Multichannel Selling

Find out how to sell effectively in marketplaces such as Etsy, Dawanda, Amazon etc. Everything you need to know to grow your sales and save time.


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How to use Koongo to grow your business

How to use Koongo to grow your business

E-commerce is all about product marketing: you will manage to keep your business alive only if your conversion rate is constantly getting higher.

E-commerce is all about product marketing: you will manage to keep your business alive only if your conversion rate is constantly getting higher. Advertising your products at price-comparison websites and online marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, or Google Shopping is a beneficial promoting approach. Such a type of promotion is called Multichannel Selling.

Multichannel Selling helps you not only to promote your brand or catch the interest of new prospects. It also improves the SEO of your Shoplo store and increases your sales.

But each of the selling channels requires specific means of integration. And the procedure of integration with them involves quite some effort. It's even a harder job to make sure that product feeds pull a good ROI (return on investment) as well as meet specific requirements for channels like Google Shopping, Amazon, or eBay.

Koongo: Sell on Marketplaces allows you connect your Shoplo store to over five hundred selling channels in various countries with minimum effort. Thanks to this app, you'll become capable of expanding your business to international marketplaces, attract plenty of new clients, and boost the profit painlessly. Koongo app doesn’t demand proficient knowledge in programming. So, every merchant is able to employ this tool effortlessly.

Benefits of Koongo: Sell on Marketplaces

  • Generate more traffic - Reach potential customers on global marketing channels directly from your Shoplo store. Use any of 500+ online marketplaces, price comparison websites, social and affiliate networks integrated by Koongo. Centralize your products in Koongo and automatically distribute your data on all connected marketing channels
  • Automate your orders - Import your marketplace orders through Koongo into your store backend. And sync your inventory automatically. Process your marketplace orders just like your Shoplo store orders. Order management is available for marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, Miinto, Beslist.nl, idealo or Bol.com
  • Optimize your data - Increase your efficiency by automating tasks. With Koongo advanced filters, you can select the right group of products for a specific marketing channel. You can increase your product prices to cover marketplace selling fees. Koongo gives you a complete solution for your product data management
  • Update data in a matter of minutes - An API integration transfers product data updates every 30 minutes from your store to online marketplaces. It allows you to sell products low on stock on different marketplaces at the same time. The API integration is implemented for channels like Amazon, Miinto, Cdiscount.com, eBay, Marktplaats.nl, Beslist, Bol.com, 2dehands.be or Wish.com
  • Monitor your performance - Integrate your Koongo account easily with your Google Analytics. Monitor your product performance on your connected marketing channel. Improve your Return on Investment. Google Analytics integration gives you an accurate product performance overview. It helps you to select profitable products for each marketing channel and get rid of losers
  • Test 30 days for free - Try Koongo 30 days for free. No credit card is required. No limitations are applied. Koongo trial is completely risk-free. You have plenty of time to test Koongo and see what profit you can make on a specific marketplace or comparison website. Start your Koongo trial. We'll be happy to help you with a marketing channel integration

Start Koongo now. Get a 20% permanent discount on the Koongo app

If you install the Koongo: Sell on Marketplaces app the end of March 2021, you'll get a 20% permanent discount on the Koongo service. Please contact Koongo support at support@koongo.com after you start your Koongo trial period.

Do you have any questions? Check the Koongo websites or contact Koongo support for more information. Koongo team is happy to help you.

Marta Mazurowska
Marta Mazurowska
15/1/2021
Selling on Amazon vs eBay – How to choose the best channel for you

Selling on Amazon vs eBay – How to choose the best channel for you

Is it better to sell on Amazon or eBay? Our ultimate guide shows you how to get the best from both websites. Read the article and grow your brand now.

Phil Forbes
Phil Forbes
7/11/2017
Bonanza selling: Why Bonanza is becoming the best eBay alternative.

Bonanza selling: Why Bonanza is becoming the best eBay alternative.

The Bonanza selling experience is becoming well known, establishing the marketplace as a safe and significantly cheaper eBay alternative.

When you’re an online seller, you’re constantly faced with business-shaping decisions.Website or marketplace? eBay or Amazon? Facebook or Twitter? Discount or no discount?Any help you can get is going to make your life a lot easier, maybe even more enjoyable. There are many tools, products and marketplaces that can help you do just that.One marketplace that helps make your online selling life easier is Bonanza. The name became more and more popular in 2017 and some sellers are moving away from eBay in favour of Bonanza.This can be due to many things. Are eBay sellers are feeling the pinch of fees? Perhaps Bonanza offers more tools and more value for money. But what is Bonanza? How do you sell on Bonanza? How does Bonanza work?If you’ve asked yourself these questions, you’re in the right spot. Today you’re going to get an up-close look at the Bonanza marketplace. By the end of this, you will know:

  • What is the Bonanza selling experience like?
  • Is Bonanza legit?
  • Is Bonanza the best eBay alternative?
  • What are the real Bonanza selling fees?
  • Is the Bonanza website a good place for my brand?

Soon enough you’ll know more about the Bonanza marketplace, how it works, and whether it’s a good fit for your brand.

What is Bonanza?

Bonanza is an online marketplace where sellers list their products to be sold. It’s divided into multiple categories to help buyers find exactly what they’re looking for. Buyers add a product to their cart for a set price or can negotiate an offer. Payments are made on the Bonanza website through a safe and secure checkout facility. As a popular eBay alternative, just about anything can be sold (you can check them all out here).  More and more crafters and small handmade sellers are finding a home on Bonanza too. There are more unique and handmade items for sale on Bonanza than eBay, but less household brand names than Amazon.Buyers can buy everything from a washing machine to a new pair of Nike Airs, to a unique, one-of-a-kind piece of jewellery.

bonanza selling comparison

Nike meets handmade jewellery on Bonanza

Bonanza knows that its customers also sell on other sales channels, as well as a Shopify or WooCommerce web store. You can easily import your products from these channels using Bonanzas integrations. This gets you selling your products much quicker.  

