Ace Critical Retail Pricing

What is this?

Ace Hardware's Critical Retail Pricing program identifies items in your store where prices fall outside acceptable thresholds. Margin Master gives you a dedicated tool -- Strategy > Ace Critical Pricing -- that lets you find these items instantly and either review them on the spot or save the analysis as reusable pricing strategy steps.

There are three critical pricing categories:

Ace recommends reviewing and correcting these weekly, with a goal of fewer than 10 items flagged at any time.

Related: For details on how MAP and IMAP data flows into Margin Master and how to use these price levels in general strategies, see Ace Hardware MAP & IMAP Pricing.

Who is this for?

This feature is available exclusively to Ace Hardware stores. The menu item only appears when your store's primary vendor is configured as Ace Hardware. Stores configured for other vendors (Do-It-Best, Orgill, etc.) will not see this option.

How to Access

From the main menu bar: Strategy > Ace Critical Pricing

This opens the Ace Critical Pricing Options dialog where you configure your analysis before running it.

The Ace Critical Pricing Options Dialog

When you open Ace Critical Pricing, a dialog appears with toggles and settings that control exactly what you want to analyze.

1. Current Price toggle - the price mode (see below).
2. Category toggles - which comparisons to include.
3. Comparison operators for each category.
4. Cancel, Save as Strategies and Just Run.

Price Mode Toggle

At the top of the dialog is a toggle that controls which price column is used for comparisons:

Use Current Price mode when you want to find items that are currently out of compliance. Use Future Price mode after running a strategy to verify that your proposed prices will not create new violations.

When you switch this toggle, the labels on each row update to reflect the selected price mode (e.g., "Current Price vs Cost" becomes "Future Price vs Cost").

Category Toggles

Three toggle switches control which categories to include in the analysis. Each has its own on/off toggle and comparison operator:

Turn off any toggle to exclude that category from the analysis. At least one toggle must be on to proceed.

Comparison Operators

Each category has a dropdown that controls the comparison logic:

Less Than is the default for all three categories because the typical goal is finding items priced below compliance levels. The other operators are available for specialized analysis -- for example, using Equal To to find items priced exactly at MAP.

The comparison dropdown is disabled when its corresponding category toggle is off.

Action Buttons

The dialog has three buttons at the bottom:

The Save as Strategies button label updates dynamically -- it shows "Save as Strategy" when exactly one category is enabled, or "Save as Strategies" (plural) when two or three are enabled.

Just Run: Instant Correction

When you click Just Run, Margin Master:

1. Clears any current selection-box filters (the run always covers every store and item)
2. Applies the same corrections the strategy steps would, one per enabled category, in order: below-Cost items get a future price at Cost + 40% margin, below-MAP items get MAP Price, below-IMAP items get IMAP Price. Each correction is stamped with its rule name (e.g. CP<MAP) in the PS Rule column, exactly as a strategy run would
3. Displays all matching items in the main data grid with their new future prices, refreshes the Summary panel, and shows a message with the item count and a per-category breakdown of prices set

From there you can:

• Sort by any column to review the proposed changes
• Adjust individual prices with the Future Price panel — while the critical-pricing list is on screen, Apply targets only the listed items, not the whole store. For Ace stores, MAP Price and IMAP Price are always available in the "Set Future Price to" list
• Use Remove Change on items you intentionally price outside the threshold (clearance, competitive matching, etc.)
• Export corrected prices to your POS system

How the Query Works

The WHERE clause requires that the price column has a value greater than zero (to skip items without pricing data) and that the threshold column also has a value greater than zero (to skip items without MAP/IMAP data). Each enabled category becomes an OR condition, so an item appears if it fails any of the enabled checks.

For example, with all three categories enabled in "Less Than" mode using Current Price:

WHERE ISNULL(CurrentPrice, 0) > 0
  AND (
    (ISNULL(Cost, 0) > 0 AND ROUND(CurrentPrice, 2) < Cost)
    OR (ISNULL(Ace_MapPriceAmt, 0) > 0 AND ROUND(CurrentPrice, 2) < Ace_MapPriceAmt)
    OR (ISNULL(Ace_ImapPriceAmt, 0) > 0 AND ROUND(CurrentPrice, 2) < Ace_ImapPriceAmt)
  )

Save as Strategies: Automated Compliance

When you click Save as Strategies, Margin Master creates strategy steps that you can execute as part of your normal pricing workflow. This is the recommended approach for ongoing compliance -- instead of running critical pricing as a separate process, the steps become part of your active strategy.

What Gets Created

One strategy step is created for each enabled category:

The comparison operator you selected in the dialog is encoded into each strategy step. For example, if you selected "Greater Than" for MAP, the strategy step will find items priced above MAP rather than below.

Strategy Step Encoding

Each step is saved with a key and value that encode the full configuration:

• Key format: {PriceColumn}{Operator}{Level} -- e.g., CP<Cost, FP>MAP, CP<>IMAP
• Value format: Encodes the price column, comparison word, threshold column, action level, and active status

After saving, a confirmation message lists the strategies that were created (or reports any errors if a step could not be saved).

Where the Steps Appear

The saved strategy steps appear in your active strategy's step list. You can:

• Reorder them relative to your other strategy steps
• Edit the action (e.g., change the Cost step from 40% margin to a different percentage)
• Deactivate individual steps without deleting them
• Delete steps you no longer need

Tip: Place critical pricing steps near the end of your strategy so they act as compliance floors. The strategy processes top-to-bottom, so a MAP Price step placed after your primary pricing logic raises any item that would otherwise end up below MAP.

