Let’s play ‘Make Believe”
Let’s say that a tankless water heater is a purse. If I make purses I want to sell to a mass merchandiser. I want to sell on the in internet and I want to flood the market. Better yet, I want my customers to sell at a MAP price so that everyone gets to make money. ahh, what a beautiful ……….DREAM!
Tankless water heaters are NOT purses. They are sophisticated products that need an informed distributor to properly size and sell.
I have just seen Rinnai’s retreat from the big box stores. Lowes had sold their private label Jacuzzi. It failed by every definition. What were they thinking?
Now Stiebel Eltron is playing ‘paddy cake’ with Amazon. In their wisdom they have decided to give this mass merchandiser the best deal in the country. But wait, there’s more…..
They are enforcing an IMAP so that NO ONE can compete with Amazon!
What they have done is create a de facto monopoly with a firm that sees their product as a SKU and values it as such!
Having been in the industry since birth I know how short sighted these decisions are. I know they will not work and that they will be reversed. How sad it is for everyone who brings pride and integrity to their marketplaces that these insane decisions have to be endured.
Be very careful who you get into a foxhole with when the bullets start flying.
Who has a manufacturer’s back; A seller of purses or an industry insider?
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