Networking your own web store with a wide variety of channels (retail store, marketplaces such as Amazon, i.e. multichanneling) is the solution for successful e-commerce entrepreneurs.
Why? A central hub for selling and receiving orders has various advantages, which I list below.
What does this mean for Amazon sellers? A paradigm shift, since you then operate your account partially from this central hub.
Normally, the enterprise resource planning software (WAWI) would be the best choice for such a project, but this is usually too expensive because the connections often have to be programmed.
There are some shopping platforms with quite extensively developed backends and you can make them the hub of your own e-commerce project with multichanneling.
This is for Amazon private label sellers who don’t want to depend only on Amazon and for online shoppers who want to connect their retail store and be present on many marketplaces (Zalando, Amazon, Ebay etc.).
The own store system becomes the hub for all desired channels. Why there is already great software here as “middleware” between store and channels and less with WAWI systems I can only guess: The large store systems are offered internationally vs. many WAWI providers accompany medium-sized entrepreneurs regionally. (PS. I’m not talking about SAP and Co. here, where all this is possible, but still often has to be programmed and costs an avalanche, which is no problem for the really big ones though).
Let’s list a few advantages of the “networked” store system:
Same overview despite many channels.
Means one account for everything and not over individual login accounts for each channel.
Many entrepreneurs shy away from this because they first imagine the operation of different channels to be too much. It can be – without central operation for all accounts.
More channels usually bring more sales (unless the product is bad).
In order not to lose the overview here and to be able to scale without stumbling blocks, it is advisable to choose a platform that can “control” all these channels, taking into account the differences.
Keeping an eye on your own warehousing.
The modern e-com platform should not only deliver products to suitable channels in a coordinated manner via feeds, but also keep an eye on inventory management by accepting orders or returns that have a positive or negative impact on inventory levels.
The automatic forwarding of orders to a fulfillment service provider is also an important “feature”.
Coordinated Ad Placement.
Not in view for many because of the complexity of Google Analytics and similar ad platforms. A change of concept means risk, again a new learning assignment for those responsible or the executing agency has to be convinced first.
An orchestrated ad creation and campaign placement with the help of dynamic product feeds can still be an interesting consideration.
What do you think? I would like to discuss the topic … Who of you has already tried this and has experience in multichanneling? Where do you see problems and challenges?
