Multi-channel sales offer a fantastic way to reach more customers by expanding your reach. To do this, you need to integrate your store with marketplaces like eBay and Amazon, Etsy, and Walmart, among others.
When it comes to marketplaces, eBay and Amazon are among the largest. In this post, we want to examine why selling on these marketplaces would be beneficial for your store. Our real focus, however, is on solutions that allow you to implement this type of integration into your store.
The benefits of connecting eBay and Amazon to WooCommerce
With traditional sales, your products and sales are hosted and processed on your website. While many retailers are successful with this, it requires you to put a lot of effort into your marketing strategy in the hopes of generating more traffic to your website and converting that traffic into sales.
With multi-channel sales, you have the ability to bypass this marketing requirement and not only reach thousands, but millions of potential customers by accessing the traffic that the marketplaces connect to. This is especially true with eBay and Amazon, which are among the largest marketplaces in the world. It doesn’t matter what kind of items you sell, as customers ARE looking for it on Amazon and eBay. So why not take advantage of these customers who are already looking for your products?
Advantages and disadvantages of selling on eBay and Amazon marketplaces
eBay.com is one of the most popular websites on the web. It ranks 39th in Alexa’s Global Site Ranking and receives approximately one billion visits each month, according to SimilarWeb.
That’s the number of customers you can potentially reach. In reality, there are over 170 million active users on eBay every month and it received over €10 billion in net revenue in 2020 alone.
Amazon.com does even better. It ranks number 11 on Alexa and
This is the customer base you can potentially reach by listing your products on eBay and Amazon. Some retailers sell exclusively through these channels. But most use these marketplaces as an additional source of income in addition to the products they are already selling directly from their website. Simply put, Amazon and eBay have traffic and global marketing reach that you cannot replicate on your own independent site.
Order fulfillment infrastructure is another reason why sellers list on Amazon in particular. Using Amazon fulfillment gives you access to Amazon’s extensive fulfillment infrastructure, allowing you to deliver orders quickly and securely to the customer without having to worry about all the associated issues that come with picking, packing, and shipping your orders. Amazon also allows you to maintain inventory in international fulfillment centers, providing access to international customers.
Cons
Despite the large amount of traffic that accesses Amazon and eBay, if you sell a popular commodity product, it can be difficult for your products to get noticed on these sites. This is due to how saturated each space can become as a result of each marketplace’s constant growth over the years and the increasing number of third-party sellers listing their products. This is less of a problem if you sell a unique product, as you can control the number of other distributors selling your product.
You will also be subject to each marketplace’s seller fees. Fees vary on eBay. Typically, listing in categories costs €0.35 if you have more than 50 products. You will also pay a fee not exceeding 10% on each sale. If you sell more than 40 items on Amazon, you will need to pay a monthly subscription of €39 plus a fee for each sale you make.
One of the biggest potential downsides to selling on eBay and Amazon is these companies’ ability to terminate your account for a variety of different reasons, including issues unrelated to fraud or illegal activity. Some sellers have received negative reviews and find their accounts quickly terminated.
Even a simple mistake like trying to open a seller account in a household that already has one can get you kicked off the platform. Sure, you have the option to appeal your case and have your account reinstated, but it’s a long and arduous process that requires saying the right things to the right people. So be careful.
But for most the investment and potential risks are worth it, as the rewards can be great.
Selro
Selro is a multi-channel sales solution that integrates with one of the largest collections of integrations with e-commerce platforms available in the industry.
It also offers one of the largest collections of sales channels for you to integrate your store with, two dozen to be exact. They include everything from eBay and Amazon to channels like Walmart, Etsy, Rakuten, Tesco, Wish and more.
Key Features
- Create listings and apply changes to one channel that syncs with additional channels automatically in real time.
- Manage your inventory efficiently and avoid overselling with automatic stock updates that sync across channels.
- Manage orders across channels in one central location.
- Print shipping labels and fulfill orders with your preferred courier.
