» channeladvisor

ChannelAdvisor Primes Online Auto Parts Retailers to Maximize ROI on eBay Upgrades

ChannelAdvisor leads the industry as the first to announce support for latest eBay changes

Research Triangle Park, NC – February 22, 2010 – ChannelAdvisor, a solution provider that enables online retailers to improve efficiency and increase revenue, today announced support for key new eBay offerings being rolled out in March 2010, namely eBay Motors fitment for automotive parts and accessories.  This new update will make it easier and faster than ever for shoppers to buy auto parts and online retailers to list and sell auto parts.

“Whereas before sellers had to list each auto part multiple ways to account for the many ways that buyers search, now an item can be listed a single time and associated with all of the different applications (vehicle information),” said Scot Wingo, ChannelAdvisor CEO.  “This consolidation of listings can easily save a seller 75 percent or more on listing fees, while also helping them sell more since buyers can find the items more easily.”

Prior to this update, ChannelAdvisor’s auto customers have enjoyed a steady increase in sales over the past quarter, increasing nearly 16 percent in December alone.  ChannelAdvisor expects sales for customers to flourish this year with its support of the eBay update.  By fully automating these listings, ChannelAdvisor is helping auto parts retailers connect the dots and take complete advantage of these new updates.

“With eBay’s new capabilities paired with ChannelAdvisor’s solution, it will take us a fraction of the time and cost to list our products on eBay,” said Daniel Tole, e-commerce manager for Tom’s Foreign Auto Parts.  “We’ll have our products ready to take full advantage of higher search rankings and an improved buyer experience.”

The launch is currently limited to the U.S. and will initially only include the following categories:

· Air Intake & Fuel Delivery

· Exterior

· Lamps & Accessories

· Lighting

· Tires

· Wheels

For full details on ChannelAdvisor’s new product enhancement, please visit http://ssc.channeladvisor.com/news/2010-february-release-notes.  Current ChannelAdvisor customers can also tune in to a webinar being hosted by Wingo on February 24, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. ET to discuss these changes and how to make sure your company is poised to immediately take advantage.  Register for the webinar at www.channeladvisor.com/webin

On Monday, John Donahoe the CEO of eBay declined to give out much information on eBay sales for the holiday season. At the investors conference, Donahoe was giving most of the hype to PayPal which has seemed to be the song and dance of 2009. You talk about the moving ball to keep all eyes off the one that is sitting and not moving. I have noticed this a lot from the CEO in his most recent appearances, eBay does seem to be second to PayPal on the hype meter right now.

Donahoe is quoted in a Wall Street Journal article saying, “There’s no killer item this year. There’s no Xbox or item that’s out of stock that everyone has to have,” he said. Zhu Zhu pets, the stuffed hamsters that have become intensely popular in recent months, are an exception and are doing brisk business on the site.

We do know that Amazon reportedly topping the list as the most visited retail website on Cyber Monday, seeing a 44% increase in visits compared to 2008. Amazon received 15.53% of the visits among the top 500 online retail sites.

On the flip side, eBay released a eBay “heat map” for Black Friday on its website and that caused many to ask well how much was sold for real? The visuals are cute and all, but why all the techno crap? What were the NUMBERS? That was my question.

With Donahoe’s continued interest in luxury brands and the new out-of-season mentality of eBay 2009, I want to know if it is WORKING? Do the numbers show that eBay is more successful than in the past? Is the number moving the needle to the left or right? Guess we will not know?!?

However on Monday, Scot Wingo (CEO, ChannelAdvisor.com) decided to break out a calculator and do some "Fun eBay Math" and concluded that…

If that math is correct, Black Friday’s 1m transactions were actually 25% below average and Cyber Monday was a paltry 3% above average.  Of course our assumptions could be off here, but they’d have to be off pretty significantly to change these results.  Also they are based off of real-world data points so they are far from guesses.

