Adopting a multichannel strategy is one of the most effective ways to grow your business. In fact, multichannel selling is expected to exceed $491 billion in the U.S. alone this year. But expanding across channels and geographies is challenging when each one has its own requirements, audience, and tone. Multichannel commerce and fulfillment solutions can help. 

We recently joined Rithum partners, eDesk and Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF), for a webinar on How to Provide an Extraordinary Multichannel Customer Experience, featuring:

• Alison Held, Senior Product Manager at Rithum
• Abhi Tiwari, Director of Product Management and Technology at Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment 
• Darren Heaphy, Head of Product at eDesk

Can you add more channels and still provide stellar experiences — without subtracting from the bottom line? These panelists believe it’s possible with the right strategy.

What the Best Sellers Do

“It’s important to listen to your customers and be where they are,” said Heaphy. “Buyers rarely stick to just one channel when shopping, and sellers need to bring their products to where their customers are.”

To effectively scale e-commerce without sacrificing the customer experience, the most successful multichannel sellers:

1. Intentionally assess how their brand is represented online.
Create a unified story across a number of buyer touchpoints. Stay true to your brand, but tailor your presence for each channel, whether it’s your web store or Instagram. 

2. Market a diversified portfolio.
Market products that cover as much of the e-commerce journey as possible. Maximize your brand exposure online by selecting specific products to meet the needs of different audiences across multiple channels. 

3. Grow without forfeiting operational excellence.
Remove friction where possible to allow and support new selling channels, products and geographies. Invest in systems that support your ability to easily update branded content, product data quantities, fulfillment partners and customer service queries so each additional channel you add isn’t incrementally more expensive. 

Rithum’s most successful customers sell on at least five channels on average (and sometimes they’re not even the biggest marketplaces). We’ve even seen an increase in year-over-year growth for what we call “long tail marketplaces” or those that are typically for more niche product verticals or categories. 

“If you’re only in a single channel and not experimenting or understanding where other sources of demand are, you can get left behind or miss some opportunity,” said Held. 

Retailers can even expand with Amazon’s help using Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF). This service provides fast, reliable order fulfillment for any channel. MCF also has features to help manage each channel’s different requirements. 

Multi-channel Selling Challenges

As beneficial as multichannel selling is, it’s not without its challenges. Sellers must address how to:

• Manage inventory across channels
• Adhere to different marketplace requirements
• Provide adequate customer support for different audiences
• Account for lead times in new regions 
• Anticipate demand increases from the new channel
• Prepare for tax implications and business considerations ahead of time

Expanding to new regions and marketplaces also requires consistency in customer experiences. Whereas multichannel merchants sell across multiple platforms, an omni-channel strategy takes it a step further by creating an interconnected ecosystem of touchpoints that all converge to support one consistent shopping journey. 

To scale while sustaining positive customer experiences, provide a unified look and feel across all the channels you market on so consumers immediately recognize the brand style, values, and traits of your shop. Additionally, the right digital infrastructure makes it easy to tie all your channels together and handle the complexities that come with different marketplaces. 

Why Haven’t You Expanded Yet? 

Multichannel expansion is a great growth opportunity for anyone in the e-commerce space. If you haven’t yet launched in one or more new areas, start with a review and identify what areas may be limiting your ability to expand. 

• Don’t have the time or expertise to create new listings on a selling channel?
• Don’t have the warehouse capacity for new demand or sales?
• Previously had a negative experience that distracted your team from your primary selling channel? 
• Don’t know which marketplace is best to start on?

Whatever it is, identifying your hesitations first can help inform your first steps. Centralizing your entire e-commerce strategy is helpful for managing things like quantities, pricing, fulfillment, and compliance across the board. Plus, a multichannel commerce solution allows you to gather data and continually optimize your presence across every channel. 

Rithum now supports more than 300 marketplaces globally. Are you selling everywhere you could be? Request a demo to learn how we help you maintain top-tier customer experiences without sacrificing more resources. 

Check out the full webinar to learn more about what drives customer queries and get tips for scaling without adding additional resources.

The post How to Provide Extraordinary Customer Experiences Across Multiple Channels appeared first on Rithum.

Rithum supports more than 300 marketplaces globally. But if you’re like us, you’re always looking for more! Emerging marketplaces provide a way to get your products in front of more audiences in a targeted way. 

We recently hosted two webinars detailing six emerging marketplaces in North America and Europe that offer simple setup, manageable partner requirements and immense potential. Missed the webinars? Watch them on demand (Emerging Marketplaces: Optimize Your E-Commerce Strategy for North America or Europe) or review the marketplace profiles below to get started today. 

