Directory — Marketing / SEO — Blog Details for "The Multi-Venue E-commerce Strategy"

The Multi-Venue E-commerce Strategy

The Multi-Venue E-commerce Strategy
This blog is dedicated to showing sellers how to leverage multiple venues and channels like eBay, Amazon.com, your own website, shopping comparison sites, SEO, and SEM to increase sales and reduce costs and risks.

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2

Articles

Worried about Best Match? Check out BayEstimator
2008-04-24 04:49:00
The little tool that helps you build eBay titles that rank well in best match is back!If you're worried about how your listings are ranking in best match, and you haven't check out this tool, get a move on (click)!Side Note: Take a look at the huge terms and disclaimers section they've added at the top. It's amazing the flak you get when you offer a free tool!
More About: Check , Match , Worried

EBay Sellers: Check out SquidBids from Squidoo
2008-04-23 01:29:00
I remember when MySpace pages were all the rage on the eBay Powerseller forum. Turns out that I was witnessing the beginnings of proof that social networking can drive a significant amount of traffic to your eBay business.Well now web2.0 allstar Squidoo has Squidbids, "The place for trusted eBay sellers to strut their stuff, showcase their auctions and stores, and get more traffic." I think it'll be worth spending a few minutes creating a SquidBids profile. At the very least, another valuable incoming link to your business can only help your search engine rankings.
More About: Ebay , Check , Sellers

Time to Tell Amazon.com What You Really Think
2008-04-21 20:45:00
Amazon has recently put up a survey to help it improve the Amazon Marketplace. If you've been following this blog, you probably already know that I'm not the biggest fan of their selling experience. If you're currently selling on the venue, I encourage you to head to the Amazon Seller Community and take the survey!
More About: Amazon , Time

Famed eBay Hacker Vladuz Finally Arrested in Romania
2008-04-21 04:18:00
If you've been a participant of the eBay seller community through the past couple of years, you probably heard of a hacker named Vladuz. He taunted eBay and other users by posting lists of usernames and addresses and logging into administrator accounts. Take a look at the auctionbytes article for a more in depth account:http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y 08/m04/i18/s01My only question here is, did eBay learn anything? Have the security holes been patched? I can't seem to find any type of response to that question on the net yet. If you find anything, leave me a comment. Thanks!
More About: Arrested , Ebay , Romania , Hacker , Finally

EBay Powersellers: Don't Forget to ENROLL in Expanded Seller Protection
2008-04-01 07:38:00
Early February, PayPal announced it would be giving special benefits to powersellers. Especially of interest, transactions without confirmed addresses would qualify for Paypal Seller Protection.Well, it's finally come to pass. Just remember...you have to sign up for it! Enroll for expanded seller protection here.Read the following excert from the eBay Powerseller Program Benefits page to learn more:PowerSellers that reside in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and HongKong with a registered PayPal account in one of these countries that is linkedto their eBay account are eligible for expanded PayPal seller protection againstclaims, charge backs, reversals for unauthorized payments, and merchandise notreceived. The expanded protection covers transactions on eBay paid throughPayPal. It's free, there's no annual limit, and transactions nolonger require confirmed addresses to be covered.
More About: Ebay

What Sellers Should Know about EBay's Latest Shipping Announcement
2008-03-31 06:19:00
Ebay's Kristina Klausen recently posted a "Shipping Update" that implys some heavy hitting changes.Beginning in the next "few months," all sellers will be required to use eBay's shipping calculator instead of other 3rd party tools. Let's touch on the pros and cons...The Good:Ebay has been focusing on improving and standardizing the buyer experience. This is definitely a step in the right direction. The Bad:Ebay's calculator is very limiting in both shipping carriers (only supports USPS and UPS) and concurrent service level offerings. Is eBay expecting all sellers to ditch DHL and Fedex?The reality is that many people still distrust buying on eBay. With all the heavy changes lately, eBay has obviously decided that it will no longer be entrusting the important aspects of the buyer experience to its sellers. And, while it's causing a lot of drastic changes for sellers, remember that eBay's end goal is increased traffic, ASPs (Average Sale Prices), and STR (Sell Through Rate...
More About: Announcement , Sellers

Amazon.com, a Seller's Nightmare Video
2008-03-22 04:31:00
Shortly after I posted Selling on Amazon .com, a Seller's Nightmare , I decided to sign up with Amazon again to see if they had improved. The answer, of course, is no. Here are the results...
More About: Video