Scot Wingo blows the roof off! This interview is so full of sizzle and STEAK. Man, I have not heard this much great information and insight anywhere, honestly. This is such a good "exclusive" interview.

Hey, Scot even brought some brand new stats on Amazon CGM, eBay Antique Sellers, Google vs. Bing…Damn I could go on, but why? Just look at the notes and PRESS PLAY!

Listen to the Interview NOW!
(press play button and be patient, it takes a minute to buffer)

OR Click to Download

OR Subscribe to the series via iTunes 

Scot Wingo – CEO ChannelAdvisor.com and eBayStrategies.com

2:12 – Amazon vs. eBay Growth
3:05 – What is EGM?
4:10 – Amazon partitions are growing at up to 54%
5:50 – 5 Points – Value, Ease, Merchandising, Trust, Selection
7:12 – 600 Million Shoes … wow
8:03 – Amazon has moved marketing $$$ to free shipping
8:54 – Can eBay subsidize its free shipping model?
10:22 – Is ChannelAdvisor keeping up with eBay changes?
14:24 – How does WalMart.com & Sears.com factor into the eCommerce mix
15:29 – Marketplace Wars
16:34 – Is the Kindle a factor for Amazon’s traffic success?
17:26 – Google Commerce Search Changes
18:15 – Google Search 62% – Bing Seach 35%
19:20 – eCommerce Search is up to 40% of all search
20:12 – eBay Best Match Search
21:14 – eBay Top Rated Seller Program
24:21 – Should eBay Go Retail? (http://ow.ly/ECvi)
26:01 – Some EXCLUSIVE eBay Numbers Data From Wingo!
28:00 – Are Antiques and Collectables suffering on eBay?
29:40 – Will eBay changes squeeze out the SMB’s on eBay?
30:30 – eBay vs. Paypal
33:00 – 45% of Paypal is actually eBay (the Paypal Monopoly)
34:15 – Paypal is holding up to 15% of sellers GMV
36:17 – Social Media – is it a viable channel for selling?
37:01 – eCommerce on Facebook
39:27 – Mobile commerce (red lazer, shopsavvy, deocrab)
42:00 – ChannelAdvisor Catalyst May 3-5 (www.ChannelAdvisor.com/Catalyst)

Press "Play" to listen now

Be sure to subscribe so you do not miss an episode.

Company continues to add key Internet Retailer 500 customers including Blue Bay andTool King, launches next-generation Amazon solution

Research Triangle Park, NC– November 3, 2009 – ChannelAdvisor, a solution provider that enables online retailers to improve efficiency and increase revenue, today announced another strong quarter with $2.6 million in bookings and 229 new customer additions.  Further, for the 12 months ending September, 2009, ChannelAdvisor achieved for the first time in company history a full year of positive EBIDTA (earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortization).  New customers are driving this growth by signing on for multiple e-commerce channel solutions to maximize their revenue potential.  Notable new customers include Foot Shop Limited, Green Cartridge Company Europe BV, Solaris Sport S.L.R. and Tory Burch.

“While our third quarter brought us continued growth across all channels, there was significant escalation among apparel, consumer electronics and media, which are in many cases necessities for consumers,” said Scot Wingo, ChannelAdvisor CEO.  “Whether shopping for essentials or luxuries, more than ever we are seeing consumers using comparison shopping sites and bargain hunting across multiple websites, leading our customers to embrace a multi-channel selling approach to maximize visibility.” 

The third quarter also saw the release of ChannelAdvisor’s next-generation Amazon solution.  The solution has been well-received due to its ability to provide online retailers control over the Amazon sales channel with actionable information, eliminating the need for online retailers to involve their IT department in every minor change.

“Within one week of implementing ChannelAdvisor’s new Amazon solution our sales increased 34 percent,” said Steve McCarty, president of Ultimate Paintball.  “We’re anticipating continued growth and a successful holiday season with ChannelAdvisor’s support of the Fulfillment by Amazon program.” 

