and others) with the Most Violations.
   4. Countries with the most channel violations – US or Canada

6. MAP Violation Alerts: Get real-time MAP Violation Alerts for reported violations to brand owners and authorized dealers.
7. MAP Violation Screenshots for Proof: Enforce map policies effectively with crucial MAP violation screenshots provided by GrowByData, that serve as evidence when issuing warnings and enforcing compliance.
8. Offer MAP Holiday Pricing: Rely on the GrowByData feature that allows you to turn off monitoring and enforcement during major holidays like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Memorial Day, etc, and then turn back on again. Benefit from the custom MAP monitoring to customize your outreach and enforcement without annoying your good resellers.

What does MAP Enforcement entail?

MAP enforcement involves channel managers, and brand owners or manufacturers notifying authorized sellers to comply with established MAP prices. This process includes detecting violators, communicating the MAP policy, and taking necessary actions, such as banning non-compliant retailers. The authority to implement bans lies with the brand or the wholesaler. Retailers can utilize the platform, analyze violation data, and promptly report evidence of violations customizing the MAP enforcement service per their business nuances.

How does GrowByData support easy MAP enforcement?

1. Sends Map Violation Email Alerts to Sellers

GrowByData Map Monitoring platform tactfully alerts authorized sellers about Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) violations, ensuring effective communication without irritating resellers. This approach maintains a positive relationship with authorized sellers while addressing necessary compliance issues respectfully.

You might want to know more about Minimum Advertised Price Violations Free Email Template

2. Allows Sending Configurable Email Messages to Violators

GrowByData allows flexible configuration of email content and templates tailored for communication with both authorized and unauthorized MAP violators. For authorized sellers inadvertently violating MAP, communication can be informative and collaborative, seeking cooperation in rectifying pricing issues. Messages to unauthorized violators can be more direct, outlining consequences and necessary actions for compliance.

3. Offers Customized Follow-up Actions

GrowByData platform allows easy customization of follow-up actions for MAP violators based on specific needs. This customization can involve setting up automated follow-up processes (3 or more follow-ups) to address MAP violations efficiently. The platform empowers tailored responses to several violations, ensuring corrective actions align with brand policies and strategies.

4. Monitors the open rate of email alerts sent to MAP violators

With GrowByData, you can track the open rate of alert emails sent to MAP violators. This feature offers insights into how recipients, especially violators, interact with the communication, helping you analyze their engagement and assess the impact of your efforts in addressing MAP cosmpliance.

5. Provides Visual Proof of Violations

With the GrowByData Map tracking platform, brand owners and authorized dealers can use real-time screenshots as tangible proof of MAP violations. We know resellers may change prices back to the right number when you email them. However, the snapshot allows you to substantiate claims when addressing violations with sellers.

Conclusion

We know MAP violation monitoring is challenging. We have been monitoring MAP for the last few years and know a cookie-cutter tool is not the answer to solving a brand’s complex MAP monitoring needs. We are constantly adapting our platform and map monitoring service to best serve our brand and wholesaler brand clients’ MAP compliance needs. Our goal is to be the best easy-to-use minimum advertisement price monitoring tool and solution partner for our clients and allow channel managers to grow their online business well without keeping them up at night with MAP monitoring issues.