Selling on Amazon.com - A Seller's Nightmare?
2008-03-20 22:52:00
In discussions over the past few months, our clients all seem to say the same thing about Amazon ; Sales are good if you have lots of SKUs, but it's definitely a difficult process.Here are the major qualms we've heard:1. Sellers do not understand the basic differences between the Amazon selling programs (Pro Merchant, Seller Central, Merchants@) and which one is right for them.2. The customer service staff is hard to reach and generally doesn't know anything.3. Amazon is policed by the "Amazon Alliance". Expect to be banned from selling for life at some point with no one to talk to and know reinstatement process at all.Auctionbytes added a tiny bit of clarity to the situation in their interviews with Amazon's Matt Williams. Check out the two articles here:Amazon: We Want Sellers. An Interview with Matt Williams-http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/ abu/y208/m02/abu0209/s02Strategies for Getting onto Amazon.com Selling Programs-http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/ abn/y08/m03/i05/s02Now, I...
More About: Nightmare

EBay Cooking the Numbers Again to Boost Best Match and Q1 Changes?
2008-03-19 20:42:00
I've read a lot of commentaries and data intepretation praising eBay's Q1 changes and their drastic positive effect on conversion rates. Most reference eBay's pricing structure change, eBay gallery becoming free, and eBay's switch to "Best Match " in search. One such blogger is Scott Wingo, CEO of Channel Advisor, is his article "Q1 data is telling us that the eBay changes are...."What's most interesting to me, however, is that I can't find any in depth analysis on the topic. Take a look at the comments to Wingo's blog post here."...the medved graph for the last fortnight implies that the UK's FreeListing Day (6 Mar) listings were displayed on the US - the jump is just toosteep to be otherwise. Additionally, considering those listings are notsupposed to be seen on the US according to UK policy, it seems strange that thevast majority of our buyers for those listings are US residents.I'm suspicious there is some more eBay numbers-cooking similar to theshopping.com listings i...
More About: Cooking , Ebay , Numbers , Boost

EBay Desktop is EBay Done Right
2008-03-05 00:04:00
I just noticed that the eBay desktop beta recently launched on February 24th. The desktop program features a drastically improved interface for both surfing and purchasing.I especially like two features. Search results stay to the left after clicking on a product to allow faster navigation. Also, the Bid/Buy page allows updating your bids all on one screen. It's definnitely worth checking out.What's most interesting to me is that the entire interface could be replicated using web 2.0 technologies like AJAX. For a great example of a real website that fuctions this smoothly already, check out my favorite website, mint.com. It's a personal finance manager that fully leverages cutting edge web capabilities to create a stellar user interface.I can only imagine the benefits to eBay sellers if the main eBay site was this easy to navigate. I'm hoping that this is truely the future of eBay.
More About: Desktop , Ebay

5 Secrets to Improve your eBay Business DSRs (Detailed Seller Ratings)
2008-02-22 23:02:00
It seems that the new eBay US pricing structure hasn't made as much of an impact for most sellers as everyone thought, but the new worry is shifting heavily to DSRs (Detailed Seller Ratings ). EBay's switch of the default search to "Best Match" is looming, and the new powerseller discounts started yesterday.It's now more important that ever to formulate a plan to get those DSRs up. So let's go through a few tips to help you boost those ratings:1. Keep Domestic Shipping Options and Policies Simple. Offer two carriers and 4-5 total options.2. Simplify and Display Return and Shipping Policies. Write policies at an 8th grade level rather than taking a shot at "legal speak", while still making sure policies cannot be misinterpreted. Incorporate policies in main eBay template page in plain sight.3. Have a seperate International Shipping Policy or FAQ with expected times, carrier info, and customs info. Remember, keep it simple and friendly. You're trying to encourage good ratings not ...
More About: Business , Ebay , Secrets

The Ultimate Niche Research Data
2008-01-15 10:11:00
Google is doing something awesome, again. Want to do historic research on product trends for your next product or niche campaign? How about for FREE?Well Google has mashed a bunch of their technologies together to create Google Checkout Trends. It's still in its early stages of usefulness, but I forsee this as the go-to place for our initial nice research from now on.It's always better to make decisions on good hard data. The data always seems to turn our hunches upside down. Take a look at the comparison in sales for Ipod vs Zune products for example. Thought ipod would be the clear leader didn't you?If you're up on your Wall St tracking software and already use Google Finance, you'll notice the same technology implemented here. Hopefully that means Google will continue to use their innovative approches to matching and manipulating data to make it even more useful.
More About: Research , Data , Ultimate , Niche

