Increase sales without reducing prices

Increasing our international exposure has allowed us to sell more of our current inventory without dropping prices.  The set up cost have also been pretty minimal with the only a few template tweaks required.  Our lovely European interns have helped with the translation.

Easy to set up

Using a product like eSellerPro, the setup of additional marketplaces is pretty trivial, if a bit fiddly on eBay.  For example, eBay categories are different on different countries and so we had to build a lookup table.

…But

Delivery causes multiple headaches

The biggest problem we have had with international sales is with delivery.  Firstly, customers either don’t realise that items are being delivered from abroad or have unrealistic expectations about delivery times.  Secondly, international deliveries seem to be delayed and go missing more often.  It does not really help that our eCommerce platform, eSellerpro only supports that standard character set (WHY OH WHY OH WHY?)

Feedback problems

Anecdotally, it would seem that European buyers are generally less likely to leave feedback, and more likely to leave bad feedback if they feel something went wrong.  Most of the feedback was due to perceived late delivery of items.  Things reached a bit of a crunch point the other day and we had to engage in some rather undignified pleeding to get some feedback removed so as to avoid being kicked off Amazon.fr

Translation requirements

As would be expected, we now get many more queries in European languages.  Google translate is surprisingly useful for deciphering these and we also make us of boiler plate customer service replied using Zendesk.  About 50% of our questions are along the lines of ‘where is my item?‘.

Export your store is an interesting new service which allows eBay sellers to quickly load their inventory into the Amazon marketplace.  Being both an eBay and an Amazon seller I know only too well:

• uploading inventory on multiple platforms is a real pain
• selling on Amazon has a massive potential for sales.  At Hello Baby we make over 50% of our sales through Amazon UK, FR and DE

1. Please explain briefly how your product works and how it benefits customers:
Our service lets you export your eBay store to the Amazon Marketplace in a few clicks. The service is easy to use and helps sellers increase sales and benefit from what the Amazon Marketplace has to offer – reaching a wide variety of customers and markets.

A seller can choose which items he wants to export to Amazon. Our service lets you choose the items and then review and edit item descriptions, key features, product codes, condition, price and quantity with minimum effort.
Once finishing the review, the export is completed automatically, notifying the seller via email when the items are on Amazon.

2. What kind of eBay sellers would most benefit from selling on Amazon?
Any seller wishing to increase his or hers sales will truly benefit from our service. Becoming a Multi-Channel seller with a vast selling span has never been easier.

Our customers are very diverse sellers, selling items ranging from electronics, art, fashion apparel and collector items.
Moreover, we think that selling on both platforms is a prospective strategy because of the stats that show that Amazon and eBay are growing rapidly. Amazon is the largest online shopping site on the internet attracting 20 million visitors a month followed by eBay which attracts 15 Million visitors.

3. From my experience of uploading products to Amazon, most categories require a barcode. Does your software support this?
Yes, our service supports defining item parameters such as ISBN, UPC and EAN codes.

The main product code input is as follows:

• ISBN, UPN, EAN parameters that can be added manually by the seller.
• If the codes above are part of the eBay listing, our system will recognize this and import this data automatically.
• Usage of the “Amazon Product Match” system.

4. What happens if a product being listed is already in the Amazon catalogue? How does your software pick this up?
Continuing, what we stated above, the service has a product matching, automatic process which analyzes if the product is already in the Amazon catalogue. The match is based on item title, description and code (ISBN / UPC / EAN).

5. Which countries are supported?
At the current time, we support the Amazon.com domain. In the near future we will support the UK and other domains.
We see expanding to these domains a very important objective.

6. What are your plans for the future?
We’re planning to expand our service so that a seller’s eBay and Amazon stores \ items are fully synchronized, giving him or her full control over inventory, selling information and enabling them to maximize ones selling opportunities.

• “Sorry but we don’t sell to online only retailers”
• “Sorry but we don’t allow our products to be sold on eBay”

Last week we even got ‘sacked’ by one of our suppliers who had decided they no longer wanted to sell to an online only business.  All very tedious.

So what exactly is wrong with online only businesses?  Whilst I can sympathise that brands don’t want just anyone selling their stuff, having a shop seems to be a pretty arbitrary distinction.  I think that the reasons are as follows:

• Online only retailers are people working out of their front rooms and so are not reputable businesses (I exaggerate, but there is more than a touch of this)
• Online only retailers have a lower cost base and so can undercut businesses with a physical presence
• Online only retailers offer a worse level of service.  With no shop people cannot try before buying and can’t get proper advice on fitting etc

Naturally, being an online only retailer, I do not agree with the logic behind any of these points.

