If you’re a manufacturer and you’re not monitoring prices, you’re missing a trick.
In fact, a trick might be an understatement. In 2022, data is gold, and pricing data is gold dust.
If you’re not keeping on top of your own prices, then who is?
In this article, we’ll take you through everything you need to know about price monitoring, including what it is and how it can help manufacturers like yourself. We’ll even include a living, breathing example of how our own monitoring tool has helped revolutionise a global brand’s pricing strategy.
Let’s get started.
What is price monitoring?
Price monitoring, also known as price tracking, is a way of keeping an eye on product pricing online. You can use it to watch your own prices across retailers, as well as what your competitors are up to. This is usually done through a piece of software, tool, or website. Although the exact functionality of price tracking tools vary, you can expect to find tools such as competitor insights, pricing alerts, and historical pricing data.
How can price monitoring help manufacturers?
If you’re a manufacturer, there are plenty of reasons why you should be tracking prices:
Monitor your resellers and distributors
If you’ve ever worked with resellers and distributors, you know how difficult it can be to stay on top of them. Nothing ruins a limited time sale more than a partner failing to update things on their side. With a tool such as Magpie DBX, you can monitor your prices across the web, keeping tabs on your resellers, and receiving alerts when they fall out of line.
Unearth competitor tactics
What are your competitors up to? What products are they pushing at the moment? How have their prices changed over time? Keep tabs on your closest rivals and spot trends in their pricing strategies.
See everything in one place
Ditch the countless spreadsheets, screenshots and word docs. With a price tracking tool, you’ll have all the pricing information you need in one place. Most price monitoring software (including Magpie DBX) stores data in the cloud, so you and your team can access everything from everywhere.
Insights at a glance
Get summaries, reports, and insights on what matters most to you. The hard work is done for you, so you can quickly see your position in the market without digging through hard drives and email chains.
Strengthen your position in the market
Use the data in your hands to make decisions that matter. A good price monitoring tool will lay everything on the table – it’s then on you to action real change.
Here’s a few examples:
- Increase your margins on products with little to or no competition
- Run promotions and sales at the right times
- Set a new pricing strategy based on changes in the market
- Decide when to sunset products that are oversupplied or uncompetitive
- Work with underperforming distributors to iron out pricing issues
Case study – How Magpie DBX revolutionised a global brand’s pricing strategy
Where many retailers use Magpie DBX for competitor price monitoring to compete with rivals, some use it to retrieve insight on their own products.
One of the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturers (we can’t reveal their names for legal reasons) was looking for a tool which would ensure their pricing strategy was implemented consistently across the market.
The problem
Their phones are available to buy globally, across 1000s of high street retailers and websites, making it extremely tricky to oversee everything at any given moment.
Covering so much ground was proving to be a double-edged sword, and their old methods of price monitoring were no longer fit for purpose. One of their biggest concerns was about staying competitive in a market where a slight overprice could have a devastating knock-on effect.
When they approached us, it was clear that their manual price monitoring method was hurting them badly in both time and money. A more efficient solution was certainly needed – enter Magpie DBX.
Solution through innovation
We worked with the manufacturer closely to ensure Magpie DBX could do everything they needed.
First things first, gathering data. We worked with the client to target their key products and retail partners, making sure we were pulling in everything they needed. Magpie isn’t just some out of the box product – it’s a tailored solution.
Using Magpie’s Price Tracker and multiple custom reports, our client could now access everything they needed to stay competitive. This included regular pricing alerts and daily Squawks to keep on top of changes in the market. They could also analyse historical pricing trends, giving them insight into how the past could shape the future.
Competitor price monitoring has revolutionised the client’s pricing strategy, allowing them to efficiently and effectively make informed decisions that impact priority areas.
Try out Magpie DBX
Interested in trying out price tracking for yourself? We’d love to hear from you so that we can arrange a demo. Get in touch today.