Highlights of the next-generation Amazon solution include:

• Product Match technology that discovers which Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) to select for products based on the listing’s title, price, sales rank, whether or not Amazon is a competitor and more – folding all the variables needed to make a decision into a sleek, simple-to-use interface
• Categorizer technology that offers intelligent recommendations and dynamically populates Amazon’s complex item classification keyword requirements, categorizing each product as accurately as possible and saving hours of manual data entry
• A revised dashboard that, for the first time, presents a simple, dynamic, birds-eye view of the status of listings to ensure that all products are live and that all listings are fully optimized for maximum visibility and sales
• Full integration with the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program to create, track and modify products, shipments and orders, which are then fulfilled by Amazon’s shipping service

Additional third-quarter product updates include the following:

• Comparison Shopping
  • Full support for Bing Shopping Cashback, including transaction reports

• Paid Search
  • Advanced network targeting for Google campaigns
  • Negative keyword support for Google ad groups
  • Bing Search Cashback support including transaction reports

• Rich Image
  • URL-based commands to easily resize and apply filters such as image quality, sharpen and contrast
  • Watermarking and dynamic text overlaying for merchandising
  • Automated cropping for image files
  • Ability to summarize workflow actions into a single URL-based command

• RichCatalog
  • New message panel allowing images text and external links to be inserted anywhere in the book; the text and links are used to display instructions, highlighted products, vendor offers and signup fields

ChannelAdvisor Launches New Amazon Solution to Save Retailers Time and Drive Online Revenue Next-generation solution eases inventory and product updates and delivers unparalleled ROI

Research Triangle Park, NC– September 22, 2009 – ChannelAdvisor, the leading provider of e-commerce channel management solutions, announced today a next-generation Amazon solution that automatically manages time-intensive data entry and enhances product visibility, resulting in increased sales. The solution, designed specifically for online retailers, provides actionable information on all aspects of the Amazon sales channel, putting the ability to control the channel into the marketers’ hands instead of requiring constant IT changes.

“We’ve taken feedback from hundreds of retailers currently using our existing solution and those considering Amazon, and put that feedback directly into our new solution,” said Scot Wingo, CEO of ChannelAdvisor. “With our next-generation Amazon offering we have achieved our goal of taking a single data feed from retailers and, in minutes, having their products optimized and ready for sale on Amazon and other channels, enabling the greatest revenue potential for our customers.”

The solution includes a real-time product status dashboard that delivers key information on a product’s standing throughout the process of going live on Amazon, as well as throughout the full lifecycle of the product listing from distribution to post-sale. Actionable alerts immediately inform retailers of any problems and include suggested resolutions to minimize product downtime.

“We know we’re poised to compete this coming holiday season because of the enhanced technology offered through this Amazon solution,” said Gina Yoder, president of Shoebox Savings. “The solution overall has been very easy – so easy that our Amazon business has practically run itself with the help of features like Categorizer and Product Match.”

ChannelAdvisor’s platform helps retailers sell more and spend less across multiple channels including marketplaces like Amazon, eBay and Buy.com; paid search engines including Google, Yahoo! and Bing; and comparison shopping sites like Shopping.com, Shopzilla, PriceGrabber and Google Product Search.

ChannelAdvisor will be demonstrating the new Amazon solution, as well as updates to its entire product suite, at booth #401 at the Shop.org Annual Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 22-23, 2009. Visit the booth or the following Web site for further information: http://www.channeladvisor.com/amazonsolutions.

Our topic of conversation every week in September on B.S. Walks When Money Talks has been about the coming holiday season. Check out the show this Wednesday at 1:00 est. where we will detail some strategies. Many of which are coming from this cool checklist from ChannelAdvisor get if FREE

Hey, I got to hang out with the folks from ChannelAdvisor down in Australia too. Here are two of the great, smart minds at CA, thats my boy Scott Hurff and the CA man in Aussie Matt Dougherty.

