The fourth quarter is the harvest season for domestic trade and a season with high incidence of price accidents: the Double 11 National Congress promoted the online price to be lower than the dealer's purchase price, dealers in Zone A sent the goods to Zone B to be priced, and the New Year's Day rebate was cashed. Only when I realized that the accounts did I not match. The price cannot be kept under control. The more you sell during the peak season, the more resentments the channels will be, and the more difficult it will be to attract investment in the coming year. The three aspects of bargaining order management in this article: promotion authorization, compliance price control, and cross-market handling, all fall into contract writing and execution actions.
1. Why are prices most likely to be chaotic during the peak season
The three reasons are superimposed: First, there are many promotion levels, and after platform coupons, store coupons, and dealer rebates are stacked layer by layer, no one can calculate the actual transaction price; second, the inventory pressure is high, and dealers whose sales volume does not meet expectations cut prices and sell off the goods themselves. Once the price breaks, dealers in the neighboring area immediately demand equal treatment; third, information is asymmetric, and the terminal transaction price cannot be seen by the factory, and the price has already been broken for half a month when it is discovered. The prerequisite for managing price orders is to manage data first: dealers are required to report invoices once a week in peak season, and key terminals arrange price monitoring themselves, so they don't wait for complaints to know.
2. Promotion authorization: approval system plus superimposed calculation
- Graded approval:The promotion plan is graded according to the profit margin, with the sales manager filing within 5% of the profit margin, 5% to 10% approved by the sales director, and more than 10% of the general manager plus the financial countersignature. The verbal transfer of profits specially approved during the peak season must be confirmed in writing within 24 hours afterwards, otherwise the financial department will not recognize the account.
- Fee to person:For each promotion, the party responsible for the expenses shall be clarified, and the part borne by the factory shall be included in the promotion approval form based on reimbursement or redemption, invoice or system flow.
- Prep for superimposed calculation:When the promotion plan is submitted for approval, a "superimposed calculation table" is attached: platform price, factory direct supply price, dealer pick-up price, and rebate conversion are four columns side by side to ensure that the terminal price under any combination of bond types does not penetrate the dealer's purchase cost. This watch can block 80% of price accidents.
3. Compliance price control: What can and cannot be written
Let's first talk about what cannot be touched: The contract directly restricts dealers to "not sell below a certain price" and fines low-priced sellers to stop goods. This is resale price maintenance and is an act clearly prohibited by the Anti-Monopoly Law. The clause itself is invalid and is verified. Administrative penalties are also faced. The idea of compliance is to manage "market order", not to limit "transaction price":
- Recommended retail price plus order clause:The contract writes "Recommended Retail Price" and states that it is not mandatory; at the same time, it lists the behaviors that can be restrained one by one-dumping at a price significantly lower than the cost, cross-regional sales, counterfeiting of goods to disrupt the market, etc. These fall within the scope of market order and can be agreed upon. Liability for breach of contract.
- Rebate is linked to order:The rebate clause lists "cooperating with price monitoring, truthfully declaring purchases, sales and deposits, and not delivering goods across regions" as a prerequisite for redemption, turning management actions into commercial conditions rather than directly imposing low fines.
- E-commerce authorization white list:A white list of authorized stores is implemented for online channels, and intellectual property complaints from unauthorized stores are removed from the shelves through the platform; the price system of factory-direct e-commerce is calculated separately from the dealer system to avoid beating yourself.
4. Running goods: Identification must have a chain of evidence and processing must have steps
There are three elements for identifying fleeing goods: the goods can be traced back (box code and batch number), the flow direction can be checked (the logistics order is consistent with the recipient), and the area can be defined (the contract specifies the distribution area, and the delivery scope is stipulated in online sales). Processing steps: the first written warning, and the quarterly rebate will be deducted according to the amount of goods diverted; the second time, the margin will be deducted according to the contract and the exclusive scope of the area will be narrowed; the cooperation will be terminated three times. Note that all penalties must have a contract basis and a chain of evidence. If the money is deducted simply based on "I heard that he shipped goods to the next province", the lawsuit will not be won and it will also damage the trust of the rule-abiding dealers.
5. Three red lines for peak season prices
- Do not participate in promotions where you do not control the terminal price:If you can't calculate the price after superposition, you'd rather not do it. It takes three months to repair channels that break the price once, and the peak season is three months.
- No indiscriminate appeasement:If dealers break prices, don't subsidize all channels in order to quell public anger and deal with the parties in accordance with the contract. Omni-channel compensation is equal to reward price breaking.
- Do not allow verbal benefits overnight:The temporary policy agreed by the salesperson at the wine table during the peak season will not be written the next day, and the year-end reconciliation will be all disputes.
6. Common questions
1. The dealer said,"The price is lower than the price you gave me online." How to respond?
Check the source of goods first: whether it is platform subsidies, independent pricing from factory-operated stores, or smuggling goods. The first two are explained in writing and explain the differences in channel positioning, while the third is handled according to the contract. The key is to provide a response and evidence within 24 hours. If you delay not responding, you will lose the confidence of the dealer.
2. The contract cannot stipulate a minimum resale price. I can't do anything about random prices in the market?
There are ways, but tools need to be changed: rebates are linked to order, e-commerce authorization whitelists, platform intellectual property complaints, unfair competition for sales claims that are significantly lower than cost, these are all legal means. After sufficient use one by one, the vast majority of sources of price chaos will be cleared up, and there is no need to touch illegal clauses.
3. Should we issue a unified promotional policy to all dealers during the peak season?
Spread it in layers. A standard policy is issued for completing tasks with normal progress; for those with high inventory pressure, less shipment and more promotion fees are paid; and no additional policy is issued for those with a history of fleeing goods. When a one-size-fits-all policy is issued, the one with the fastest implementation transformation is also one that is one-size-fits-all.
