You may have already established an online store or perhaps you’re still in the early stages of planning your future eCommerce empire, however, it’s never too early to start thinking about expansion.

Expanding your offering doesn’t necessarily mean you need to source more niche products to sell. It could simply mean expanding your existing product offering through a range of marketplaces and platforms – i.e. multi-channel selling.

What is multi-channel selling?

Multi-channel selling is where your products are available on a range of sales channels – for instance, having a presence on a range of sites like Amazon, Shopify and eBay.

To put it simply, it allows you to sell your product (or products) in as many different marketplaces and platforms as you want – while still maintaining inventory quality and great customer service.

What’s the difference between marketplace selling and platform selling?

Platform selling is where you build your own website with a provider like Shopify, while marketplace selling involves creating a listing on an external brand’s website, like Amazon.

In a traditional retail experience, a marketplace is like a large shopping centre, whereas platform selling is like an independent store.

Platform selling allows greater flexibility around design, product selection, marketing and branding.

Marketplace selling is generally easier to setup, can attract new customers through its strong brand and has set processes to follow.

So, why bother multi-channel selling across different platforms and marketplaces?

Expand your customer reach

If you take away just one thing from this article, remember to ‘be everywhere’.

When you’re selling a product online, you obviously don’t have the option for customers to walk past your product in person and buy it on the spot.

Bricks and mortar merchants have this advantage and in addition, can expand their customer reach by selling online – making them even more competitive.

By implementing a multi-channel selling strategy to your online store, you become more competitive and you can take your product global.

You may have spent countless hours creating a high quality online store with an exceptional customer experience, however, if customers don’t know it exists, what’s the point?

By taking advantage of existing eCommerce giants, like eBay or Amazon, you allow your products to appear in front of their extensive, global customer base. This extra exposure will (theoretically) result in more sales.

You can learn more about selling on Amazon here.

Increased convenience = increased sales

By offering a variety of engagement points where the customer can make a purchase, the shopping experience becomes a lot more accessible and convenient for the customer.

If your product is available on more marketplaces or platforms, there is more chance of a potential buyer finding it and therefore, having to spend less time searching for it.

Increased data collection and improved customer knowledge

If you don’t know who your customers are, how can you market your product to them properly?

By increasing the number of places you sell your product online, you open up your data collection to a wider audience. Selling through multiple channels, gives you additional information about your customers and in turn, allows you to leverage that data to increase sales.

Consider tracking your customer purchases across these different channels too. Tracking will provide the opportunity for you to establish a targeted marketing strategy and increase brand awareness to the right customers.

Hear what other online sellers are saying  

Whether you’re new to the eCommerce game, an existing seller or a business looking to expand internationally for the first time, check out our Voice of Online Sellers Report and discover:

– Online marketplace selling trends

– What life is like as an online seller

– The views and opinions of existing online sellers

For more information on how to get started on multi-channel online selling, speak to one of WorldFirst’s eCommerce experts today on +65 6805 4370 or visit our website worldfirst.com/en-sg/online-sellers/

 

 

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