Unauthorized sellers, counterfeit products, and MAP violations are the evils you want to steer clear from when you are selling on online marketplaces. MAP violations alone eat away more than $2 billion of revenue in the U.S. An increase in unauthorized sellers has only made it more important for brand owners to protect their image, reputation, and products. With aggressive price-cutting, increasing competition, and so many online marketplaces sprouting up, it is only more essential for brand owners to focus on MAP enforcement. Many businesses don’t give it much attention until it is too late but you can start enforcing your MAP policy starting today.
Steps To MAP Enforcement
The following are the basic steps to enforcing your MAP policy.
Step 1: Create a foolproof MAP policy
You want to start by creating a thorough MAP policy before you can look into MAP enforcement. You need to write why a MAP policy is vital to you, the brand owner and the reseller. Next, the policy should contain information about what actions fall under violation in clearly stated terms. You want to include what actions will be taken and in which order when violations are found. Remember a MAP policy isn’t legally binding but it is a mutual agreement between you and your seller.
Step 2: Identify violations and issue warnings
When you have hundreds of resellers, you might end up finding some resellers who violate the MAP policy. In such a case, it is best if you send warnings such as sending emails to let them know they have violated your policy. Sometimes, resellers advertise at a lower price due to the immense pressure they are under especially in cut-throat competition on marketplaces such as Amazon. They might have accidentally advertised at a lower price. For the first few times, it is better if MAP enforcement comes in the form of only written warnings so they have time to get back on track.
Step 3: Show you aren’t happy about violations
Sometimes, some resellers might ignore you on purpose or might not take your warnings seriously. In this case, it is best if you start to show that you are upset about the constant policy violations. For example, you can lower how much assortment you send to them for reselling. In this way, they will know you are serious about MAP enforcement and then mend their ways if they want to continue doing business with you. This should be done after a few violations have occurred and you have issued a warning about the same.
Step 4: Break up with sellers who constantly violate policy
There will still be some resellers who won’t take MAP enforcement seriously despite your warnings and actions. When this happens it is best if you don’t waste your time further and simply revoke their reseller status. It is better to focus on building your relationship with the resellers who comply and follow your MAP policy rather than spend time trying to correct resellers who don’t take your brand seriously. This might seem tough but sometimes it is the best decision to protect your brand.
Step 5: Update and continue monitoring
MAP enforcement is not a one-time deal. As more resellers enter the market and as you expand your business, you need to keep an eye on who is doing what. If you update your MAP policy then you should send a message to each of your resellers so they are aware of the changes and are up to speed with your policy. Continued monitoring is not an option anymore and it must always be prioritized to ensure your brand reputation is safe and you maintain your identity at all times regardless of where your resellers are selling.
Why Is A Software Solution Must?
Identifying MAP violations and ensuring compliance manually is not possible especially when you have thousands of products and many resellers selling those products. Only with the help of a MAP enforcement solution such as that offered by Intelligence Node can you ensure complete map compliance monitoring every second of the day. Whether you sell internationally or locally, you can monitor for violations and get instant information about violations so you can do something about it. It ensures you catch violations as they occur and can curb the violations in the future.
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