Welcome to this week’s edition of The Brand Data Revolution. This week, we will dive into a common dilemma brands often face when evaluating a new piece of technology in today’s rapidly evolving market: ‘Should we develop an internal solution ourselves, or should we invest in an off-the-shelf platform?’
This is a very common conundrum and is essentially the same dilemma that handy DIY homeowners have to deal with each and every time they take on a new project: is it faster, easier, and cheaper to dive in and learn as you go, or would it make sense to hire a licensed, reputable contractor who has been down this path dozens if not hundreds of times? The former appears, at first glance, to be cheaper and less stressful, but those of you who have been down this road know that’s rarely the case.
While the allure of building a custom solution is easy to understand because of all the control you might have over the building process and outcome, it’s essential to consider the significant challenges and hidden costs associated with this approach. Read on as we break down the factors that make building an in-house MAP solution (or any solution) a complex undertaking and highlight why many brands find greater value in leveraging external providers.
Time Investment: How Long Does It Take?
Developing an in-house MAP monitoring system is a substantial commitment that often spans several months to over a year. Let’s break it down:
- Planning and Requirement Gathering: 1-3 months
- Development Phase: 6-9 months (or longer, depending on team size and expertise)
- Testing and Debugging: 2-3 months
- Deployment and Optimization: 1-6 months
Even with an aggressive timeline, it can take a brand 18-24 months before the solution is fully operational. During this time, MAP violations are likely going unchecked, allowing pricing inconsistencies to persist and potentially damaging retailer relationships and brand reputation. By contrast, off-the-shelf solutions can often be implemented in 2-6 weeks, enabling brands to act quickly and regain control of their pricing strategies.
Specialized Knowledge and Expertise: A Hidden Challenge
Building an effective MAP monitoring system requires more than general software development skills. It demands:
- Web Scraping Expertise: Web scraping goes well beyond understanding how to write a script that pulls pricing from a certain URL every day. Understanding how to extract data accurately from retailer and marketplace websites while navigating sophisticated anti-scraping technologies is professional-level knowledge and requires someone (or many people) with deep knowledge of the nuances that accompany web extraction.
- Dynamic Market Insights: The best technological solutions can be likened to a duck paddling in water. While above the surface, the duck appears calm and steady, below the surface, the webbed feet are paddling frantically to keep the duck moving forward. Similarly, keeping pace with how quickly online marketplaces evolve, including changes in seller behavior and pricing algorithms, takes – according to one customer – “a hell of a lot of work to keep up!”
- Data Processing and Analysis: In addition to the market knowledge required, it’s imperative that teams design systems that can efficiently process vast amounts of pricing data (Petabytes worth), store it effectively, and have it ready for recall as needed so that teams that rely on the data can easily generate actionable insights without delay.
Today, most retailer websites employ blocking technologies to prevent automated data extraction. Overcoming these barriers requires advanced technical skills and constant adaptation – a common challenge that external solution providers address daily. In contrast, internal teams often lack the expertise to anticipate and navigate these complexities, leading to prolonged delays (up to months) or ineffective monitoring altogether.
Resource Allocation and Maintenance: The True Cost
While there are many upfront costs to consider when building a solution, these are only part of the overall equation. Brands must also consider other factors that will impact both the top and bottom lines, like:
- Cost of Delayed Enforcement: We have seen this multiple times. Brands take a step back to reevaluate their MAP program, and violations start to run rampant. For every month without an effective MAP solution, revenue is lost from unaddressed violations, and valued partner margins are impacted.
- Missed Opportunities for Innovation: During the 12-18 months that Internal teams are focused on MAP development, other projects will likely have to take a back seat. This may delay or deprioritize other critical initiatives that are crucial for staying competitive and increasing market share.
External providers spread the cost of development, upgrades, and enhancements across multiple clients, allowing them to deliver sophisticated solutions at a fraction of the cost. Additionally, the best providers often include customer support, training, and new feature rollouts, ensuring brands stay ahead of evolving market challenges without additional investment.
What Do You Do Well?
Every business has its core competencies – the unique strengths that drive success and growth. For most brands, software development is simply not one of them. However, taking on a massive project like building an internal MAP monitoring system can distract engineering, development, and business teams from their primary responsibilities.
Last year, a mid-sized consumer electronics brand attempted to build its own MAP solution, only to find that the project consumed over 40% of its engineering resources for nearly a year. The result? Delays in product launches, strained team morale, and a solution that still didn’t meet the company’s needs. Ultimately, the brand scrapped the internal system and adopted an external platform, losing nearly $750,000 in sunk costs.
Investing in an off-the-shelf solution allows brands to focus on their strengths while leveraging the expertise of specialized providers. This ensures that MAP enforcement doesn’t become a distraction but rather a plug-and-play capability that fits seamlessly within the brand’s overall strategy.
Conclusion: Why Buying is Often the Better Choice
While the idea of building a custom MAP monitoring solution may seem appealing at first, the realities of time, expertise, resource allocation, and cost often outweigh the perceived benefits. Off-the-shelf solutions offer a faster, more cost-effective, and reliable way to enforce MAP policies, allowing brands to focus on what they do best.
By partnering with a trusted provider, brands can:
- Deploy effective MAP monitoring quickly.
- Leverage specialized expertise to navigate marketplace complexities.
- Avoid the significant financial and operational burden of internal development.
- Focus their internal teams on core business priorities.
At Pervasive Mind, we’re here to help brands simplify MAP enforcement with sophisticated solutions that are ready to go and built for long-term success. Let’s start the conversation and explore how we can help you protect your brand, streamline your processes, and drive measurable results.
