This week we’re featuring a guest blog from Volo’s Ethan Morgan. Volo is one our key partners, connecting via Mothercloud to support real-time integrations for Magento 1.x, Magento 2.1 and BigCommerce
Mothercloud’s any-point integration allows BigCommerce and Magento users (1.x and 2.1) to connect their webstores to the Volo platform. Volo is the leading multichannel solution provider, offering end-to-end automation from supply chain management to fulfilment.
These integrations allow businesses to manage Magento and/or BigCommerce listings, prices, costs, orders and more, all within the Volo platform.
Many serious ecommerce businesses understand that to get the best returns, they need to be selling across more than one channel. Marketplaces and webstores offer different benefits and challenges, but a presence on both enables businesses to be resilient, flexible and growth-oriented.
However, there can be major headaches in managing this multichannel approach. Manually adjusting stock levels across channels, setting up a warehouse to deal with different sales channels and other everyday necessities can quickly build up and overload key figures in the business.
For Magento and BigCommerce sellers, the new Mothercloud integrations give them access to a powerful solution to cure those headaches and really grow their business.
So how does Volo enable ecommerce businesses to grow?
Everything in One Place
Can you centrally manage your business from one piece of software, from the point where you deal with suppliers right through to delivery? With Volo Origin, you can.
Order processing happens much faster with an end-to-end system, raising your revenue and saving you time.
That gives you time back to focus on growth: maybe you’ll plan your social strategy, or get that PPC campaign under control, or research exciting new products to carry.
5 Ways to Improve
At Volo, we see 5 primary growth levers for your business; we’ll be talking about efficiency and reporting in coming weeks.
Channel coverage
Selling on the right channels gets you increased exposure and sales. It may sound simple, but researching and testing a new channel can be demanding. This is especially true if you don’t have the data to work with, or automation which updates your stock whenever items sell on any channel.
Listing quality
Getting the right information in front of a customer significantly boosts the likelihood that they will convert. Multiple large images are now standard practice, as is mobile optimisation. How much more would you sell if you had time and guidance to get all these things just right?
Product detail pages are clearly key for webstores, but what about category pages? Potential customers need to see the most important information first, and be guided through a journey culminating in a purchase.
Inventory breadth
Are you pro-actively looking for new products and opportunities, or just waiting for your supplier(s) to come to you? Having the right selection of products means constantly evaluating margins, sales velocity, and sales by channel or country. It also means taking calculated risks and being fast-moving, taking the opportunity of what eBay call “retail moments” to profit from trends.
Many businesses do not know what products make them the most money. Some even lose money on lines without realising, until they access the data.
Promotions
When it comes to clearing old stock, increasing average order value by recommending appropriate products, and incentivising loyalty, you need to have a clear business strategy. Getting it right brings significant returns, but it requires time and careful data-based planning.
For webstores, search ranking is vital. On marketplaces, there are inbuilt promotion tools and search engines that you need to master too.
International selling
Recently released figures showed that:
- International PayPal sales year-on-year growth rate trebled in the second half of 2016 for UK SMEs.
- Average order value from overseas sales rose 13% in the same period.
eCommerce sellers are uniquely positioned to exploit international markets, dramatically increasing their audience size and revenues.
However, doing so requires a great deal of planning and management capacity, and typically one or more partner businesses to help localise, list and support your international venture.
The Road to Success
Success never comes easily in ecommerce. That doesn’t mean you should be working hard on the wrong things. Having sophisticated automation and expert guidance helps you work better on what matters – growth.
If you’re a Magento or BigCommerce customer and you’re serious about growing your ecommerce business across channels, you can get in touch with Volo today, or read what our customers say about us.