Bonanza Stats

Bonanza's analytics say they have over 5 million visitors a month, with Similarweb backing up similar numbers. That’s a little over 150,000 visits a day. This may be insignificant in comparison to eBay, Amazon and Etsy but it’s not a number to be ignored. If you have a presence on Bonanza, as well as other marketplaces, you increase your reach and potential for more sales.

Are you thinking about selling on a second marketplace or building a web store? Use Multichannel to manage your inventory, customers and sales everywhere!

Bonanza's customer base is primarily U.S based. But with 25% of all traffic coming from abroad, it's an expanding marketing. Currently, Bonanza sellers are from over 200 countries worldwide.PROS

  • Traffic and sales on the Bonanza marketplace have increased since opening in 2008

CONS

  • A long way to go to have as much traffic as eBay, Amazon or Etsy.
  • Buyers are mostly based in the U.S.

Is Bonanza safe? Is Bonanza legit?

Yes, Bonanza is safe.

Yes, Bonanza is legit.

The Better Business Bureau gave Bonanza an A+ and the average consumer rating is 8.4 out of 10. This simply means that Bonanza is safe and Bonanza is legit.

bonanza selling is bonanza legit

Is Bonanza legit? Yes, yes it is.

Bonanza has a huge seller base and even more buyers. Millions of transactions have happened through the Bonanza website without any problems at all. There are, however, a few unsavoury characters from time to time. Bonanza are very active in trying to find scams - both dodgy buyers and sellers. The Bonanza team make it easy for anyone to report suspicious activity. The Bonanza marketplace integrates with only trusted payment gateways - PayPal and Amazon Payments being the most popular (and safest).

Bonanza Selling Site Features

You may ask yourself a question: Why should you sell on Bonanza?Many Bonanza seller reviews have stated that the range of tools and features on offer make selling easier, quicker and more enjoyable. sMany other Bonanza seller reviews state that it's an easier, cheaper and fairer marketplace than eBay. These features which may very well become your favourites:

Product Import

The first feature that makes your selling life easier is the product import. You can easily import your existing listing from eBay and Amazon. With a few clicks of a button, your entire Amazon or eBay inventory is copied over to your Bonanza account.

Bonanza selling eBay import

This means you can be sure that your listings are consistent over all your channels. Plus, it gets you up and running quicker.

eBay feedback Import

One problem you face when selling in a new marketplace is trust. If you’re new, no one knows you and no one trusts you. Bonanza’s eBay feedback importer solves all that. The tool looks at your eBay account and gives you a score based on your last 1000 pages of feedback.This means that your eBay credibility is automatically shown off on your fresh, new Bonanza account. Trust. That goes a long way in selling!

Google AdWords

Bonanza has a long history of working alongside Google (and its many features) to help you get your products seen by more people. For a fee (which we will cover later) your Bonanza listings can also be featured in Google Shopping adverts. This puts your listing in front of an incredible amount of potential buyers, increasing your chances of being seen and getting sold.

Paid Traffic

Google Shopping isn’t the only place you can pay to get your Bonanza listings seen. With a little financial backing, your listings can be boosted and seen by:

  • Bonanza shoppers
  • Bonanza affiliate partners
  • eBay customers
  • Bing! Users
bonanza google shopping

So by selling on Bonanza, you’re not only able to be seen by people who buy on Bonanza, but so many more who may have never even heard of Bonanza. This gives your sales the potential to increase tenfold.

Chat

Bonanza knows the problems that your buyers often face. They may have a question that needs to be answered before they commit to the purchase. Bonanza’s built-in chat (or Booth Chatting) helps solve this problem.Buyers and sellers can communicate with each when they’re both online. Any questions or queries a potential customer may have can be cleared up ASAP, moving your customer to complete the checkout process sooner.Chat also helps with things get tough. Have an unhappy customer that wants to know more about your return or refund policy? Live chat can help them then and there, without the need for anyone to wait.This also helps you build a relationship with your customer. Great for branding and building a loyal customer fan-base.

Picture Burner

It’s pretty obvious that you need to have exceptional product photos to be a successful online seller. But we don’t all have access to perfectly white backgrounds or high-tech editing software.That’s where Bonanzas Background Burner saves the day. Upload your photo and use the simple interface to, literally, remove the background.

bonanza selling background buner

The Shoplo ‘S’ plushie, before and after the background burner

Now you’re left with a simple, clean image of your product. Place it on a white background to show it off without the imperfect or distracting background it once had.

Want to know more about taking fantastic product photos? Read 11 of the best product photography tips for ecommerce!

It’s pretty clear that by selling on the Bonanza marketplace, you get more than just a marketplace to sell. The Bonanza team have developed all these tools with you, the seller, as well as your customer in mind. This makes selling easier, faster and a better experience for you and your clients.

Bonanza Selling Fees

Bonanza charges nothing for you to open a booth and list your products. They collect only a small percentage of your final sale price once the product sells. See the simple chart below:

bonanza selling fees

The more commission you pay, the more sales channels your products will be listed on. More advanced users can take advantage of a Bonanza membership, billed monthly or annually.Even though Bonanza fees are complicated, the most important thing to remember is that selling on Bonanza is significantly less than eBay and Amazon.

bonanza selling fees

PROS

  • Can list completely for free
  • Overall fees are low

CONS

  • Memberships vs tiered pricing - somewhat confusing.
  • If selling a competitive product, you’ll need more exposure, hence more fees

Getting started with Bonanza selling website.

Getting started on Bonanza is a simple and straightforward process.