- Integrate accounting software to manage your reports.
Pros
- Large collection of channels to integrate your store.
- Manage eBay customer messages from the Selro dashboard.
- The basic plan allows unlimited channels and products.
Cons
- No refunds.
Pricing and Support
Prices start at €99/month and a 14-day free trial is available. Along with unlimited channels and products, you are allowed up to 5,000 orders per month with this plan and are given access to all features.
Support is available via email, chat, and phone.
Veeqo
Veeqo is a multi-channel sales tool founded by a store owner who found it difficult to manage product listings and orders across multiple marketplaces. Matt Warren, the store owner, created Veeqo in 2013 as a solution to his own problem.
Veeqo integrates with the leading e-commerce platforms and offers support for nine sales channels, including eBay, Amazon, Etsy, and Walmart.
Key Features
- Manage all your inventory in one place, including synced stock, multi-warehouse routing, and suppliers.
- Keep an eye on customer orders, returns, bulk orders, and revenue from multiple channels in one place.
- Included warehouse management software allows you to organize your inventory and locate products instantly.
- Print shipping labels, integrate your account with shipping couriers, and track packages.
Pros
- Fantastic option for stores with large inventories.
- Wide selection of sales and shipping courier channels to integrate with.
- Integrates with accounting software to help you manage income and expenses.
- Help desk software integrations available.
Cons
- Expensive
- Some integrations, such as QuickBooks, come at an additional cost.
- Support is only available during normal business hours, which is disappointing to see in such an expensive service.
Pricing and Support
Plans are based on the features you need, while the price of each plan is based on the number of orders you process. Processing up to 500 orders per month through Veeqo costs €195/month with the cheapest plan.
This plan only allows you to integrate your store with three sales channels. Some features, such as warehouse management, are only available at much higher and more expensive tiers.
Support is available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. GMT and is offered via email, live chat, and phone.
WP-Lister
WP Lab is a WordPress developer that offers a collection of products focused on e-commerce. This includes their multi-channel sales products, WP-Lister for eBay and WP-Lister for Amazon.
These products are offered separately, but integrate seamlessly when installed on the same site. Both also come in premium and free versions.
Key Features
- Create new products for eBay and Amazon from WooCommerce.
- Match titles, SKUs, and other details with attribute mapping.
Category map for each channel. - Sync sales, stock, and more.
- Adjust Amazon product prices based on the lowest price for similar products.
Pros
- Works in the WordPress dashboard.
- No monthly plans. You only have to pay an annual fee for each plugin to continue receiving support and updates.
- No order limits.
- Competitive pricing
Cons
- eBay and Amazon management are offered as two separate plugins.
- No shipping management features.
Pricing and Support
You can get started with WP-Lister for eBay and WP-Lister for Amazon for free. These versions only allow you to list products. If you want synchronization, the ability to upload product images to channels, and priority support, you will need the Pro versions.
These are available for €149 each and come with one year of support and updates. Support is available via email.
ExportFeed
ExportFeed is a simpler multi-channel sales solution than the other options on this list. While the others may include inventory and shipping management features, ExportFeed is designed exclusively to upload your product feed to various merchants.
It supports the largest e-commerce platforms out there, as well as a long list of sales channels. These include everything from eBay and Amazon to Etsy, Google, Facebook, Gifts.com and more.
Key Features
- Connect your store to over 40 merchants.
- Integrate your products seamlessly with an attribute mapping feature.
- Map categories as well.
- Changes to products, including inventory and stock, are automatically synced with feeds on a schedule you set yourself.
Pros
- A simple way to get started with multi-channel sales.
- Wide collection of merchants to sell to.
Cons
- Advanced inventory management is not available.
- Shipping features not available.
Pricing and Support
Pricing starts at €29/month if you want access to all merchants, but access to a single merchant, such as eBay or Amazon, is available at €99 year per merchant.
Support is available via email and chat.
