Competitive, timely and profit-margin-friendly pricing plays an enormous role in the health of any brand or retailer enterprise. Although tactical promotions can temporarily boost sales, a structured pricing plan with dynamic action will provide the most consistent results over the long term.
However, staying on top of the pricing game requires constant work — and dedicating the required resources to accomplish that feat drains even more profitability. That’s where automatic repricers come in.
Automated repricing tools can vary across platforms and software solutions. In this blog, we’ll discuss the repricers in the ChannelAdvisor solution. But first, before we take a closer look at the tools, we need to discuss strategy, because the methodology you adopt in your pricing approach determines outcome. These pricing strategies each are based on separate goals:
- An algorithmic strategy focuses on winning the sale for your listings, at the highest possible price.
- A rule-based strategy sets a price relative to your competition.
If your goal is winning the buy box on a marketplace, you’ll want to use the algorithmic strategy. If you know exactly how you want to price against different types of competitors, use the rule-based strategy.
To understand how to implement repricing tools on a practical level, it’s first important to recognize the different types of repricers:
- A marketplace repricer helps sellers win sales at the highest possible price on a specific marketplace, by continually monitoring the listing and evaluating the quality of the competition to arrive at the optimal price.
- A velocity repricer changes pricing to competitive levels across marketplaces based on the total quantity sold for products, allowing sellers to take action to move stale inventory or to maximize profit on fast-selling products.
Marketplace Repricers
The ChannelAdvisor platform includes several repricers that monitor your listings on specific marketplaces.
Amazon
The Amazon Repricer monitors the Amazon Buy Box status — and the moves of your competitors. As the competitive landscape of the ASIN changes, your price will be raised or lowered to maximize revenue and profitability.
The Amazon Repricer offers both the algorithmic and rule-based options.
eBay
The eBay Repricer compares prices on your products’ UPCs or eBay Product Identifiers (ePIDs) with those of your competitors. Based on the thresholds and parameters you set, the repricer will adjust your price points automatically.
The eBay Repricer offers both the algorithmic and rule-based options.
Walmart
The Walmart Repricer is event based. This means that as similar listings to your products undergo changes, the repricer will evaluate the new environment and react according to the guidelines you’ve provided. As this rapidly expanding marketplace acquires more sellers and products, automation is becoming essential to success.
Velocity Repricer
The Velocity Repricer automatically adjusts prices based on a defined lookback period and application frequency. Price adjustments are made automatically based on the user-determined parameters for quantity sold and the performance of those products.
The Velocity Repricer can be used in conjunction with any marketplace repricer. The lowest generated price will be sent to the channel. For example, if the Velocity Repricer generates a price of $100, but the Amazon Repricer generates a price of $99, the price on Amazon will be $99.
Benefits
Repricers help sellers win the buy box and best offer positions. They also increase competitiveness and visibility of your products among bargain-savvy consumers. Overall, for brands, automated repricers prevent product erosion and help catch MAP pricing violations before they start a ripple effect.
In addition, they provide maximum profits while also helping your business react to real-time demand and move product. This activity can be especially pertinent during the approach of peak shopping seasons (as holiday shoppers start earlier and earlier). Such repricing movement also allows sellers of seasonal products to wield a key advantage. Or, if a TikTok video or online trend that involves your products goes viral overnight, automatic repricers will adjust before you’ve even had a chance to realize what’s happened, allowing you to focus on capitalizing on the moment and successfully fulfilling orders.
Managed Services
Selecting and enacting the right mix of repricing tools can be complicated, with various factors within your business’s unique position influencing decisions. However, it all starts with goals. ChannelAdvisor’s experts can guide you through the process, as an extension of your internal team, to first help you hone in on the strategies that will make the greatest impact in increasing your profit margin. Once you’ve determined your preferred approach, they’ll draw on their years of e-commerce experience to execute the best repricing options to accomplish your goals — and continue to monitor performance and provide suggestions as necessary or as circumstances change.
Contact us today to learn more about how our Managed Services team can help you implement the right repricing strategy for your business.
