Brief Intro to Social Commerce & Tips to Start Your Business

A Brief Introduction to Social Commerce & Tips to Start Your Business!

All of you must be aware of eCommerce, but most of you must not have been aware of social commerce, which is a new buzz in the town. It is a new way of selling your products to millions of customers. This feature is emerging throughout several platforms and creating new opportunities for all the small and big brands to sell their products effectively. This brand-new selling method has been increased deliberately during the COVID-19 pandemic because brick-and-mortar stores were not working.

The pandemic situation is the primary reason behind the emergence of this trend. It has drastically changed the digital selling concept and introduced social media platforms as a new marketplace for customers to shop for their products. Facebook, Instagram, and several other social media platforms have been used acutely to sell several diversified products. This blog explicitly mentions what it is and the aspects you should consider while selling your products through social media. Let’s deep dive and find out what it is and how it can benefit you as a seller.

What is Social Commerce?

It is the new way of selling and buying products directly through social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. This method allows customers to shop while scrolling through their favorite social media platforms. As we know, in this digital age, customers from various generations are using social media platforms. Hence it is one of the most innovative ways to sell your products through social media by associating with this new business method. This specific business model has pushed social media beyond its actual role. According to a survey, this method is also helpful for various brands and individual sellers. Within the next two years, it has been predicted that this business model will grow faster than ever.

Startling Social Commerce Platform to Start Your Journey with

Regarding this selling process, it is essential to know about platforms that allow you to sell your products. Here, we have mentioned a few popular social media platforms where you can sell your products and fulfill the requirements of a number of customers.

Facebook

Undoubtedly, Facebook is the most recognizable social media platform worldwide. If we talk about the statistics from India, Facebook currently has 329.65 million active users. This platform has a tool with a shallow barrier for sellers to enter. You can set up a Facebook business profile to sell your products through this platform. At Facebook, you can automatically synchronize your entire inventory list with this platform in just a few seconds.

In case your eCommerce solution doesn’t provide Facebook integration, then, in that case, you can even upload your product information through a spreadsheet also. Selling your products through this specific business model also encourages organic product discovery and ultimately helps you increase your overall revenue. Once Facebook users find your products on this platform, they can even complete a purchase through the Facebook app itself. This platform is the most recommendable way to connect with your customers directly through messenger.

Instagram

As you know, Facebook is the parent company of Instagram, so Instagram shopping is directly linked with the Facebook shop. To set up your shop, you must link your Instagram business account to your Facebook business account. Once you get it done, you will be able to upload your existing product catalog on this platform, or you may create a new one also.

Instagram is all about #hashtags, and to sell your products successfully through this social media platform, and you need to add various relatable tags to your content. It can make your product discoverable for your customers. Apart from that, Instagram posting, creative reels, and videos will help you immensely in selling your products. This platform offers more opportunities for creative selling promotion because of its visual feature.

Pinterest

Pinterest is another social media platform that allows you to sell your products directly to your customers. However, like any other social media platform through Pinterest, you won’t be able to provide the complete shopping experience to your customers on this platform only. Product pins are not direct tools at Pinterest, so customers will redirect to your main eCommerce landing page to complete their purchase. To sell your products through this social platform, you need to add your product catalog to the Pinterest business page. According to a recent survey, more than 80 percent of Pinterest users are actively searching for some purchase inspiration. However, setting up your product page on this platform requires a little technical knowledge to pinpoint your products for your customers.

Three Key Benefits of This Specific Business Method

Connect with a Wider Customer Base

Acquiring brand loyalty is vital for any online business, as many are on the battleground. Ever since the pandemic has hit the world, a drastic change has been seen in customers’ shopping behavior. They have switched their brand preferences and are open to trying out new products and brands. In this continuation, you must be aware of the fact that more than fifty percent of customers are getting to know a new product or a brand through social media. Hence, it is highly recommended to start selling your products through S-commerce. Through these social media channels, you will be able to connect with a more substantial customer base because those who know about online shopping must have a social media presence. We have already given you several Facebook users in the above paragraphs that can help you to understand the value of social media platforms and their worth.

