How To Use A Multichannel Ecommerce Platform

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1 Why Choose a Multichannel E-Commerce Platform

2 Why Choose a Multichannel E-Commerce Platform Why Choose a Multichannel E-Commerce Platform There has never been more competition for online retailers, and as the world continues to flatten retailers are taking on a global set of competitors. What s more, the steady advent of new channels and methods of shopping online further complicates a retailer s e-commerce strategy. Retailers need to be nimble; to work smarter, not harder. You need to grow your business quickly, with a scalable solution that creates less work and more results. This is where a multichannel e-commerce platform comes into play. A platform provides a collaborative approach to e-commerce; your channels and strategy are working in harmony as opposed to individual point solutions that are competing for spend. As its name suggests, a multichannel e-commerce platform provides a springboard from which to expand to additional channels or take a current e-commerce channel to the next level. ChannelAdvisor s time-tested multichannel e-commerce platform automates tedious tasks associated with selling online, freeing up retailers to concentrate on strategy. Further, the platform offers the metrics to measure and assess performance down to the product level, allowing retailers to quickly and conveniently make performance-based decisions that support their e-commerce goals. The following guide will help you understand how a multichannel e-commerce platform can work for your online business.

3 Why Choose a Multichannel E-Commerce Platform reasons to use a multichannel e-commerce platform 1 Convenience From one log-in you can manage your data feeds, pay per click (PPC) campaigns, marketplace performance and all of your reporting. No longer are you jockeying between tabs and dashboards of multiple point solutions trying to cross-reference and determine which channels are performing the best for you. Enjoy comprehensive management of your e-commerce strategy through one solution. 2 Speed Have a change to make to your listings? Revise your inventory feed once, and it will automatically be updated across each channel. This means you can adapt to any changes quickly and efficiently. Interested in expanding to a new channel? We already receive your feed so expanding is a breeze. 3 Scalability Whether you want to expand to new channels, grow your offering on current channels or extend your business globally, using a multichannel e-commerce platform makes this a flexible and seamless transition. 4 Accuracy Working from one platform removes the risk of errors. Working from one inventory feed across multiple channels ensures inventory levels are accurate and that overselling scenarios do not occur. 5 Accountability With an industry as dynamic as e-commerce it s important to view progress and analyse performance. Pull reports relevant to you, whether that is product-level reporting, intraday performance, cost or revenue reports and many more. With an arsenal of reporting capabilities, all of your decisions will be based on performance and no longer based on gut instinct or on crossreferenced reports from several different sources.

4 Why Choose a Multichannel E-Commerce Platform The ChannelAdvisor Platform ChannelAdvisor is a global, multichannel e-commerce platform provider that helps retailers get their products in front of more potential customers than ever before. ChannelAdvisor s solutions enable retailers to submit one inventory feed to the platform where it is translated to fit the specifications of hundreds of e-commerce partners and distributed accordingly. This opens the online landscape to retailers of all sizes, enabling you to be seen on the online marketing channels that will move the needle for your business. The ChannelAdvisor platform can be broken down into individual channels, each of which complement one another and share common goals to help you sell more. In order to provide more detail on each of the channels and how they piece together to form a complete e-commerce strategy, we ve broken them down by marketplaces, paid search and comparison shopping.

5 Why Choose a Multichannel E-Commerce Platform Marketplaces Selling on marketplaces is a huge revenue driver for online retailers, but it does not come without complications. Marketplaces such as ebay and Amazon have unique intricacies in their listing requirements that make them difficult to manage. By using the ChannelAdvisor platform, you can upload your inventory feed once and this data will push the relevant information needed to each of your online vendors. Choosing where to distribute inventory can be difficult for retailers. Some opt to divide inventory amongst marketplaces, while others guess quantities based upon past performance. When you store your entire inventory in the ChannelAdvisor platform, you can use the Shared Quantity feature, also known as the Inventory Juggler, to list the same inventory on multiple marketplaces simultaneously, without allocating an exclusive quantity to a specific marketplace. Many retailers shy away from selling on marketplaces due to the stiff competition and the strict requirements each marketplace imposes. But what if all of this activity was simple to monitor from a dynamic platform, enabling you to become a better seller on marketplaces? ChannelAdvisor s 360 dashboards give you insight through a series of analytics that provide timely, relevant and actionable information, offering a complete view of your performance on marketplaces in one, convenient place. ChannelAdvisor was the obvious choice for House of Fraser. Operating from one comprehensive product feed will allow us to streamline our strategy and reduce IT costs and on-going development work, whilst having a clear focus in real-time on sales and margin from one simple interface - Ray Kavanagh, Finance Director, House of Fraser