  • Go to the Bonanza ‘Start selling’ page and let them know if you’re already selling online.
  • Select a name for your booth (eg, the name of your store or brand). Next, you’ll see your store panel
  • Click on ‘Open your booth’
  • Select how you’d like to be paid and your personal details.
  • Enter your credit card details so that you can be billed for seller fees
  • Select whether you’d like to pay to have your products advertised elsewhere online (you can always change this decision later)
  • If you’re interested in a membership, this is where you pick which one is best for you. It’s not essential, though.

Now you’re set up and ready to sell!

4 tips for successful Bonanza selling

If you’re considering selling on Bonanza, here are 4 of our tips that can help you get the most out of the marketplace.

  • Don’t sell on just Bonanza.

If Bonanza, or any of those mentioned sales channels, are the only place you brand has a presence, you will find it hard to be successful. Many user Bonanza reviews state that ‘I’ve only had a sale a month, Bonanza isn’t good’. ArtYah, one of the more popular sites like Etsy, gets a lot of criticism as sellers don’t get a lot of sales.That’s because they’re putting all their eggs in one basket. Also, sell on Etsy. And eBay. And your web store. And eBay. The future of successful ecommerce business is multichannel selling ...To get the most out of Bonanza, it doesn’t hurt to do a little proactive marketing, too.

  • Market your own listings.

While it’s true that you’ll get the organic Bonanza traffic, you can increase this by being proactive with your marketing efforts. For example, use social media to drive traffic to your Bonanza listings.Surprise, surprise, the Bonanza marketplace have an integrated way you can do just that.Another way? Find a Facebook group, full of people who have a problem that your product solves, and share it there. You’ll be doing yourself and Bonanza a favour.

  • Use freebies, coupons & combined item discounts.

This is another feature that sets Bonanza apart from eBay.Freebies are unspecified items that a seller agrees to give away with each transaction. Coupons are unique codes that give a buyer free shipping or a percentage off. Combined item discounts are exactly that. The final price will be lower if you buy more than one item.  

  • Use chat to build a relationship.

The inbuilt chat feature is a fantastic initiative. Of course, it can be used to answer customer questions and haggle on a price, but it’s also a great way to build a relationship with your customer. No matter what you’re selling, a customer will be more likely to buy from you if they’re emotionally invested in you and your brand - and the chat feature is a fast-tracked way to build that relationship. PROS

  • Unique features make it easy to attract repeat business and keep the customer happy
  • Freebies add value and an incentive to your customer.

CONS

  • Selling on Bonanza, you'll need to be proactive with marketing.

Bonanza vs eBay - are they worth comparing?

Bonanza is quickly becoming one of the more popular alternatives to eBay, for both buyers and sellers.In fact, they’ve got a whole page explaining why they’re a great eBay alternative.

bonanza selling vs ebay

Below you will find 4 most important differences between eBay and Bonanza.

  • Fees.It’s cheaper to sell on Bonanza than eBay. Sure, eBay has an incredible amount of traffic, but eBay fees simply sting. Bonanza = list for free & lower selling fees.
  • Promotions.If you’re selling on eBay, you have a lot of organic traffic. Not so much with Bonanza. Bonanzas offer of integrating with Google Adwords, Google Shopping etc, means that you can be seen by more than just eBay shoppers, and better quality shoppers, too. Shoppers that actually want to buy what you’re selling.
  • Easier.Setting up an account with Bonanza is smooth and simple, as is listing a product. There’s no messing around with Auction prices, set prices, memorizing fees scheduling a listing. It’s simple, clean and easy which means you can focus on other parts of your business.
  • Customer interactionCustomer interactions are quicker and easier. The live chat feature means customers can talk with you in real time and you can build a relationship with them. Rather than waiting for emails from customers, problems are solved on the spot.

Want to know more about Bonanza? Over on Reddit Bonanza is starting to gather more attention as users discuss using it alongside other sales channels. The Reddit community is known for its entrepreneurial spirit!While there’s no clear winner in the Bonanza vs eBay fight, it’s easy to see their differences. Your brand may find more success on one than the other, but it’s plain to see that Bonanza is made with you, the seller, in mind. PROS

  • Cheaper
  • Easier
  • Access to external promotions

CONS

  • Significantly less traffic
  • No auction format

Bonanza Selling - Conclusion

Now you know a little more about the Bonanza website! Bonanza is starting to get traction and grow in both buyers and sellers as a popular eBay alternative. While it may not have the traction to bring other marketplaces down completely, it’s certainly a starting to get the attention to do just that.Do you think Bonanza can ever truly rival eBay? What are some of the things you like or dislike about Bonanza? Let us know in the comments!

Phil Forbes
Phil Forbes
18/1/2018
8 Tips To Start Selling On DaWanda

8 Tips To Start Selling On DaWanda

Do you want to sell on Dawanda? Use these 8 simple tips to grow your brand and excel selling on DaWanda, the biggest craft marketplace in Europe. Learn now.

Start Selling on DaWanda

Beginning in Germany, it didn’t take long for Dawanda to gain traction internationally.With 56% traffic being German, 14% Polish and approx. 4% being from France, Austria and Spain, it’s easy to see how Dawanda really is an international craft marketplace.In the last few years, more and more British sellers have had an audience there and even some American sellers.

DaWanda is the go-to European craft marketplace. 

As mentioned earlier, Etsy and DaWanda have a lot in common. A quick browse of any category and you can see the similarities and differences between the two. That being said, DaWanda has a much higher standard of listings.

The buyer buys directly from the seller and after the transaction, the seller pays a 5% selling fee and a listing fee of less than 30 cents. Pretty standard business model, not unlike Etsy. In fact, the handmade community is often discussing DaWanda vs Etsy. A lot of sellers diversify their audience by also selling on DaWanda

Can you handle that? Let's continue!

