MORGAN HILL, Calif. (BRAIN) — Specialized is establishing a new Minimum Advertised Price policy, effective immediately. The company also said it’s hiring a third-party provider to manage MAP monitoring and enforcement.
The news comes on the heels of Specialized allowing retailers to start selling equipment and apparel — not bikes — online through their own websites, and to ship to consumers directly. This change went into effect at the beginning of October and was announced at the company’s dealer event in July.
Specialized will begin showing retailers’ in-stock inventory on its website through an enhanced dealer locator and product search functionality in January 2017.
“This is a completely new MAP policy and does not modify an earlier one. We have been working toward an official MAP policy for some time,” said a company spokesperson. “By allowing select retailers to sell online and ship, it makes it necessary to take this step. The MAP policy applies to all Specialized retailers in the U.S.”
Specialized said it wants to discourage discount price advertising that would undermine its retailers’ ability to invest in promoting and protecting the Specialized brand.
Retailers who have questions regarding the policy can contact Dan Sluzas at Daniel.sluzas@specialized.com.
