This is a user generated content for MyStory, a YourStory initiative to enable its community to contribute and have their voices heard. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of YourStory.
This is a user generated content for MyStory, a YourStory initiative to enable its community to contribute and have their voices heard. The views and writings here reflect that of the author and not of YourStory.
Do you think you have everything that it takes to run a successful eCommerce company? Do you think having the basic functions of an online shop is enough to survive in the competitive scenario? Not really! Even if you have established yourself as an online store, it is important to stay in sync with the industry advancement. Keep looking out for the ways to boost the customer base and the overall revenue of the site ultimately. Multi-channel selling is one of best ways to reach out to the global customer base with ease.
Multi-channel Selling
Multi-channel selling refers to the process of promoting your products and selling across multiple online channels. There are a number of already established sites that offers multi-seller functionality. That is, sites like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Walmart Neweggs and others allows the online sellers to list their products on their stores and sell them to the customer base of these popular sites. The popular shopping platforms have their sales pros, brand image and a huge customer base. Thus, it becomes easier for the e-sellers to amp up their business reach. Amidst this, the first question that arises is why should you care for multi-channel selling. Here are some of the reasons:
Business Reach
By listing your products on the popular online marketplaces, you can easily expand your business reach. The store owners can easily sell their products to overseas shoppers online.
Competitive edge
In the competitive ecosystem, tapping a larger audience base is the only way to survive and have a competitive edge.
Diversification is the key
Diving into multiple channels provide you an opportunity to find diverse customer base. Thus, it becomes way more easier to diversify your business model. While the specialization is important, expanding your business prospect is the need of the hour.
These are some of the basic reasons that makes it inevitable for the e-sellers to sell their products on more than one website. If you are looking to boost your site revenue than make sure that you are not missing on the opportunities provided by these online marketplaces.
Before you delve into multi-channel trading, there are certain factors that you need to consider in order to become a successful seller. Listed below are some of the basic strategies that can skyrocket your performance at these platforms:
Strategy 1: Pick the sales channel smartly
Almost all the established online shopping sites have now started allowing the third-party vendors to sell on their site. However, when it comes to standing out in the crowd, finding the niche market is a must. Selecting the right platform as per your business model involves thoughtful considerations. Here are few questions that need answering before ending up on the perfect platform:
Where are your customers shopping?
Where can you find your potential customer?
What is the business model of the concerned marketplace in which you thinking of listing your products?
What the types of products that they deal in?
Pick up the platform that provides the solution for all your questions. While most the sellers would go for the sites that have greater popularity. It is advisable to go for the one that has quality traffic from your business prospect. For instance, Etsy is popular as a site that deals in vintage and handmade good. Even though, it now dealing all product type under the roof, it should always be a second choice for the e-sellers who are not dealing in these products.
Strategy 2: Sell on multiple channels, but prioritize first
Instead of sticking to a single site, choose multiple platforms for selling your products. The more is your reach, the better is the chances of conversion. However, not every marketplace are equal. The process of transaction, terms and conditions, inventory-management guidelines and other factors are different for different sites. Thus, prioritize the channels as per your requirement. Consider the marketplace from different angles. Get a better understanding of the target customers on each sites. Try and understand what they are exactly looking and how they make their online purchases. This will help you prioritize the channels with greater efficiency.
Strategy 3: Find the right integration method
With great power, comes great responsibility. Now that you have a huge customer base at your finger you need handle and manage their requirements with greater efficiency. A single mistake may prove hazardous, especially when it comes to selling on platforms that have huge competition. Hence, finding the right integration solution is a must. There are marketplace integrator available for the various CMS platforms like Magento, Prestashop, OpenCart and others. These integrators automates the entire process of store synchronization and management.
Listed below are some of the ideal feature that an integration solution should have:
Keep your store at the online marketplaces in sync with your eCommerce site.
Automates the entire process of product upload, order and shipping management. It should enable bulk management.
Makes it easier to keep track of the online transaction as well as errors occurred while products listing and performing other such activities.
The key to success is to keep the entire management process as simple as possible.
Strategy 4: It comes back to the shopping experience
No matter the platform that you choose for multi-channel, it all depends on the customer experience ultimately. If your customers are satisfied, you will automatically stay ahead of your competitors. The expectation of the target audience should always be the focus point. Even if you are not the site owner, handling the complains of the customers and taking essentials steps is your responsibility. Customer retention is only possible if you make sure that the positive reviews of the customers are appreciated and their complaints are taken care of.
Conclusion
Not every online marketplace is ideal for your business. Moreover, just tracking the website traffic is not enough. The ROI determination should be considered along with the complexity of trading on these sites. Figure out the behavior of the competitors and find out the products with which you can compete with respect to the price and quality.