1 - Product photos mean much more on Dawanda

You hear it again and again, the importance of photography when selling online.Product photography is next-level on DaWanda.No clothes on coat hangers, no blurry cell-phone photos. Just natural models and complimentary textures everywhere. Top shelf product photography.

Your product photos must be worthy of being in an Ikea catalogue.  

Great photos regularly get pinned and seen by more people. Invest some time and money in getting your product photos looking absolutely perfect. DaWanda review a lot of listings and sometimes feature well-designed stores on their home page.DaWanda themselves have a fantastic help page on how to take professional product photos. Bookmark it, read it, do it and make photo quality your strong suit.

2 - 5.47cm is 2.15 inches

On paper, the US, Liberia and Myanmar are the only countries that use the Imperial system. However, a lot of Europeans still prefer measurements the ‘older’ way.Listing products in both imperial and metric give you the ability to cater to more people.

3 - Languages

What do you mean you don’t speak German, Polish and French? Pourquoi vous ne? Powinieneś się nauczyć! Jetzt!Europe is a melting pot of languages and culture. To get the most out of it, it's imperative that you make your products available in more than just English.When listing an item on Dawanda, you are given the option of listing in different languages.

To do so, you need to provide a translation ofthe entire product listing in that language.The more languages your product is translated into, the more likely you will be to make a sale.Google Translate is an adequate solution, but anyone who has relied on Google Translate knows how inconsistent it is. Play it safe and find a friend that can speak the language or even pay a translator (possibly with free gifts).Keep in mind that buyers will ask you questions in their native tongue so offering effective and accurate customer service is important.ProTip: When it comes to international postage, consider options other than your national postal service, too.

4 - Make it personal.

Buyers relate to a personal and unique message more than they do a salesy advertisement.Create a storefront that people can remember but also relate to.Design a logo and make your colours, the tone of voice and designs consistent with each product listing as well as your shop window and banner.

Unique, consistent and memorable branding from Very and very.

Don't forget to mention your story. Tell your customers what got you started and how you got to where you are now. What drives you to do what you do.People want to buy your story when they buy your product, so sell it to them.

5 - Go Multichannel

Chances are that DaWanda isn't the first marketplace that you're selling on. Being in more places at once is obviously a great way to be seen by more people.The problem is though, it's easy to lose track of sales and mix up products, addresses when dealing with multiple sales channels.

6 - Use and contribute to the community.

The DaWanda forum is a wealth of information for sellers of any level. A close-knit community, sellers are there to support each other with just about any questions that may arise.

Plenty of help for everyone!

If you've got questions, chances are it's been asked before. Rely heavily on the forums, as all the advice comes from people who have learnt it and done it themselves.

7 - Pinboards.

A pinboard is a public or private collection of productsthat a buyer or seller likes. You can make a collection of striped things that you like or minimalistic home decor. Throw together a pinboard of birthday gift ideas for loved ones or even yourself.As a seller, pinboards can be a great way to be seen and make your way to the front page of DaWanda. Build a public Pinboard that includes your product and other products that compliment your own. Get creative, as it can boost your visibility!

8 - Know your niche

Like most marketplaces, you may come to see that you’re hot in one part of the world and not so hot in another part.It’s time to evolve!If your wedding invitations are selling well in Germany, focus on that. Take yourself away from Spain if it isn’t working and divert that energy into going harder where it is working.Not hot at all? Perhaps you’re offering too much.Instead of being a jack-of-all-trades selling bracelets and bags and glassware,focus on one product. Master that one product and find people that want it. Be the best in a single field and then start expanding.Think that you'retoo niche? DaWanda has a category dedicated to toilet roll covers. Checkmate.If you're serious about moving into the DaWanda world, here's the main things you need to remember.

  • Does your product comply with the DaWanda guidelines? No political material, toys must meet EU standards.
  • You.  People want to buy from a person, from you. Fill out your personal profile and use a picture. Of you.
  • High-quality photos.  Descriptive, detailed, high-resolution, clear and concise. Use models for any clothing.
  • Are all your products organised into the most appropriate categories?
  • Branding - Check the shop window and banner and make sure your buyers remember your brand.
  • Are your listings confusing or overwhelming? Take a 'less is more', minimalist approach to your listings.

With these new tips in mind, go to Dawanda and start your adventure!It is a completely unique marketplace with products of the absolutely highest quality that you can possibly buy. Sink your teeth into it!

Phil Forbes
Phil Forbes
6/11/2016
9 Simple Tips For More Ebay Sales

9 Simple Tips For More Ebay Sales

More eBay sales simply isn't about $0.99 auctions or sniping. With a little research and time, you can truly master this veteran marketplace and make profit.

Whilst relatively new to the handmade industry, it’s not uncommon (or difficult) to find handmade items of all shapes and sizes on eBay.[sc name="50 ways"]If you’re considering to have a presence on eBay, we encourage you to experiment.  The more places that you’re present, the more likely you are to make a sale.To get started, eBay themselves have a good ‘how to’ guide. If that's a bit simple for you, here's another great article on earning online by selling on eBay.It's worth reminding fellow sellers that the same rules apply here as they do for most marketplaces.

  • Good quality photos- No photos taken with a cell phone.  Ideally a DSLR with adequate lighting and clear, neutral coloured backdrops.  At very least, a good quality point-and-shoot camera.  No cell phones.
  • Descriptive descriptions- Describe your products the best way you can.  Tell potential buyers how the product feels.  It's very soft for its weight.  These emotive words help seal a deal.

Without further adieu, here are our 9 simple tips to help you get more eBay sales!

Don't try to be the cheapest

eBay has a very large presence in Asia. Asia is the world capital of manufacturing. Because of this, a lot of stores operate as warehouses. Selling on eBay and then posting worldwide from Hong Kong, Singapore or China. As someone who makes unique items with love by hand, you cannot compete on price.

