How to track competitor prices as a distributor, and what the data cannot tell you

To track competitor prices as a distributor, collect prices from two kinds of source: public ones, such as competitor web stores and marketplaces, and private ones you already have, such as lost-quote reasons and prices customers share. Match each price to your own item by part number or cross-reference, note the date, pack size and terms, and focus on the items your customers compare most. Then use the data on quotes, knowing that public prices are rarely what your competitors actually charge your customers.

Where competitor prices come from

• Web stores

  Competitor sites and their published list or web prices.

• Marketplaces

  Amazon Business and trade platforms, often retail-level.

• Lost quotes

  The winning price, when the customer tells you.

• Customers

  Rival quotes buyers show you when they ask for a better price.

• Reps

  What the field hears, logged against the item and account.

• Suppliers

  Market price levels manufacturers see across their channel.

Public sources are easy to collect and cover many items, but they show list or web prices. Private sources are scattered and partial, but they show what competitors actually quote. The useful picture comes from both together.

The hard part: matching items

A competitor price is useless until you know which of your items it matches. In distribution that is harder than in retail:

• The same bearing is sold under several brands, so matching needs cross-references as well as part numbers.
• Pack sizes differ. A box of 10 at $139 is $13.90 a unit, not a cheaper price on a single.
• Units of measure differ. Chain by the foot and chain by the 10 ft box are different prices for the same thing.
• Private labels and equivalents need a judgement call on whether they really compete.

Store every match with its basis, such as same part number, cross-reference or judged equivalent, so whoever uses the price knows how much to trust it.

What to track besides price

• Availability and lead time. A lower price on a three week lead time often loses to yours from stock.
• Delivered cost. Free freight over a threshold, or a freight charge on every order, changes the comparison.
• Minimum order and pack size.
• Date seen. A competitor price older than a few weeks on a moving item is a guess.

How to set it up

1. Pick the items

   Start with the 200 to 500 items most customers buy and compare.

2. Pick the rivals

   The three to five competitors you meet most often on quotes.

3. Match once, carefully

   Build the cross-reference with the basis for each match.

4. Log lost-quote prices

   Make "price, and what was it?" a required field when a quote is lost.

5. Review on a schedule

   Weekly for known value items, monthly for the rest.

What competitor price data cannot tell you

Public competitor prices leave out most of what decides a B2B price:

• Contract prices. A rival's key accounts pay their agreed price, not the web price.
• Net price after rebates. A customer paying a rival $14.90 may get 3% back at year end.
• The rival's cost. A low price can mean better buying, a stock clearance or a loss leader.
• The rest of the order. A competitor may be cheap on this line and dear on the next ten.

That is why a competitor price works best as one signal on the quote line, next to cost, stock and the customer's history, rather than as the price itself. The competitive pricing guide covers when to match.

Stay on the right side of the law

Collect prices from public sources and from your own customers. Do not exchange prices with competitors, discuss future prices with them, or join anything that pools current prices between rivals: competition authorities treat that as coordination. Read a website's terms before collecting its prices automatically.

Competitor price monitoring software does the collection and the matching, keeps the date and basis of each price, and shows it next to the quote line where the rep decides, so a rival's price informs the quote without setting it.