Author and creative consultant Lynn Altman offers a how-to guide to the Brandmaker Express, a process she and partner Joe Viverito have.
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- Brand it yourself : the fast , focused way to marketplace magic
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- Brand awareness: nearly everything you need to know
Winning the hearts and minds of consumers is not as daunting as you might think. With the powerful techniques in Brand It Yourself , your company can develop better branding ideas with less stress and wasted time.
Author and creative consultant Lynn Altman offers a how-to guide to the Brandmaker Express, a process she and partner Joe Viverito have developed to successfully brand consumer products for a long Lynn Altman believes that branding should be an energizing, exciting Just Do It Faster. Count to One and Then Stop. Keep It SimpleReally Simple. A Homemade Recipe for Success.
Brand it yourself : the fast , focused way to marketplace magic
Think Big but Start Small. Make a Wish or Three. From Wow to What is this? Behold the Business Card. What Would The Donald Do?
Since inventory is with the vendors, they are also in charge of shipping. While this can make your life easier, this workflow is a lot different than a store where you are the only vendor. In a multi-vendor store, managers need to control the quality of products, product images and order shipping. While you may not have eyes directly on a product, you can take steps to make sure the products and the way they are shipped is something you stand behind. In addition, making sure product image quality is good is important.
Blurry or fuzzy photos not only make it hard to see what the product looks like, they make your overall site look poorly put together. They can make a multi-vendor store sound complicated. There are many aspects of a multi-vendor store managers must keep their eyes on. If your multi-vendor store is a puzzle, each component represents a piece of the puzzle. This is the picture your customers see. Customers will instead flock to a store that provides a better experience. By separating tasks, managers can reduce the time spent looking after the store, while still retaining important admin jobs like controlling which products are available.
Managing a multi-vendor store involves a balance between these supplier and admin tasks.
Going back to choosing a marketplace extension, this means a foundation that allows you to balance the two. An incorrect balance of supplier and admin capabilities can mean disaster for your store. For example, say you manage an online store where people sell their artwork. If a supplier adds a product that is an electronic device and it is posted to your store, this can confuse your customers and harm your reputation. Allowing admin to approve and disapprove products would avoid this issue.
The first step to having a successful multi-vendor store? Adding products and having enough of them. If not, there will be less product for consumers to choose from.
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This makes it more likely a customer who is looking for a product that is not in stock on your store will go to another store that does have the product. This represents a lost chance. The second option is far less time consuming for store admin. It can also result in more authentic descriptions and categories, as vendors will likely know their own products better than store admin. With the right marketplace platform, store managers can approve or disapprove products uploaded by vendors before they go live on the store.
They can also choose to approve or disapprove products based on image quality and offer suggestions for vendors. This adds the important quality control aspect that can be a lacking in a multi-vendor store. Vendors will be motivated to avoid bad ratings. Multi-vendor store owners make money from vendors by charging a commission fee. When determining a seller fee, it might be good to look at what other multi-vendor stores charge.
For stores that involve a wide variety of products, store admin can consider setting a different fee for different types of products. Online and offline business uses coupons to promote their products.
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More commonly today, eCommerce businesses are using them to increase online sales. E-coupons are used by eCommerce businesses for customers to enter a code when they make This can discourage vendors from providing promotional discounts in the first place. Store managers should be aware of this and make sure seller fees only apply to the amount a vendor actually makes. So you have inventory and customers are purchasing products from your multi-vendor store. Having products is only one step of the equation. Orders that sit instead of move toward completion can result in frustrated customers.
Managing orders, as mentioned, means being organized. Store admin should keep an eye on all open orders. Vendors should also know when a product is ordered, so they can make sure an order is completed as soon as possible. Admin can organize orders by status to see which orders are done and which need to be finished. Once an order comes in, store admin need to make sure the order is shipped. Vendors are the ones with the inventory, so it is their job to make sure orders are shipped efficiently. Store admin can have some say in shipping, though. Store managers can authorize different shipping methods.
Allowing certain shipping methods can allow the store to have a cohesive shipping policy. For example, saying that all orders through the store are shipped at a flat rate. This can make it easier for store admin to know what shipping method a vendor is using and answer customer questions.
Admin can also leave shipping options entirely up to the vendor. This lets the vendor ship orders using whatever method is most comfortable for them. This can increase vendor satisfaction. Whatever shipping method a vendor uses, admin should be able to keep track of order shipments with tracking numbers to confirm shipment of orders.
Another component of managing a multi-vendor store is making sure vendors get paid.
Brand awareness: nearly everything you need to know
Since a multi-vendor store uses a single shopping cart , the order total is sent to the admin. Part of keeping vendors happy is paying them quickly. This is best done by creating a table or better yet, using an extension that creates this table for you.
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- Brand It Yourself: The Fast, Focused Way to Marketplace Magic.
- Albumblatt (Albumleaf), Op.28, No. 4.
An easy way for store admin to pay vendors is through PayPal. Sales reports allow you to make sure managers and suppliers are staying on track. They show the big picture: This can be an important resource in determining whether a store management system is working.