Asian manufacturers are more competitive on price. Because of that, a lot of products have sacrificed quality. This is a card you can play on. It costs money to make something well and this is a selling point of your item. Use that.

Research Similar Items

eBay has a unique tool that separates it from a lot of other marketplaces.Under the 'Advanced' search tab, you are able to search for listings that have finished - either sold or not.

You are able to search for a listing that has finished but not sold or listings that have finished and sold.

This is a very powerful tool when it comes to doing market research. Reading your competition is essential to seeing how you can have a unique edge over them. Different materials and different processes used to make a product warrant a different price. Alternatively, you can also see products that have successfully sold and which product successfully sell regularly. Finding out why these products sell regularly is part of the fun of eBay!

Know your acronyms

Don't know your LXBX from your MONMC?eBay and the community rely heavily on acronyms. Getting to know most of them will help you write more efficient listings.

About me

eBay, like most marketplaces, have an 'About me' page that lets you tell your story and show off a bit about who you are. Sadly, a lot of sellers neglect this page.

image thanks to toya1980This is a great place to also talk about your USP.

USP- unique selling point

As earlier mentioned, eBay is flooded with cheap, mass produced items. You cannot compete with products like that. When you list a book on eBay, the listing usually asks you for an ISBN (International Standard Book Number). A lot of other products also have standardised numbers and code. Your handmade products don't have this. Therefore, you need to market differently.Instead, you need to explain why yours is different. Your advertisement should say 'Buy this product for this specific benefit'. This is old marketing 101, but it works.Let's take an example we all know- FedEx.

  • FedEx Corporation: "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight."

Comparing your small handmade brand to FedEx may seem a little unfair, but this is an edge that can have a ripple effect on other aspects of your brand.  Why are you different? What are you committed to? Why should I buy yours and not your competitors products? Answer these questions and you're well on your way to a good USP!

Sell for a cause

Working hand-in-hand with a charity is a fantastic way to raise some brand awareness and also help others in need, whoever they may be.

Donating a percentage of your profits to charity is quite simple using eBay as your marketplace.Play the whole part by getting in contact with the charity beforehand. Take note of current events happening on the calendar (Movember, for example) and find a cause you can relate and cater to. Make some custom products for the cause of that charity- pink ribbons for breast cancer awareness for example.Partner with the charity, bringing more and more attention to both your brand and the charity. This symbiotic effect will have beneficial effects for all involved!

Bids or fixed price?

An eternal dilemma for all eBay sellers. Do I start my price low at $0.99 and use the cheap price to draw attention (and risk it selling for a loss) or do I sell for a higher fixed price (and risk not selling it at all)?The low starting price attracts attention- nearly anything for $0.99 is a good buy- but then what if it only sells for a fraction of what it cost me to make? A fixed price runs the other risk - will it sell for what I'm asking?This situation means you need to do some research. Use the previously mentioned Advanced Search to see what similar products sell for. List items that you already make a large profit on to gauge which prices get the most interesting. Like most things in eCommerce, its all a numbers game!

2-way feedback

eBay is unique in many ways. One of those ways is the 2-way feedback system. Both buyers and sellers leave feedback for a transaction.

This means that:The buyer can explain

  • the product being as described
  • the accuracy of the photos
  • was it worth the price
  • the speed of payment
  • if the seller was easy to contact

and the seller can explain

  • the speed of payment
  • the speed of postage
  • if the buyer was easy to contact
  • if the item was custom made, was the buyer easy to deal with?

This unique concept can be a blessing and a curse.  eBay tightly monitors all buyer/seller communication, therefore a lot of disputes are 'discussed' offsite on Paypal. If a dispute cannot be solved, it often results in negative feedback being left. Negative feedback can stain a feedback rating and it usually takes a few hundred transactions and 12 months for negative feedback to go unnoticed.

FeeBay

Fees are often a kicker for sellers of all shapes and sizes on eBay. Fees vary from category to category and are dependent on what other features your listing has. Our suggestion is to use this fee calculator and when to make the most of eBays free listing promotions.

eBay is the mother of marketplaces, prevalent in more countries than any other.  Because of this reason, we think it is one of the best marketplaces to sell on.  A little different with some very identifying features, but with a little research, eBay can be the workhorse of your brand!

Phil Forbes
Phil Forbes
7/11/2016
10+ Sites like Etsy to sell handmade crafts and grow your business

10+ Sites like Etsy to sell handmade crafts and grow your business

Etsy has just announced that it will deduct your selling fees and taxes from your final sale price. So many Etsy sellers like you furious and looking for more Etsy alternatives where they can sell their products. Explore these 10+ sites like Etsy and see how you can use them to grow your brand and sell more.

Phil Forbes
Phil Forbes
18/4/2018
Why Influencer Marketing Should Be Your Go-To Ecommerce Strategy in 2018

Why Influencer Marketing Should Be Your Go-To Ecommerce Strategy in 2018

In this article, you’ll learn all you need to know in order to start reaping the benefits of influencer marketing for your brand.

You can’t run a successful business without a working strategy for generating new leads. And that’s not easy – each market is different, and therefore you need to find marketing methods that resonate with your audience and bring you measurable results. What’s more, today’s consumers are more resistant to traditional marketing strategies – they have learned to verify claims and often rely on word-of-mouth to make their buying decisions. That’s why social media has become an indispensable tool for building trust and establishing a relationship with your customer base.

The number of social media users grew to a staggering 3.196 billion in 2018, and this number will only keep increasing. So if an ecommerce business wants to stay relevant in their market, having a strong social media presence is absolutely essential.

