Case Snapshot
The Swiss watch manufacturer faced challenges tracking authorized dealers and gray market activity across Europe and Asia. We developed an AI Automation Strategy to create a monitoring system for detecting pricing violations and unauthorized sellers.
Result: the company received a phased implementation roadmap to gain visibility into distribution compliance across priority markets.
Building AI-Driven Pricing Control Strategy for Swiss Watch Manufacturer
The Challenge
The brand's distribution network included authorized dealers across European and Asian markets. Tracking compliance was done manually:
Periodic checks of major online marketplaces.
Dealer reports reviewed quarterly.
Gray market sellers discovered reactively through customer complaints.
The team could only spot-check a fraction of online activity. By the time violations were found, products had already been sold below MAP or through unauthorized channels. The brand needed systematic monitoring without hiring field auditors in each market.
Solution Developed
We designed a monitoring strategy with realistic implementation phases:
Web monitoring system for major marketplaces (Chrono24, eBay, Amazon) in priority markets.
Automated flagging of listings below minimum advertised price or from non-authorized sellers.
Weekly digest reports with flagged violations sent to regional managers.
Integration with existing dealer management system for verification.
Three-month pilot focused on Swiss, German and UK markets before broader rollout.
The strategy included vendor evaluation for monitoring tools, workflow design for regional teams and compliance thresholds based on the brand's dealer agreements.
How it would work
Monitoring system scans target marketplaces daily for brand listings.
Extracts pricing, seller information and product details from listings.
Compares sellers against authorized dealer database.
Flags listings below MAP or from unauthorized sellers.
Generates weekly digest with flagged violations by market.
Regional managers review flagged cases and initiate dealer communication.
System tracks violation history and enforcement actions.
Impact
The company received:
Detailed automation strategy document with implementation timeline.
Monitoring scope covering 3 priority markets and top online platforms.
Workflow designs for violation review and dealer communication.
Vendor recommendations and budget estimates for 12-month rollout.
Expected outcome: shift from quarterly reactive checks to weekly systematic monitoring.