6 Why Choose a Multichannel E-Commerce Platform Paid Search Creating and managing PPC campaigns for your products can be time-consuming, error-prone and often out of sync with actual inventory. ChannelAdvisor s Paid Search solution automatically creates and manages PPC campaigns that are product-specific, accurate and that are automatically generated and updated by syncing with your inventory feed. Many retailers take the approach of bidding on generic keywords for their PPC campaigns. However, it has been found that long tail keywords are more likely to convert browsers into shoppers. Whereas broad match keywords (e.g. running shoes ) are less descriptive, long tail keywords tend to be used by buyers who know exactly what they want (e.g. Nike Air women s running shoe size 6). What s more, long tail keywords are less expensive since they have a smaller search volume. The Inventory Driven Search (IDS) feature of ChannelAdvisor s Paid Search solution uses the information provided in your inventory feed to automatically generate long tail keywords. IDS creates unique, effective advertising for each product including details such as price, part number or promotion. As your paid search campaigns are plugged into your inventory in the ChannelAdvisor platform, out-of stock advertising will be paused until the product is restocked. With an extensive knowledge of the industry and history of success with paid search, ChannelAdvisor was an obvious choice for us. It is reassuring to know that an expert team will be constantly monitoring our account, optimising performance, managing profitability and identifying potential revenue-generating opportunities. - Nicola Travis, Marketing Information Manager, Cotton Traders

7 Why Choose a Multichannel E-Commerce Platform Comparison Shopping It s important for retailers to spread out their offerings and drive as many consumers as possible back to their website. That said, with hundreds of potential comparison shopping sites to choose from, and each with their own unique requirements, many retailers find themselves confined to advertising on one or two. The ChannelAdvisor platform supports more than 100 comparison shopping engines globally, and retailers can advertise on as many of these as they desire from one inventory feed. ChannelAdvisor optimises the data being pushed to each engine so that listings continuously perform well. The ChannelAdvisor platform gives you full visibility into your data feeds from scheduled promotion feeds to site-by-site category mapping to successful syndication. This comprehensive view allows you to see your program from all angles so you can take the appropriate actions to reduce costs and increase profits. We were keen to establish a presence on comparison shopping engines but realised this was not something we could manage in-house With ChannelAdvisor s Comparison Shopping solution we are able to manage our inventory across multiple comparison shopping engines, in turn increasing our brand awareness and traffic to our website. - Chris Bevan, Online Marketing Manager, Joules

8 Why Choose a Multichannel E-Commerce Platform Summary With the capabilities of a fully integrated, multichannel e-commerce platform, retailers gain a simpler, more accurate listing process, have clearer insight into performance and competitor performance, have the ability to expand to more channels than ever before and more time to focus on other aspects of their business. Give us a call and find out how the ChannelAdvisor platform can transform you into a top-performing online retailer, or visit the ChannelAdvisor website. While you re there check out our specialty solutions designed to enhance the performance of your channel presence including feed optimisation, image enhancement, social commerce solutions and more. About ChannelAdvisor ChannelAdvisor is a leading provider of cloud-based e-commerce solutions that enable retailers and manufacturers to increase the scale and profitability of their global sales through dozens of online channels including Amazon, Google, ebay, Facebook and more. Through automation, analytics and optimisation, ChannelAdvisor leverages a single inventory feed to more efficiently list and advertise products online, connecting suppliers with shoppers to increase sales. Billions of dollars in sales are driven through ChannelAdvisor every year, and thousands of customers depend on ChannelAdvisor to substantially grow their businesses. Trust us. Be Seen. To learn more: Call Visit [email protected] The global standard for e-commerce leaders.