This is where influencer marketing can be so powerful. Consumers want to hear recommendations from people they trust. So, if you can get an influencer (a trusted and authoritative figure within your industry) to recommend your products or services, that can result in a huge boost to sales and even change the dynamics of the marketplace. Many of today’s brands use influencer marketing as their main ecommerce strategy and achieve incredible results. If done correctly, it can become the most effective and reliable way to expand your reach and ensure sustainable growth. But how to put together your own influencer marketing campaign? In this article, you’ll learn all you need to know in order to start reaping the benefits of influencer marketing for your brand. Here’s what you’ll learn after reading this article:

  • What is influencer marketing
  • How to create the best influencer marketing strategy for your business
  • How influencer marketing can benefit your business

Ready to get started? Then read on below.

What Is Influencer Marketing?

There’s a lot of buzz around the term influencer marketing, and for good reason. If implemented correctly, influencer marketing can help to increase sales and ensure consistent growth, providing an ROI that just can’t be beaten with other marketing methods. But with so much noise around the subject, it can be difficult to understand what the term even means. Therefore, before we can delve deeper into what influencer marketing is, we must first identify what exactly constitutes an influencer.

What is an Influencer?

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In its most basic sense, an influencer is a personality or an individual who has an above-average impact in his field.An influencer is usually a regular person who has accumulated a large following on social media because of the content that they produce, unlike celebrities, who usually become famous through traditional media such as TV or the radio. That’s why celebrities don’t really fall into the same category as influencers, although they both can serve similar roles when promoting a business. While celebrities can offer incredible exposure, promoting your ecommerce business through influencers can be more effective because you can reach a much more targeted audience.Remember, these people built their entire following in the industry that you operate in, which means that all of their followers are already interested in the things that they promote. What’s more, influencers are often very well connected with the relevant media outlets, communities, and industry associations, which is crucial when trying to increase brand awareness and establish your place in the marketplace.  Leading influencers can actually be trend-setters, causing significant shifts in their industry by simply becoming associated with a certain brand or product. As you can see, influencers hold a lot of power in their industry. But how exactly can they help your business? Well, here’s the exact process of how it happens.

How Does Influencer Marketing Work?

The reason why influencer marketing can be so effective lies in the fact that people today are less trusting of traditional marketing campaigns like ads and commercials. Millennials already make up the majority of the U.S. workforce, and they simply do not like ads – up to 84% of millennials don’t like traditional advertising nor do they trust it. Social proof is the name of the game in 2018, and brands have to adapt or risk losing their place in the marketplace to more innovative competition. Forbes wrote back in 2015 that 62% of millennials want brands to engage with them on social media, and there probably isn’t a more authentic and trustworthy way to get on the radar of a young consumer than through a key influencer in the industry. Here’s how the basic process behind influencer marketing might look like:

  • You identify your target audience and develop a buyer persona that you would like to reach.
  • You find key social media figures who have an authoritative status in your industry and can influence your target audience. These are people who have a following that’s built on trust and can influence people who do not respond well to traditional advertising methods.
  • You reach out to the influencer that you feel is a good fit for your business and agree on terms to develop a marketing campaign that promotes your products and brand.
  • You watch as you get a flood of new leads and gain ground in your marketplace because your company has been recommended by one of the most trustworthy sources in your field.

An important thing to remember when choosing an influencer to promote your product is that he or she needs to be able to actually influence his audience. Some social media figures, while popular, may not have the right dynamics with their audience to be able to recommend products and have people respond. Another hurdle that many ecommerce businesses face is figuring out how to come up with an influencer marketing strategy that’s right for their market, audience, and business goals. Luckily, there are steps that can help to simplify the entire process.

How to Come Up with the Right Influencer Marketing Strategy?

Developing an influencer marketing campaign that’s right for your company can be a daunting task – each company is unique, and without prior experience, putting everything together can seem very complicated. But influencer marketing, in its essence, doesn’t have to be complicated, especially when you understand its underlying principles. Basically, influencer marketing is a blend of testimonials and word-of-mouth marketing. Today’s consumers are used to traditional marketing tactics and are no longer easily swayed by bold promises made by companies. Instead, they rely on the experiences and stories of people they trust to form opinions about brands and products. That’s what makes the influencer such an important figure. They have already earned the trust of their followers and can recommend products without raising the defences of the buyer. In fact, the followers are eager to hear the influencers’ opinions and will enthusiastically buy what he offers because they know it will be of high quality. When using influencer marketing, instead of focusing on selling your products as you would with traditional advertising, it’s much more effective to focus on making your message as clear as possible. But to do that, you need to know exactly what you want to say. Read on below to find out the exact steps you need to take to make influencer marketing work.

Identify Your Target Audience

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Just as with any other marketing strategy, influencer marketing requires you to have a crystal clear understanding of who your ideal customer is. Without understanding your audience, it will be impossible to develop a campaign that brings results - you won’t be speaking to the people that would care about what you want to say. What’s more, knowing who you want to target will enable you to set the right price points for your products and highlight the right benefits that will have the biggest impact for your prospects. Your audience’s preferences should determine every single decision about your products, your message, and your marketing materials. Suffice to say, this is a step that cannot be skipped or rushed.Besides the obvious parameters such as age, gender, occupation, and location, perhaps the most important aspects to look into are your audience’s interests and opinions. These key elements are what will enable you to figure out where they hang out online and who they follow on social media. One of the best ways to better understand your audience it to talk to them. You can talk to your target audience in person, use social media or answer websites, or simply use a survey and quiz form builder to gain a deeper understanding of what your target customers believe in. When you know that, you can not only choose the right influencers to get your message out there but can use that information to design your products and messages in a way that resonates with your audiences and generates the response that you want.

Define Your Brand or Product

If you already know who you want to target, you need to define your brand – that means figuring out your brand’s personality, as well as your company values. These are things that allow consumers to relate to brands on a more personal level, which can lead to a loyal following of customers and an advantage over the competition. If you have a clear and relevant image of what your brand is all about, it not only helps to form a deeper connection with your audience but can make it much easier for the influencer to present your brand in a way that resonates with their followers.

