Marketplace Management Best Practices | Webinar Recap

TL;DR: Algorithmic price matching has evolved far beyond same SKU comparisons. Retailers now monitor and match competitive pricing in real time at the per-ounce level, across loyalty program offers, and across multiple channels simultaneously, creating a downward spiral that erodes margin and strains channel relationships. The good news: most brands haven't come close to exhausting their mitigation options.

4 minute read

Price used to be something brands largely controlled. You set an MSRP, negotiated trade terms, planned your promotions calendar, and largely knew what your products would sell for at retail. That world is long gone.

We welcomed Chris Perry of firstmovr to dug into how algorithmic price matching actually works in 2026, including the mechanics, the triggers, the downstream consequences, and, more importantly, what brands can realistically do about it.

What’s Behind Price Matching?

According to Chris, 98% of national brand assortment is identical across retailers, which means they compete for the same shopper with only a handful of differentiation levers. Price is the easiest one to pull, and increasingly, it's being pulled automatically.

Shoppers have internalized this behavior. Nearly half of consumers cite lower prices as the primary reason they shop online, 83% compare prices across multiple retailers before purchasing, and 75% check Amazon prices even when they intend to buy elsewhere. Retailers know this, and they've responded by deploying algorithmic pricing engines that monitor and adjust prices continuously.

The result is real-time, SKU-level price matching with brands caught in the middle.