Data Available for Critical Pricing

When you sync vendor data, Margin Master automatically downloads and populates these pricing columns for every Ace SKU in your store:

Ace Pricing Columns

Store Pricing Columns

Variance Columns

Using MAP and IMAP as Price Levels in Strategy

MAP Price and IMAP Price are available as price levels anywhere in Margin Master's strategy system. This means all standard strategy functionality -- rounding, no decreases, minimum/maximum margins, add/subtract percentages -- can be applied when using these price levels.

Example: MAP Price Floor Step

Within your existing strategy, add a step that sets the future price to MAP Price. When layered with other steps, this ensures no item ends up below MAP after execution:

• Set Future Price to: MAP Price (Ace_MapPriceAmt)

Example: Below-Cost Floor

Add a step early in your strategy to establish a cost-based floor:

1. Set Future Price to Cost
2. Apply a margin percentage (e.g., 40%)

Example: Layered Compliance Steps

For comprehensive compliance, include multiple steps:

1. Set Future Price = Cost + 40% margin (establishes cost floor)
2. Set Future Price = MAP Price (raises anything below MAP)
3. Your other strategy steps (rounding, etc.)

The strategy processes top-to-bottom, so the final FuturePrice reflects the combined effect of all steps.

Tip: The Save as Strategies button in the Ace Critical Pricing dialog creates these steps for you automatically. This is the fastest way to set up compliance steps.

Recommended Weekly Workflow

1. Sync vendor data -- Ensures you have the latest MAP/IMAP prices and Ace suggested retails
2. Open Strategy > Ace Critical Pricing -- Use "Just Run" to see the current state
3. Review results -- Sort by margin or variance columns to see the most impactful items
4. Handle exceptions -- Use Remove Change for items you intentionally price outside thresholds (clearance, competitive matching, etc.)
5. Run your strategy -- If you saved critical pricing as strategy steps, they execute automatically as part of your normal workflow
6. Export to POS -- Send corrected prices to Eagle
7. Print bin labels -- Through Eagle's Label Manager
8. Finalize price changes -- In Eagle's RPC to make new prices active at the register

Goal: Fewer than 10 items flagged as critical pricing issues after your weekly review.

Ace Tasks You Do NOT Need to Perform

Because Margin Master handles the data and analysis, several tasks from Ace's Critical Retail Pricing Quick Start Guide are either unnecessary or handled automatically:

What Changes in Your Workflow

Without Margin Master (Ace's standard process):

Ace RAD flags items weekly > You review in RAD > Submit to Eagle > Review in IPC > Print labels > Finalize in RPC

With Margin Master:

Sync vendor data > Run Ace Critical Pricing (or execute strategy with compliance steps) > Review results > Export to POS > Print labels > Finalize in RPC

The key difference: Margin Master gives you full control over which items to adjust and by how much. Ace's RAD system provides suggested retails that you accept or reject one at a time. Margin Master's strategy system lets you define your own pricing rules, apply them consistently, and handle exceptions -- all in one workflow.

Common Questions

Q: What's the difference between MAP and IMAP? A: MAP (Manufacturer's Advertised Pricing Policy) is the minimum price for in-store and print advertising. IMAP (Internet MAP) is the minimum price for online/internet advertising. Some vendors set different thresholds for each. Both are managed by the vendor and enforced through Ace.

Q: When should I use "Just Run" vs. "Save as Strategies"? A: Both apply the same corrections. Use Just Run for an immediate one-time fix -- it sets the future prices right away and shows you the results. Use Save as Strategies when you want the compliance checks built into your regular pricing workflow so they run automatically every time you execute your strategy.

Q: What does the Future Price toggle do? A: By default, the tool compares your Current Price (what's on the shelf now) against the thresholds. Switching to Future Price mode compares the price that would be set after strategy execution. This is useful for verifying that a strategy you just ran didn't create new violations.

Q: Why would I use a comparison other than "Less Than"? A: "Less Than" is the standard compliance check. But other operators are useful for specialized analysis:

• Greater Than -- Find items priced above a threshold (e.g., items where you charge more than MAP, which is fine but worth knowing)
• Not Equal To -- Find any item where price differs from the threshold in either direction
• Equal To -- Find items priced exactly at the threshold (useful for verifying that a MAP floor strategy worked)

Q: What if I intentionally price below MAP for a clearance sale? A: Use Remove Change to exclude specific items from the strategy results before exporting. The tool identifies ALL items that match your criteria, but you have full control over which corrections to apply.

Q: What if a SKU has no MAP price? A: If a SKU has no MAP price in Ace's system, the MAP Price column is zero. The tool skips items with zero or null MAP values -- they won't appear in the results. These items are still subject to other strategy steps (like minimum margin) that follow.

Q: Can I run this for specific departments only? A: No — Just Run always analyzes every store and item (it clears any active selections first, so nothing is silently excluded from a compliance check). To focus on one department, sort or group the results by Department after the run, or save the analysis as strategy steps and scope those steps within your strategy.

Q: How often is MAP/IMAP data updated? A: MAP/IMAP data is updated by Ace vendors and synced each time you run a vendor data sync. The MAP Last Update column shows when each SKU's MAP pricing was last changed.

Q: Do I still need to use Ace's Retail Analytics Dashboard (RAD)? A: While RAD provides a useful overview of your critical pricing count, Margin Master replaces the need to use RAD for identifying and correcting individual items. You may still want to check RAD periodically as a cross-reference.

Q: What about STIHL products? A: Ace's documentation notes that STIHL has multiple distributors, so pricing can fluctuate. The MAP/IMAP values in Margin Master reflect what Ace has on file. Review STIHL items carefully before accepting suggested retails, as the MAP pricing may use the highest suggested retail but lowest MAPP pricing logic.