Start Looking for the Right Influencer

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Once you have the right audience and the right brand identity, it’s time to find an influencer that matches up with what you have to offer. And this decision should go far beyond the number of followers or likes. After all, it won’t matter how many people an influencer can reach if they won’t find your product relevant or interesting. One way to see if an influencer is a good fit is to look at his past associations, particularly, the brands that he has worked with in the past. This will let you gauge their audience’s interest in products similar to yours and will also allow you to see if the response was positive.Another thing to look at is the opinions and people that the influencers have aligned themselves with – when running influencer marketing campaigns, any controversy associated with your brand or the influencer promoting it could not only destroy the campaign but also cause irreversible damage to your reputation. Sorting through countless posts and promotions of multiple influencers can be very time-consuming, which is not ideal for ecommerce businesses that are already short on staff. Luckily, you can utilize the services of a social media assistant to do the necessary research and bring you concise reports that enable you to make an educated decision when choosing an influencer.  As mentioned before, while it may be tempting to use a celebrity for your influencer marketing campaign because of their strong personal brand and wide reach, opting for an influencer can be much more cost-effective because their reach, while smaller, is much more targeted. When you zero in on a particular influencer, it’s important to reach out to him in a way that gets you a response. Remember, these people are thought leaders in their field, so they probably get a lot of proposals every single day and have to weed most of them out. You should create a professional and engaging proposal that gets read and entices the influencer to respond. You can create your own or use proposal templates if you want to save time, but remember to make it very clear why you are reaching out and what you want to accomplish.

It’s Time to Create Your Marketing Campaign!

Alright, so you have found the right influencer, now what? Well, the next step is the actual nuts and bolts of the entire process – you have to collaborate with the influencer in designing a campaign that will accomplish your business goals while at the same time fitting in with the tone and style of the influencer. That’s why it’s important to establish your campaign goals from the very beginning – once you know what you are working towards, it becomes much easier to lay out a path that accomplishes those goals. Remember that the influencer has probably already done similar campaigns with other brands, so be open to his suggestions, especially when it comes to approaching his audience and presenting the message. Once you establish your goals and take into account what the influencer’s followers might respond to best, it will become much easier to put together the exact messages that you want to send out, from Instagram posts to blog ideas. When developing the message, share all the necessary information with the influencer – this includes your brand’s history, your values, your public image, and any resources such as product images or even the products themselves.

Launching Your Campaign

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After you go through the above process, the only thing left to do is to launch the campaign. But your job doesn’t end here. You can’t just sit back and wait for new customers to start pouring in – the entire campaign needs to be closely monitored so that you know exactly what worked and what didn’t. No matter how well you think you know your audience or how well the influencer fits with your product, influencer marketing is by no means an exact science. That’s why you need to get as much tangible and measurable data from the campaign as possible, tracking every aspect of the campaign’s performance so that you can improve on your next campaign. Since keeping track of advanced metrics and making sense of them requires technical knowledge and experience, your best bet is to hire a professional to take care of that for you. This way, you’ll be able to track numerous advanced metrics such as user reactions, traffic, conversions, and much more. Most importantly, you can gain a deeper understanding of the social triggers that work best for your audience and use it to refine your future influencer campaigns and make them even more effective. Measure Your Results and Adjust

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If you identified your campaign goals and developed your message accordingly, you should be able to accurately measure how your campaign performed and draw clear insights that allow you to make improvements in the future. For instance, if your goal was lead generation, you would want to measure the number of new prospects that come to your ecommerce site. If you’re running a campaign that involves affiliate marketing and multiple influencers promoting your products, you should analyse which influencers generated the most sales and what messages worked best to improve your campaigns in the future. Even if you’re just running the campaign to raise brand awareness, it’s important to track social reactions and impressions in order to get a feel for what types of messages get the attention of your target audience. In time, once you get more data from your influencer marketing campaigns and develop relationships with the industry’s leading influencers, influencer marketing can become your best marketing strategy, generating consistent growth and a great ROI.

What Are the Key Benefits of Influencer Marketing?

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Influencer marketing is no longer reserved for multi-million dollar companies with deep pockets and wide-reaching connections.Even if you’re a relatively small ecommerce business, you can still achieve great success with influencer marketing and propel your business to new heights. In fact, if done correctly, influencer marketing can help you become the dominant force in your marketplace and provide you with all the leads that you can handle. The reason why it works so well is simple:

  • People want to hear recommendations from people whose opinions they trust.
  • Influencers have earned that trust through years of reliable information and advice.
  • By getting in front of an audience through an influencer’s recommendation, you are immediately setting yourself apart from the competition and positioning your brand as the best choice, without the need for pushy sales tactics.

But how exactly can influencer marketing help your ecommerce business? Well, here are a few of the most prominent benefits that you can expect.

Boost Your Brand Awareness

Brand awareness is essential for an ecommerce business – online shoppers are very careful when choosing a product and do extensive research, so having trusted figures in your industry vouch for your products is essential.Luckily, that’s exactly what influencer marketing can provide. It can not only raise your brand awareness and help you reach new audiences but can simultaneously make your brand appear more authentic and trustworthy.

Build a Trust-Based Relationship with Your Audience

As mentioned before, trust is everything when trying to sell online. There are a ton of scams and false claims in online advertising, so consumers have become much more careful when making any purchase online, even on trusted sites. That’s why influencer marketing will continue to become more popular as more brands see its effectiveness. By getting a prominent figure in your industry to recommend your products, you are instantly bypassing a lot of trust issues that you’d face trying to sell your products directly.When you’re being vouched for by an influencer, people don’t have the same fears of being scammed and can be more trusting of your brand because they trust the person that’s making the recommendation.If it weren’t for influencer marketing, you’d have to spend years carefully nurturing the relationship with your customers until they would finally trust your brand. With influencer marketing, you can establish a trust-based relationship with your audience from day one.

