Integrating online stores with marketplaces is the ‘new normal’, the days of manual eBay store management are long gone!
There is absolutely no doubt integrations are great and can definitely make marketplace management easier. However, integration tools are commoditised and in Australia alone there is a vast array of marketplace integration tools such as Omnivore, Comestri, Codisto, Channel Advisor and Inkfrog (which are great by the way!). So it raises the question, which tool is the best? Clearly 'Best' is subjective, each tool will naturally have pros and cons. This is why we cut through all the noise and look at tools through the lens of a merchandiser.
As a merchandiser, we are assuming the reason you are selling on marketplaces is to make money. To make money your products need to be found. Which is why we recommend putting ‘Content Control’ as the most important factor when choosing the right marketplace integration tool.
So what is Content Control?
Content Control is the integration tool’s ability to feed unique optimised content to each of the marketplaces. Why is this important? Well, marketplace search algorithms recall products based on content quality and relevance. So you cannot simply re-use content across multiple marketplaces.
Lets pause there and think logically about it, there is no way that Amazon, eBay, Catch or The Iconic would have the same search algorithms right? Secondly, they definitely won’t have the same audience browsing their sites. This is why it is so important to serve up unique content that is optimised for each channel to make sure your products get found!
(To give you an idea of the differences in content, check out the slides below!)
Put simply, put Content Control first when choosing a marketplace integration tool, try to look past all the fancy features as these are worthless if nobody can find your products!
ABOUT MERCHANTSPRING
MerchantSpring helps sellers turn marketplaces into viable sales channels through product content optimisation, store management and the use of Marketplace Manager, our cloud-based marketplace management tool. We support clients across all categories for more than 12 different marketplaces globally, including eBay, Amazon, TheIconic, Catch, Myer Market, TradeMe, TheMarket, Lazada, and Zalora. Get in touch with our team to discuss how we can assist you.
ABOUT MARKETPLACE MANAGER
Marketplace Manager is a secure cloud-based platform that helps marketplace sellers grow their sales across multiple marketplaces. It provides multi-marketplace sales dashboards, performance insights, seller health management, and tangible sales and marketing recommendations. Sign up for free today to start the journey of improving your marketplaces sales.
