Do you sell products through your own website, as well as on platforms like Amazon, eBay, Walmart or Instagram? When selling products across multiple channels, simple tasks like managing orders and staying on top of customer support tickets can become extremely tricky.
With every new channel, it becomes easier to miss incoming messages and overlook orders. Manually checking each platform can also reduce efficiency and add significantly to your company’s workload. But that’s where multichannel eCommerce software comes in.
What is Multichannel eCommerce?
Multichannel eCommerce is when an online merchant sells products across multiple marketplaces and platforms, rather than just one place.
Many sellers choose to do this to increase their brand’s exposure and customer reach. This, in turn, translates into more sales. According to data from Stitch Labs, merchants who sell products on a marketplace make 38% more than those who just use their own website. Those who sell on two marketplaces increase revenue by 120%.
Looking at these compelling statistics, it’s easy to understand why so many sellers take a multichannel approach to eCommerce. But instead of repeating tasks like uploading products and updating inventory for every single channel, many of these sellers streamline their workflow by using multichannel eCommerce software.
Why Do You Need Multichannel Software for eCommerce?
If your team is using multiple spreadsheets and performing manual checks, you’re doing it wrong! Taking advantage of tools designed specifically for multichannel sellers can save you time, money and manpower.
In simple terms, multichannel eCommerce software helps to centralize tasks that you would otherwise have to replicate on every platform you sell on. As well as improving your workflow, multichannel eCommerce software also empowers merchants to provide a seamless service to customers. All while keeping your inventory, sales, support tickets and customer commucnications in order.
Every successful business knows the importance of excellent customer service, so getting it right should be one of your main priorities. This is particularly important for marketplace sellers, where negative feedback will have an adverse effect on your products’ ability to win the Amazon Buy Box or eBay Best Match positions.
What Different Types of Multichannel eCommerce Software Are There?
When it comes to managing multiple channels, you can use software to simplify various aspects of your workflow. Let’s take a look at the main tasks that multichannel eCommerce software can help with, along with some industry-leading tools.
Multichannel eCommerce customer service software
Having a central hub which is home to all customer queries allows your team to manage customer support effectively across channels. Software which only works for email support just isn’t scalable when it comes to multichannel eCommerce.
As a helpdesk designed especially for eCommerce, eDesk specializes in multichannel service. It provides a single shared inbox so you and your support team can track messages and manage all information in one place. This means you can deal with support tickets efficiently to improve the quality of your eCommerce customer service.
Multichannel eCommerce software like eDesk enables online sellers to provide excellent customer service without the need to hire a large team.
If you’re dealing with high volumes of sales, you’ll probably be dealing with high volumes of customer support queries too. According to our data, one customer support query is made for every eight sales. So if your business is growing, investing in multichannel helpdesk software is a smart move.
Some of eDesk’s most effective features include:
- Integrations with every major online marketplace and shopping cart software to centralize customer communications
- Integrations with inventory management software, such as Linnworks, centralizing crucial order information
- Real-time SLA management and the ability to set SLA targets, enabling prioritization of queries in order of urgency
- A live chat function, which can be designed and customized to suit your brand
- Multichannel eCommerce performance dashboards
- Templates and AI-generated responses to enable single clicks responses to common customer queries.
Multichannel software for product listings
Multichannel product listing software will help you list your products across multiple sales channels without needing to upload them again and again for each one. This ensures all the information in your product feeds is up-to-date and accurate.
This type of software allows merchants to integrate product listings across channels, as well as optimize their content and distribution. It gets rid of manual uploads and seamlessly transfers product data between suppliers, merchants and marketing channels. Many of the best multichannel product listing software integrates with:
- Search engines like Google Shopping, Google Ads and Bing ads
- Online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay
- Social media sites like Facebook ads, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest pins
- Marketing platforms like AdForm and AdRoll
These tools also allow for A/B testing, so you can figure out which listings perform best for your business.
Multichannel inventory management software
Multichannel inventory management software provides convenient oversight and automated management of all your stock and orders.
Each platform you sell products on will update automatically if you run out of inventory, so you’ll never have to cancel any customer orders. With all sales coming into one tool, you can also ensure each one is fulfilled quickly and accurately.
Software such as ChannelAdvisor, Brightpearl, Linnworks, OrderWise and TradeGecko integrate with both couriers and accounting systems, as well as eCommerce shopping cart software like Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento and PrestaShop. This means they can significantly streamline processes across several departments of any eCommerce business.
Feedback software
Reviews are instrumental to an online seller’s success. particularly on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay where they play a huge role determining the visibility of your products. For sellers who are serious about maximizing positive feedback, automating this process is a must.
eDesk Feedback uses selective requests to boost your brand and target positive reviews on eBay, Amazon, TrustPilot, Google, your store and wherever else you need them.
This software empowers merchants to set specific targeting options, so review requests are only sent to happy customers.
- Only target people who’ve received deliveries on time
- Focus on reaching out to customers who’ve previously provided positive feedback
- Contact customers who bought your best-rated products
- Connect to eDesk Feedback, so you’ll never reach out to a customer who has contacted your team for support
eDesk Feedback comes with compelling customer feedback templates, which have already been proven effective in driving favorable reviews. However, they can be tweaked to suit your brand and personalized for your customers.
More stars means more sales, so this is a must-have multichannel eCommerce tool!
Final Thoughts
Multichannel selling will help your business sell more and earn more. But when expanding to new channels, growth can be hindered if there isn’t a proper management system in place.
If orders get delayed or customer queries go unanswered for too long, this will hurt your visibility on your online marketplaces and jeopardize your reputation.
Be prepared for the challenges that come with multichannel selling by investing in the best software to simplify the process and give you the best chance of success! Try a better way to support your customers with eDesk. Sign up for a free 14-day trial today, no credit card needed.
