Articles

Avoid Online Disaster by Vetting Retailers (Pet Product News)

Aug 21, 2019

"Before ecommerce was born, vetting new retailers was a relatively straight forward process. First and foremost, you wanted to know if the account paid its bills on time. To that end, a potential new account would provide a signed credit sheet that listed corporate information, trade references, bank account numbers and sometimes information about their financials. A couple of calls, faxes and mouse clicks later you knew if you’d give them net terms. But those days are over..."

Read More

The Truth About MAPP (ASTRA Magazine)

Jun 1, 2017

"In the four years since launching MAPP Trap in the toy industry, we’ve dealt with hundreds of manufacturers and retailers in a wide variety of markets (including toy, juvenile, pet, gift, automotive, power tools, and more). However, while the spread of hyper-discounting and its negative effects have moved at varying speeds in different industries, the confusions about..."

Read More

The Amazon Disruption (Essentials Magazine)

Jul 25, 2016

"No matter who you are, or what your business is, there will continue to be more market disruptions as time goes on. It’s a certainty. It’s Darwinian. And, as the theory of evolution states, it’s all about the survival of the fittest. In the case of the Amazon Disruption, the fittest will be those businesses that take the disruption seriously, study it, understand it then adopt whatever new business practices are necessary to stay alive."

Read Full Article on LinkedIn

Amazon ASIN Anarchy

Apr 4, 2016

"Helping as many manufacturers to protect their brands as we do, we have seen many similarities in their desire to “clean up their Amazon.com channel.” Whether they have Minimum-Advertised-Pricing (MAP), Authorized Online Seller, Intellectual Property, Resale Pricing or other official policies, they all have one huge problem in common: multiple ASINs on..."

Read Full Article on LinkedIn

Leveling The Playing Field (SPECIALTY TOYS & GIFTS)

May 10, 2014

"If you’re in the manufacturing/retail world, then you know all about Minimum Advertised Pricing Policies, aka “MAPP.” The standard rationale is that in order to better protect their brands from price erosion, and their brick-and-mortar stores from “free-riding” Internet sellers and dwindling profit margins, manufacturers are creating policies that..."

Read More

Control Your Brand (Toys & Family Entertainment)

Feb 12, 2013

"Consumers are flocking to the internet to shop. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, third quarter 2012 online sales reached $56.99 billion, which is up 17.3 percent from the same period one year ago..."

Read More