• Reputable business.  Obviously on the internet, nobody knows that you’re a dog.  Whilst I can sympathise that brands don’t want just anyone selling their stuff, in my view there are better ways of selecting resellers e.g. VAT registered, Ltd company
• Undercutting.  In my experience the worst offenders are the companies with a physical store e.g. Argos, Kiddicare etc.
• Level of service.  With feedback systems on the web, bad service is much more easily exposed. Furthermore, if you live in Dundee and buy a pram some a company in Peterborough, you are hardly going to visit their shop if it goes wrong.

Finally, with the internet still showing strong growth, ignoring companies who only sell through the web is rowing against the tide………

I have been looking into visual search recently, and I have been disappointed with what I have found.  The observer last Sunday talked about some sites to watch, one of which was Cooliris.  This site offers a new cinematic way to discover the web, by browsing through the web’s images.

Perhaps I am behind the times but I thought it was rather useless.  Yes, you can browse images, but these images are separate from the context of their pages and I am not sure how, therefore this helps people do anything more than flick through images, like Google images search but without the context.

A slightly more interesting site is searchme.  This enable people to browse through a stack of images of webpages, giving a quick preview of each one.  I like the idea here, but I think that the user experience is rather clunky when switching between viewing the picture of the webpage and viewing the page in a browser.  The search results are also pretty underwhelming .

Pixsta is a nice product which allows companies to advertise their product in a visual product search engine.  there is a good idea here somewhere, but at the moment not enough information is rally given about the product to bring the experience alive.

TPG: What is the elevator pitch for CMP.

EK: cmypitch.com provides online services and networking for UK small businesses. Our video-based website has five distinct business communities for anyone starting, running, growing or selling a business. With a directory of 71,000 service providers to small and growing businesses, as well as a dedicated “Entrepreneur TV” channel featuring exclusive interviews with hugely successful business leaders, cmypitch.com provides a platform to help entrepreneurs succeed.

TPG: Can you give us some background on the company and the idea.

EK: It launched in June 2008 and responds directly to both Labour and Conservative Party commitments to providing a national web-based support service that would increase small business access to finance, mentoring and advice. cmypitch is the only website for small companies and entrepreneurs fully utilising the power of video and user-generated content to bring business to life.

TPG: How does CMP differentiate itself from other business social networks such as linked in.

EK: Linkedin is aimed at people in medium and large companies. We are specifically aimed at UK small businesses.

TPG: Do you think that CMP is going to make it easier for small businesses to get funding.  Will people be reluctant to post their ideas up on the web?

EK:Yes. Small businesses can pitch to individual angels, angel networks, seed funds, venture capital firms, venture capital trusts all in one place, for free. By this time next year we will have one of the largest investor networks in the world. The pitches are only viewed by self-certified investors i.e. they are not viewed by the British public, therefore people are happy to post their pitches on our site.

TPG: How does the site make money?

EK: The site is free for entrepreneurs and investors to use. We make our money from service providers by B2B lead generation. We bring together in one place all the services small businesses need (see http://cmypitch.com/find-an-advisor). Each time a small business seeks a service via our site we make money.

TPG: What are your plans for the future?

EK: In the short term our plans are to make cmypitch.com the best website in the UK that provides online services and networking to small businesses. In early next year we will have some very exciting announcements that will help small businesses. In the medium term we have plans to launch in several other countries.

So, dear reader, here is a round up of free shopping comparison and simlar sites.

Shopwiki is shopping comparison engine which combines web crawling with consumer reviews.  To get included, a retailer simply needs to submit their shop for crawling.  They can then create a merchant profile if they wish.  

Results from shopwiki seem to appear frequently in the natural search results.  Although Shopwiki will tell the merchant how many of their products have been indexed, unhelpfully they do not say which ones.  They offer a PPC scheme to promote listed items, but without knowing which items are listed, this does not seem much use.

Shopmania runs a two tier scheme with free standard listings and a PPC program for premium listings.  Listing is achieve via a feed file.

Le Guide run shopping portals pricesavvy.co.uk, Gooster and antag.co.uk and submission of products is free via a feedfile.

thefind.com is a US based shopping search engine where sites can be submitted for crawling.  

Mydeco is a shopping portal for design lead products, mainly furniture, but some other homewares too.  Inclusion is free, but partners much go through a selection process.

Kaboodle is a social shopping site which appears occaisionally in the search results.  Whilst not a shopping comparison site as such, its inventory of consumer submitted products allows products to compare products from different retailers

Most site it seems require the retailer to pay to be included.  These sites however do have a code submission form:

• retailmenot.com
• starvouchercodes.co.uk
• www.vouchercodes.com (submission via email)

Market research agencies collate and publish reports on consumer trends. However, the cost of this data is out of the price range of all but the largest retailers. Fortunately, there are some free or keenly priced sources of data which the resourceful seller can use to inform their purchasing decisions.

eBay Marketplace Data

eBay is in many ways a barometer of consumer demand.  Analysing the products being traded on eBay can give a good indication of popular brands, products and consumer trends.   Anyone with an eBay account has free access to the completed item search which, for a given search, shows a list items which have been bought and sold over the last 2 weeks.