Improve SEO

While SEO might not be the first thing you think about when putting together influencer marketing campaigns, the truth is that it can have a very positive effect on your search engine rankings. You see, influencers are the ‘royalty’ of the web – they produce the best content, have the biggest audiences, and are therefore trend-setters not only in their industries but on search engines as well. They usually have their own high-authority websites, as well as access to other high-authority sites that spread their messages online. So, when they make a recommendation for your products and point a link to your website, it serves as a very powerful backlink in the eyes of Google, which can give you a huge boost in rankings. What this means is that while your primary goals of an influencer marketing campaign might be raising brand awareness and generating leads, the long-term SEO effects might bring powerful results as well.

Final Takeaways

Influencer marketing is here to stay, and if you don’t start using it to its full potential, your competitors will. If done right, influencer marketing can help you:

  • Build brand awareness
  • Build trust with your audience
  • Improve SEO
  • And much more

What’s the main issue holding you back from trying influencer marketing for your ecommerce business? Let me know in the comments below!

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admin
admin
20/8/2018
To go multichannel or not?

To go multichannel or not?

71% of retailers sell outside online store, but 60% admit it's difficult. Find pros and cons of multichannel inventory management and find your strategy.

Being a DIY or Fashion retailer you certainly have many opportunities ahead. Etsy, eBay, Amazon, Dawanda, Folksy, Facebook, your own online store… These are just a couple of venues where you can sell your products. As a smart retailer, you have to choose wisely those on which you will focus. People tend to say: A successful seller is everywhere his customers are. That’s a very ideal statement. Being present in all the channels is certainly important, but has its price too. And I’m not talking only about money, but also other (even more valuable?) resource: time. So what actually is the golden mean in this case? Let’s give it a thought.

Pros of multuchannel inventory management

Advantages of selling in multiple channels are quite obvious. More channels = more potential customers = better brand exposition = more sales. Offering your products only in one venue, you always lose chances of hundreds of other sales. Internet reality is inconceivably dispersed. It means you will never reach all your prospects in one place — you have to find (or try to find) all the channels where they spend their time and mark your presence there. Otherwise, you will only reach a small section of clients. And you will find it really difficult to build your brand’s name and recognition.Let me put this another way: Etsy right now guarantees you reaching 55+ million registered users, eBay 160 million, Amazon 270 million. These are just 3 marketplaces. Add to them thousands of others and you will see how much value each channel can bring you. Of course, not every venue will be suitable for your business, but the number of those which will still persists very high.Moreover, all these platforms constantly grow. Looking at statistics in Google Trends you can see that the popularity of them keeps on increasing.

Etsy

Dawanda

Amazon

Cons of multichannel sales

Unfortunately, as it happens in life, things are not that simple. If multichannel was so easy, all the retailers would be selling in all the possible (suitable) channels. But they are not. Why? It just turns out that having products in various venues can be really problematic.First of all, inventory management in this model is a nightmare. You can’t sync all the channels, so you have to log in and out to ALL of them after EVERY sale to change stock levels manually and make sure you won’t sell something you already don’t have in stock. This is very disturbing and time consuming too.Second, you can’t automatically list your products in all desired channels in one go. Another time, you have to log in to all the channels separately, add product descriptions, photos and complete all the forms… How annoying is that!Third, you don’t have all your customers under one roof. This is problematic not only in terms of order fulfilment, but also because it eliminates possibilities of integrated marketing campaigns. Consequently, building relationships with customers and acquiring their loyalty is far more difficult. It means you don’t earn as much as you could.Finally, it is really complicated to understand what. You don’t have all the statistics in one place, so analysing ROI and efficiency of channels is extremely difficult. Given that, smart optimisation of sales is almost impossible.

Pros and Cons summary

Pros and Cons summary

Shoplo Omnisale to the rescue

So is it really that bad? Is there nothing you can do to eliminate the problems of multichannel sales? Not exactly. It seems there is a solution for that, which enables you to minimalize all the difficulties and maximise sales. It is called Shoplo Omnisale. How does it work?You only need to add your products to the app once and then can list them in multiple channels (such as for instance Etsy, eBay, Amazon, Dawanda, your online store etc.) with just a couple of clicks. No need for copying, pasting, completing forms etc. — hours of your life saved just like that. What is more, Shoplo Omnisale also allows you to have one inventory system for all the channels and synchronises it automatically in real-time. It means you no longer have to login to all the channels and change stock levels manually. In addition, you have all the orders in one panel, so you can fulfil them easily too. Having all the orders in one place also implies having all your customers under one roof, so you can build relations with them and stimulate their successive purchases, implementing various marketing campaigns.Lastly, there is also something more — Shoplo Omnisale has very well-developed analytic tools and insights. Thanks to them, you can easily evaluate which channels perform the best and optimise your sales. The tool will not only give you insights about the marketplaces you already use, but will also suggest which ones should you add to increase your revenue. Furthermore, you will be provided with some more practical tips. Ever wondered which colour or size of your products will sell the best? Or maybe you have always been courious what time of the year is the best to promote your products? That’s another thing Shoplo Omnisale tells you, having access to a great amount of data from other sellers.Let me know if you have tried it and what your impressions are. I am really curious. Good luck!

Agnieszka Lekszycka
Agnieszka Lekszycka
9/5/2016
[VIDEO] 5 tips for boosting Etsy sales

[VIDEO] 5 tips for boosting Etsy sales

Are your Etsy sales going down? Fear not! Discover our 5 strategies to improve your performance and get the new orders coming.

How do you like it? What are your strategies? Share the ideas below!

Agnieszka Lekszycka
Agnieszka Lekszycka
2/6/2016

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