The Apology...
2008-01-15 08:33:00
Almost two months without a post. Unacceptable! I know. It's been a very prosperous month, and, unfortunately, I've neglected my readers.On the upside, we've been doing a lot of cool stuff with many cutting edge marketing strategies. Stick with our E-commerce strategies blog as I come back to cover the latest in important ecom news and strategies.I promise that I'll have fresh content updated often from now on, starting today!
More About: Apology

EBay Leverages Web2.0 with Best of EBay
2007-11-21 02:25:00
Ebay's been trying to join the Web 2.0 world with a vengeance this past year. We've seen rollouts of blogs, wikis, neighborhoods, and eBay matchups.Their latest venture, Best of eBay, a Digg.com site for eBay listings, is finally right on the mark! This new technology is finally perfectly in line with their public initiative to "bring the fun back" to core auction style.Definitely worth checking out...
More About: Ebay , Rages , Ages

Ebay's Identity Crisis - New Feedback Survey Creates Controversy
2007-11-19 15:59:00
After eBay introduced DSRs (Detailed Seller Ratings) with the release of eBay's Feedback 2.0, it was clear that eBay was trying to make its buyer experience a bit more Amazon-like. The buyer experience improvement project seems to be continuing as eBay posted this latest survey:Sellers on the powerseller forum are all up in a huff, but it might not be a bad thing. Taking the complications out of feedback, and also taking the retaliatory negative option off the table, should increase buyer activity on the site. More buyer activity, of course, leads to higher average prices.After all, sellers on Amazon don't even get to leave feedback for their buyers (although sometimes you really want to). I bet eBay will follow suit and limit seller feedback options. I'd say watch out for testing this coming summer in the UK or AU.
More About: Survey , Controversy , Identity , Crisis

Google Checkout's Effect on Hits and Sales Part II
2007-10-19 22:55:00
In April, I wrote an article on Google 's push for Checkout adoption and it's impending effects on business. While we have noticed some increases in paid search hits on our campaigns with google checkout enable vs campaigns without, it was very difficult to measure any real results.It seems that Google has done some of that work for me, as reported by Ina Steiner from Auctionbytes:"Google's SVP of Product Management Jonathan Rosenberg said many advertisers are reporting much higher click-through rates when using Google AdWords with Google Checkout, as much as 60% higher than without Checkout."While "as much as 60%" doesn't really tell us anything useful, at least they are recording measured increases.Also interesting was this statement, "Rosenberg said advertisers have decreased the cost-per-click by over 31% with Google AdWords and Google Checkout." It seems that you can be lower in the rankings for paid search, but still get the click since you have a huge 3d GC button under ...
More About: Sales , Effect , Part , Hits

EBay and Paypal Changes that Will Affect your Holiday Sales and Q1
2007-10-19 00:02:00
Why, oh why, does eBay have to mess with things during the most important months of the year. I don't think I'll ever understand it. I've been reading a lot about the recent and upcoming changes to eBay and PayPal, and I decided I should compile a list of ones that will affect business as we know it.1. PayPal recently announced it will be delaying "select" transactions for up to 24 hours. From what I've heard thus far, buyers are not notified of the delay via email. I have heard reports that it shows up in the buyer's PayPal as "pending." I think this change is going to drastically increase customer service emails and wreak havoc on your DSRs (Detailed Seller Ratings).2. *Sigh* EBay announced it will be making major changes to the checkout. It sounds like it will actually be a beneficial change, but why change the buyer experience at such an important time? Luckily for our Laris E-commerce Management Software users, you won't be using eBay's checkout anyway ;).3. EBay Neightb...
More About: Holiday , Paypal , Sales , Ebay

Why Your E-commerce Website Needs a Blog
2007-10-09 19:27:00
Whether you're a beginner in running your own website to sell products, or a master of the SEO arts, you can boost your traffic and your sales using a blog. Trust me; this works. We actually use it all the time to give our sites a boost.Why a blog?1. Search engines believe that content is king. What better place for fresh content than a blog? Put a few links from your blog to your e-commerce website. Google will rank those links fairly highly since the content on the blog is fresh and related to your website.2. Blog s can be a big part of your linking strategy. If you get links to your blog, it will build the reputation of your blog with Google, who will then in turn pass on some of that rank to your website.3. E-commerce websites have very little extrinsic search engine value. Sure you can work on your on page elements (keyword density, url optimization, h1 tags, etc), but it's very hard to develop an external (linking) strategy. This actually makes it very easy to beat o...
More About: Website , Commerce , E-Commerce

