Balancing ecommerce sales with retailer relationships is challenging yet essential, as brands need to price products well and avoid channel conflicts while simultaneously optimising online sales and protecting retailer partnerships. At eTail Asia 2026 in Singapore in March, Logitech Cluster Head Bernard Chow and Goodman Fielder GM of Marketing & Category, Ian Jankelowitz offered insights that channel and ecommerce managers can use to enhance channel usage, pricing, platform fees and promotions. Drawing from both brand-led and retailer-side experience, the contrast in approaches provides useful insights on how managers can choose from different models to grow their business.

Pricing Right is Essential

Setting prices is less about the perfect price and more about the price architecture, Bernard said. Different SKUs do different jobs in different channels. Low-end products drive traffic, mid-range products protect margins, and the high-end flagship products anchor the brand image with minimal price movements. Retailers won’t love this, and marketplaces hate this, but a brand’s image and long-term ASP depend on this.

From a retailer-side perspective, Ian emphasised a consistent value proposition across channels. In marketplace environments, pricing is often influenced by sellers who own the stock, limiting direct control. On owned channels, however, there is greater flexibility in how products are presented and priced. Across categories, different brands play different roles, with some positioned as consistently promotional to reinforce value perception.

The different pricing practices exemplify the complex balance that channel managers need to navigate to optimise their strategies.

Trade-offs to Balance Online Sales with Retailers’ Needs

Ian mentioned from retailer-side experience, shows that while physical stores may carry a limited assortment, online channels significantly expand product availability. At the same time, delivering a seamless customer experience is critical, particularly in fulfilment, where customers expect complete and convenient delivery of related items.

Disciplined trade-offs between online and in-store retailer sales are essential at Logitech too. While online sales can be convenient and there can be discounts, they are just about the product and price. Retailers, on the other hand, can offer an experience that consumers trust. Logitech works with retailers to offer value-added services such as workshops to make sure consumers know how to use their devices or special bundles not available to online to further draw consumer attention and increase in-store ASP. Importantly, in-store sales are not just about price, as focusing on price can impact the brand and result in loss of retailer trust. And that drop in trust will show up over time in the form of reduced shelf space at the retailer as well as less trust by the consumer. As an example, there is a major sportswear brand that all of us who managed to lose this trust and is now trying very hard to recover it.

Platform Usage is Changing

A challenge with platforms, Bernard said, is that fees continue to go up. As a result, retailers across Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines are going back to their roots, doing less online, and expanding stores aggressively up-country. In the Philippines, too, a retailer has plans to expand from 200 stores to 400. Some retailers are also investing in their own websites now rather than using platforms.

From a retailer perspective, understanding where customers choose to engage is critical. Along with major marketplaces such as Amazon and Shopee, shoppers may also gravitate towards niche platforms. Brands and retailers need to ensure visibility across the right touchpoints. Importantly, online activity is not always transaction-driven; digital channels often play a key role in influencing in-store purchases and shaping overall brand perception.

While a common assumption is that online sales are continually increasing, the perhaps-unexpected realities on the ground are that they may be decreasing and that purchases may not be the primary goal for consumers looking online.

Managing Promotions Carefully

It is important to balance promotions on marketplaces and to see what the actual price will look like in different channels, Bernard noted. He doesn’t want customers buying online at $69 and in-store at a retailer at $99, as the retailer will lose trust. Logitech also focuses on business-as-usual campaigns rather than mega-campaigns. “The last thing you want is to train your customer to buy only on 11-11.” It helps that Logitech is a strong brand, as platforms will then negotiate with the brand.

From a retailer-side lens, Ian said promotions should support overall market competitiveness without eroding margins unnecessarily. The focus is on aligning price points, building effective bundles, and structuring promotions in a way that enables retailers to remain competitive while maintaining brand value.

While promotions can be beneficial in increasing sales, they also need to be managed so they don’t undercut the in-store purchases that are essential for the business and don’t train customers to wait for sales.

Useful Insights for Channel Managers

Key takeaways, Bernard said, are that growth shouldn’t come at the expense of losing the customer and there should not be any pricing conflict across countries. Different countries have different tax structures, so the same SRP (suggested retail price) across countries doesn’t make sense, he added.

Ian’s takeaway is simple: “We offer the cheapest price.”

While many brands assume ecommerce is continually rising, these experiences show that brands may need to look more at in-store sales if fees continue to drive retailers offline. Analysing channel pricing and platform fees as well as the impact of promotions is essential. Channel managers who use the strategies for pricing, platforms and promotions can be well positioned to grow online and offline while retaining retailer trust.

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Author: Richard Hartung, Associate, Singapore, Payments Consulting Network

An experienced professional with over 20 years of expertise in the payments and consumer financial services industry, specifically in the Asia Pacific region. He has held various key roles in renowned organizations such as Citibank, Mastercard, and OCBC Bank, and has established his own consultancy, Transcarta, assisting financial services companies with strategy, operations improvement, and market research.

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Merchant Advisory was a media partner for eTail Asia 2026 in Singapore. 

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