The completed items search is only of limited use as the data is unstructured.  However, eBay makes historical data from its marketplace available through third party provides such as Terapeak.  Using a tool like Terapeak to query past eBay sales data gives not only a filterable list of listing but will also provide statistics such as the average selling price and quality of sold and unsold listing.  If a seller wishes to research a particular item, they can enter the product name into Terapeak and learn how many units have been sold, the average selling price and other interesting data such as the time of sale and the sellers.

Unfortunately, there are limits on the usefulness of eBay data.  Whilst overall eBay is a huge marketplace, demand on eBay can be limited for specific products and therefore not representative of market potential.  There is also no way of ensuring that all the products returned in a search are exactly the same, for example many will be second hand.

Prices on eBay can also be misleading as the transparency of the eBay marketplace and its reputation as a place to secure bargains means that prices are lower on eBay than on the web in general.

Google Search Volume Data

The leading search engine Google has recently made its search volume data (i.e. the number of searches for specific phrases) available through its keyword tool.  The Google keyword tool allows users to see the search volume for the specific keyphrases and also generates volume data for similar keywords.

Search volume data is useful in two ways.  Firstly, the absolute volume of searches shows whether there is an interest in the market for a brand or a product.  Sellers should investigate both search volumes for brand names and individual products to gage the popularity of a brand and it products.

Secondly, by comparing the data for different brands can be used to make relative comparisons between the popularity of products.

Amazon Best Sellers

For each of its sales categories Amazon provides a bestsellers list (e.g. http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/baby-products for baby products), listing the products in order of their sales.  It also provides list of movers and shakers (products rising in popularity), most gifted (product orders as gifts) and most wished for (added to Amazon wish lists).

Whilst this data does not provide data on volume or prices, it does provide inspiration for new products to investigate, perhaps using eBay or Google Data.

Arguably, the Internet is the greatest marketing tool ever created. However, a recent survey by Barclays Bank found that two thirds of companies miss out on the opportunities it brings because they do not offer their products or services online. “The Internet is a cost effective and efficient way of reaching customers” says Trevor Ginn, Vendlab’s managing director. “However many businesses do not have the expertise to use Internet marketing effectively. At Vendlab we help companies get more visitors to their website and turn those visitors into customers”.

Vendlab specialises in Search Engine Optimisation, the process of improving traffic through Google’s free search service, and Google Adwords, Google’s paid advertising programme. “Our Goal is to improve the Google search performance of our clients in a cost effective and sustainable manner” says Mr Ginn. “Driving traffic through Search Engine Optimisation is the number one opportunity for businesses today, and any business which cannot be found on Google is loosing out to those which can”. Industry figures show that the volume of online searches is growing by 30% year on year and 50% of Internet purchases start with an Internet search.

As well as Search Engine Optimisation, Vendlab also helps businesses develop multi-channel Internet marketing strategies using Internet marketing channels such as eBay, Amazon, blogging and social networks. By providing the full range of Internet marketing services, Vendlab enables its clients to reach a broad range of online customers.

Vendlab differentiates itself from its competitors by running its own eCommerce businesses as well as providing consulting. This hands-on experience enables them to remain cutting edge and provide valuable insights to their clients.

About Vendlab – Internet Marketing Agency

Vendlab is an in Internet marketing agency based in the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, East London. Founded by Trevor Ginn, an eCommerce professional with 10 years Internet experience, Vendlab specialises in Search Engine Optimisation and Google Adwords. Vendlab works with both small and large businesses to enable them to improve their Internet marketing and boost sales.

For more details visit www.vendlab.com

Press Contact Details
Trevor Ginn, Managing Director, Vendlab

Trevor@vendlab.com

020 81444335

Operating system

Ubuntu, is user friendly version of Linux, an open source operating system.  I reckon that using this would be fine as long as the user had limited software requirements (i.e. they did not need any software only available for windows)

Office

Open office (and for that matter Google Docs) provides functionality to cover about 99% of office functions such as spreadsheet and word processor. I think that using Open Office would be sufficient for the needs of any worker who only needed to communicate within the company, as outside the company their could be compatibility problems with MS office users.

Email and Calendar

Instead of using microsoft exchange, it would be possible to use Gmail and Google Calendar.  Google in fact has a service called apps for you domain which offers enterprise services at a fraction of the cost of building an infrastrure using MS products.

I think the Gmail is great as it allows POP mail to be received into the gmail client, giving a single online email store.

Phones

As mentioned in a previous post, Skype can be used to build a phone system of sorts.
 

Are there any businesses out there that have gone entirely open source?