Mr. Scot Wingo just launched new blog the other day at www.amazonstrategies.com   So if you are  looking for someone to cover many of the interesting strategies being developed for sellers on Amazon, look no futher!

As this 3rd party platform from Amazon begins to really take hold in our ecommerce circles it is GREAT to see a new place for Wingo to post and evolve his thought and insight on this growth marketplace.

On this blog we’ll be covering news, analysis and most importantly – selling strategies – all around Amazon’s seller business and related services.

We’ll be spending the bulk of our time talking about Amazon’s ProMerchant service (also known as Merchants@ or Amazon’s 3P) business and all of the strategies that have developed for that platform.  We’ll talk about how to own the buy-box, advanced pricing strategies, merchandising on Amazon and of course how the Amazon search engine works and how retailers can optimize for increased exposure.

But also, retailers are increasingly interested in Amazon services such as:

• Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) – While you may have heard of FBA from the outsourced fulfilment angle, at ChannelAdvisor, we’re finding the killer app that is driving FBA adoption in reality is access to the Amazon Primecustomers as well as SuperSaver free/discounted shipping promotions.
• Product Ads -  With the ProductAds platform you can essentially treat Amazon like a comparison shopping engine.  This PPC program allows you to send a feed of products to Amazon where they are seen by buyers and then traffic is sent to your website.  This program is really getting traction and we have some case studies and best practices to share here.
• Checkout By Amazon (CBA)-  While still a relatively new addition, retailers are watching this service and wondering where it fits in with options out there like PayPal, Google Checkout and of course credit-card merchant services.
• Webstore and ecommerce – Amazon’s webstore offering is an interesting way to leverage what you may already be doing on Amazon into an ecommerce platform.  The primary use-case is for those smaller merchants without an existing ecommerce site. 
• Vitamin C -  Forrester’s Brian Walker has tweeting and tellilng the press about an Amazon effort he’s been briefedon called Vitamin C evidently internally at Amazon.  Brian suggests this is a mid-market ecommerce offering that is more independent of amazon than Webstore.

Phew, that’s a lot to cover, but if I missed anything – please let me know in comments and I’ll make sure it is on our radar.

Scot Wingo CEO ChannelAdvisor

So I am kicking it around in the hallway and then guess who walks by? OMG, it is Scot Wingo the CEO of ChannelAdvisor. He just got off the stage and my eyes are still burning from the SMOKE!

Dude, his presentation was seriously smoking. He brought out all the charts and graphs and laid out the landscape of the ecommerce platform for 2009. It is always the #1 reason that I will make the trip simply to get this direction from Scot Wingo. Year after year he delivers.

Sure, I am in the "fan club" so what, I know I make good choices, LMAO. But seriously, numbers tell stories and Scot is real good at bringing those number to the forefront. So here is a quick interview I was able to grab with him right after his keynote presentation at Catalyst 2009…sweet!

Dude, I love being in a space with a pocket camera! I am a whip it out and shoot kinda guy. It was so FUNNY with these guys at eBay. Believe it or not, they do not watch the ColderICE videos! OMG, and I spend so much time reporting on their eBay movement…wink. OK, so they had no idea who I was and that made it ultra fun.

Actually, only some of them did not know me, the others like Todd and Usher I have seen before at both Catalyst ‘08 and the eComm Summit last year.  This is rather fun simply because it is good to know that they were willing to play along. Throw in a little Mike Jones from ChannelAdvisor’s team and it is guaranteed a good time.

Now, my boy Usher "said" he would do a real phone interview with me,  hmmm. We will see if that ever happens, but it was mad cool chatting with him. He actually reads our posts on ColderICE too. I had Tweeted something about the eBay presentation and then saw Usher again in the hallway and he gave me some grief over my score, LMAO he is a pretty cool dude.