North American Emerging Marketplaces

1. MyUS Marketplace

MyUS Marketplace allows you to reach international audiences without the headache of logistics. For consumers around the world, it’s a way to access quality US products with affordable, and reliable delivery. Simply provide a product feed, fulfill orders and ship to a facility in Sarasota, Florida, where they handle the international packaging, export documentation and shipping. 

Categories of interest: mens & womens fashion, health & beauty, vitamins & supplements, toys, electronics, baby gear, kids clothing, home goods, automotive, video & PC gaming

Why Partner?

MyUS Marketplace is present in more than 220 countries and territories, handles all logistics on your behalf and provides risk mitigation to reduce exposure to international fraud. Plus, it’s easy to integrate in about one week with dedicated onboarding support. It’s also free to list — no monthly fees! 

2. The Bay

The Bay is the largest and oldest department store in Canada with a purpose of helping Canadians live their best style of life. With an ever-changing landscape of contemporary brands The Bay is creating the ultimate one-stop-shopping destination for all customers’ lifestyle needs. Ideal sellers are brands that can ship directly to customers in Canada and carry an elevated and unique assortment of products. 

Categories of interest: fashion, beauty, kids/toys, home, footwear, jewelry, accessories, handbags, food & drink, pets, sporting goods, fitness, outdoors, books & stationery, electronics & tech, gifting & occasions, health & wellness

Why Partner?

Thebay.com is the sixth largest website in Canada with over five million site visits per week and $1 billion in digital sales in 2021. And it’s on its way to further growth in the next few years.  

3. Walmart Marketplace Mexico

Walmart Marketplace Mexico is the third branch of Walmart marketplaces behind Walmart Marketplace US and Canada. It attracts urban consumers with mid-level income who are seeking value. Walmart has been present in Mexico for more than 30 years, and it invests heavily in omnichannel infrastructure and cross-border strategy. Walmart Marketplace Mexico is ideal for sellers with an existing Walmart US account and a compelling catalog in Spanish. 

Categories of interest: beauty, kids & toys, fashion, home, footwear, food & drink, pets, sports, equipment & outdoors, books & stationery, electronics & tech, gifting & occasions, health & wellness

Why Partner?

Walmart Mexico has already experienced tremendous growth with 171% year-over-year e-commerce sales growth. It is currently the #3 website in Mexico with 27 million site visits monthly. Fifty-two percent of Mexican shoppers make purchases from the US, and 95% of them prefer to purchase in their local currency.  

European Emerging Marketplaces

4. Douglas 

Douglas is Europe’s premium beauty platform with 2,000 stores in 26 markets. Its partner program is present in Germany, Austria, France, Poland and plans to expand to the Netherlands. Douglas works with both brands and retailers who are registered or have a warehouse in the European Union. Partners must have German content and offer free shipping and returns. 

Categories of interest: beauty & personal care, OTC pharmacy, health & supplements, home & living, jewelry & accessories

Why Partner?

The marketplace attracts three different audiences, including long-term customers (primarily middle-aged women preferring luxury brands), occasional shoppers (younger consumers preferring premium brands) and seasonal buyers (shoppers interested in popular brands and sets). 

5. Joom

Joom is a mobile cross-border marketplace that operates in more than 190 countries and actively uses social media influencers to promote sellers’ products. Joom aims to make cross-border trade simple with free product description translation and free customer support. Partners must be a legal entity in EMEA and have a fulfillment time of less than three days.

Categories of interest: fashion, health & beauty, home & garden, electronics & home appliances, jewelry, sports

Why Partner?

Joom receives up to one million orders per day, and 95% of these transactions come from the mobile app. Europe is Joom’s biggest market, accounting for 60% of sales primarily in Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain and Poland. Plus, Joom allows sellers to connect directly with influencers based on their region, style and interests. From there, customers can buy directly from influencers’ posts, which have demonstrated a 187% increase in conversion. 

6. Kaufland.de

Kaufland.de is one of the largest and fastest growing marketplaces in Germany. With extensive investments in search engines, Kaufland.de is highly visible on Google, comparison sites, display ads and email marketing. The marketplace offers external marketing as part of its monthly subscription, as well as seller and first-level customer support. 

Categories of interest: home & living, garden & DIY, consumer electronics, fashion, sports & outdoor

Why Partner?

Kaufland.de has experienced an average annual sales growth of 88% in the past five years, far outstripping the industry average. It hosts 32 million site visitors per month and has shown incremental growth and high average cart size. Plus, no upfront investment is needed and there is no cancellation period. 

Ready to grow with these emerging marketplaces or any of the 300+ channels we support globally. Request a demo today. Or learn more in our Emerging Marketplaces: Optimize Your E-Commerce Strategy webinars for both North America and Europe.

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