The way in which businesses interact with customers continues to change, no longer do businesses rely on brick and mortar stores to increase sales, there are now a number of effectives ways in which retailers can sell online, from independent ecommerce stores to Amazon and even through apps such as Depop, there are many options available to evolve your business.
Having your own independent online store can be great for sales, however with so many businesses out there competing for customer attention it’s becoming increasingly difficult to simply sell on one platform alone. This is why so many retailers are opting to sell through other means, as well as on their own websites.
These days consumers want convenience, fast service, cheaper products and easy to access, these are all important factors in a customers decision process, therefor adding sales channels and selling on large marketplaces such as Amazon and Ebay can be the perfect way to increase awareness and visibility of your brand as well as ultimately making it more accessible for your customers or potential customers.
Managing multichannel selling can be a challenge and for many the idea of managing multiple sales channels can be difficult to control, with concerns about losing track of orders, losing control of your inventory or forgetting about your own website, there can be a lot to consider. However there’s no need to worry, here’s 4 effective ways you can manage your multichannel selling and regain control.
Get organised
If you’re looking to sell online on one of the major platforms like Amazon, Ebay, or Etsy or even all three, it can seem like a daunting task, in order to make your new sales channels a success there’s a number of factors you need to implement so it’s crucial that you’re organised. Even with multichannel selling management tools, you’ll still need to keep track of your inventory, orders, customers and supplier information in real time, therefor you need to manage your time so that these things are all considered accurately and in the least confusing way possible.
From simple things such as writing lists to creating a great system for your employees behind the scenes to keep track of sales and leads, in order to focus on other elements such as your marketing, products and customer service.
Keep prices fair
No matter where you’re choosing to sell you still need to make sure you’re customers shopping experience is fair and consistent on every platform, most importantly with your prices. Keeping your prices fair and consistent across your channels is a great way to establish your brand in the marketplace. If your price is lower on one channel than it is on your website it’s likely to get more sales, ruining the reputation of your own website and essentially making you your own competition.
Not only is it good to keep things consistent for your own peace of mind, in some cases marketplaces will ask you to keep your prices fair and equal in their terms and conditions, making it even more important that you develop a plan that will keep your brand consistent no matter which channel you sell on.
Gather customer information
In order to get an understanding of what your customers prefer, where they are buying from and what they are buying it’s a good idea to gather data from your selling channels. Sending out customer surveys or a follow up email featuring a coupon which will encourage to buy from your website can be effective ways to gather information from those who bought on other platforms to submit information about themselves, giving you insights into your customers.
Gathering these insights allows your business to not only get a clearer understand of what your customers want but also allows your marketers, suppliers and sales team more opportunities to reach out to customers.
Be choosy
Not every business suits every marketplace, whilst most industries can make the most of many online marketplaces it’s still important to have reasoning for each of the marketplaces you use. It’s important you’re products are where your customers are likely to be, whilst most people go to Amazon for more or less everything, people looking for electronics aren’t going to head for Etsy to find them, similarly if someone is looking for art prints or vintage clothing they’re much more likely to go for Etsy to find them.
It’s important to know what your customers want and where they’re likely to be, research your marketplaces carefully before you choose a definitive channel, you don’t want to spend time and money setting your business up one place only to find your customers aren’t there.
Choosing a multichannel selling strategy is a step forward for your business and despite it’s obstacles can be a great way in which you can keep consistently high sales and a large reach. Whilst you’ll need to keep one step ahead in order to not forget about your other channels, with these simple tips in mind there’s no reason your business shouldn’t consider multichannel selling today.