New Releases at Sell Center!
2007-10-04 17:46:00
Normally I don't blog about SC since most of my readers are not necessarily clients of ours (yet), but we have released some really cool stuff in the past couple of days!1. The new Sell Center Website is here! Go take a look at www.sellcenter.net. It's really cool; I promise.2. The Learning Center - This is a brand new project to compile articles on a wide array of topics from eBay to search engine marketing to taxes. The content is written by the experts at Sell Center and our partners. This will be an ongoing project that will (hopefully) produce the largest resource and community for online sellers.3. Laris Wiki - We’ve created an entire database of support documentation, setup procedure, and best practice articles to help our clients. Using the popular wiki format, we were able to interlink them together to make finding the help you need a breeze4. Sell Center Community - Not exactly a new release, but we’ve given it a new look, more funtionality, and tied it into Th...

EBay Ramps Up Innovation to Improve Bid Prices
2007-09-25 02:21:00
First off, I apologize for not blogging! There's a lot of really exciting developments going on over here at Sell Center that we'll be releasing very soon. Hint: Be sure to check out this blog on October 1st!With the general discontent over the past year or so with eBay ASPs (Average Selling Prices), it's no wonder eBay has finally starting innovating to bring them up. I think eBay is finally starting to come to their senses! I wish they would have figured this out about 2 years ago, though. Anyway, on to the cool stuff!A new eBay feature just became available to users with a feedback score of five or greater, Bid Assistant. The way it works is that you first create a group of items that you are interested in. Next, you set your maximum bids on each item. Then, Bid Assistant will bid on your behalf until you win one item from the group. This is a great feature for both buyer AND sellers (when was the last time eBay accomplished that??) Buyers will find it eas...
More About: Ebay , Innovation , Improve , Inno , Improv

EBay Ramps Up Innovation to Improve Bid Prices
2007-09-25 02:21:00
First off, I apologize for not blogging! There's a lot of really exciting developments going on over here at Sell Center that we'll be releasing very soon. Hint: Be sure to check out this blog on October 1st!With the general discontent over the past year or so with eBay ASPs (Average Selling Prices ), it's no wonder eBay has finally starting innovating to bring them up. I think eBay is finally starting to come to their senses! I wish they would have figured this out about 2 years ago, though. Anyway, on to the cool stuff!A new eBay feature just became available to users with a feedback score of five or greater, Bid Assistant. The way it works is that you first create a group of items that you are interested in. Next, you set your maximum bids on each item. Then, Bid Assistant will bid on your behalf until you win one item from the group. This is a great feature for both buyer AND sellers (when was the last time eBay accomplished that??) Buyers will find it eas...
More About: Ebay , Innovation , Improve

How to Use a YouTube Video in your EBay Auctions
2007-08-26 22:50:00
YouTube is becoming a key to success in e-commerce marketing. First let's discuss how to get a youtube video in your eBay listings. After uploading a video to YouTube.com, they give you the code for their embedded player as shown below:Simply copy and paste ALL of the text in that box into the html of your eBay listing.Now WHY would you put a youtube video in your listings? There are three reasons that seem most prevalent:1. Be able to demonstrate your product. You have much better control over your sales process when your potential customers hit your listings2. Trust Factors. Putting a video on youtube automatically makes you seem like a more professional company. I've mentioned trust logos in previous posts, and I'll go into them in more detail soon. Long story short, just seeing the YouTube logo at the bottom of the video will add to buyer confidence. 3. Give buyers unique/privaledged insight into your company to make them loyal buyers. Out of the three reasons I hear most o...
More About: Video , Youtube , Ebay , Auctions

Christmas in August!
2007-08-14 00:15:00
Can you smell the sweet smell of fresh snow and evergreens? of store bought wrapping paper and freshly cooked ham? If not, we'll set you straight!It's that time of year again to start thinking red and green (especially green, if you get me). While the summer sales doldrums are starting to wear off, this is the best time to plan out your Christmas season strategy. I've outlined a few suggestions for you:Clean up your listings.Examine your best selling products and make sure you have clear pictures portraying your products at their best. Check your sales copy and make sure your descriptions are short, to the point, impactual, and include all the necessary information. Make sure your text is selling your product. Sales copy is often overlooked on a listing. If you're unfamiliar with writing sales copy, now is a good time to head over to amazon.com and purchase a highly rated book on it. Optimize your workflow.Clean up your workplace. One thing that will make you more efficient ...
More About: August

More articles from this author:
1, 2