Escalate Reviews & Recommendations

If you are new to this selling zone, you need to know that social media profiles are the perfect place to establish your social proof. While online shopping, customers can not try out or test your products; reviews and feedback are the only factors they can rely on. Social media posts can attract thousands of customers into your funnel, giving them a chance to pen down their overall shopping experience with you. Believe it or not but one positive review can do wonders for your online business; it can increase your sales and add more customers to your journey. Humans have this in-built nature of passing recommendations to each other. Thus, it can eventually help you to get more customers.

Showcase Customers’ Shopping Behavior

This particular selling method provides you direct access to your customer’s social media profiles, and you can go through them to learn more about them. This practice can let you know your customer’s basic preferences and choices. Using these insights, you can offer them products as per their choice and increase your sales effortlessly. This method provides you the ability to impact your target customers on a larger scale.

Conclusion

Thus, you must have gained a broad idea about this alluring shopping method. But you must keep a few things in mind before you start selling your products through social media platforms; you need to know your target customers. Once you get to know them, start scheduling your promotional posts to catch their eyes. Last but not least, must reply to every review and query promptly. It provides a personalized shopping experience to customers and increases the chances of customer retention also. Social media has brought a revolution for online shopping and made it easier for sellers and customers to interact with each other. So what are you waiting for? It is time to adapt to this new business method.

New to Amazon Selling? Must know these terms

New to Amazon Selling? Must know these terms

The world of eCommerce has engaged every single corner of our lives. The buyers and sellers must stay informed and updated with the daily changes. Amazon, one of the most trusted and prominent online selling platforms, has sellers from every corner of the world. New sellers on the platform need to be very handy with the key terms.

The technical aspects of trading with Amazon can become chaotic for new sellers, and this is the sole reason you must be updated and informed about some critical trending terms and words.

Getting along with the trend

A flourishing business must have routine operations that boost up the business and help you aim the bull’s eye. The world is trading on e-commerce sites, sellers, and customers from different locations in the country.

Although, the trading which goes on these platforms has a whole different set of modes of operations. You can easily manage them with some eCommerce Software for Online Sellers like eVanik OWS, which provides a wide range of services for E-Sellers to manage their back office operations efficiently.

Critical terms for Newbies for Amazon trading

SPN (Service Provider Network)

Sellers often face issues selling their products on Amazon; they generally get stuck on the Amazon seller panel. Then the SPN comes into play; Amazon has several qualified third-party service providers willing to help you with your selling account. We know that a good business must have a well-settled operational system. It depends on the type of issue that a seller is facing on the platform.

You will get assistance and complete support from the SPN. Let’s say sellers may feel that the products need to look more vibrant and should be available in high-quality images in the display section to get more deals; you are free to take help from the SPN. Assistance is based on the type of issue that the seller is facing.

DSP (Demand Side Platform) 

Advertising is an integral part of marketing; The platform allows its sellers to use Amazon’s customer data to encounter different shoppers who are operating on this platform for advertisement. 

The advertisement part is not only restricted to Amazon; the video and display ads are also run on the various places owned by the platform. It enhances the product’s reach to the customers.

Prime TAG

 You must have come across the prime tag on some of the Amazon products. What is this, and what is the process of getting listed on Amazon Prime? We will help you crack it.

The prime tag allows you, as a seller, for maximum exposure on the platform; the delivery time is also reduced to only two days, attracting many customers. This eventually increases the sale.

This small tag has a great business; it is one of the most important reasons for increasing sales. Becoming a prime seller is easy; apply for it and get it. Then see your business flourish with unexpected results. 

Buy BOX 

We have come across the Amazon platform many times, many sellers are selling a single kind of product, but only one will get the buy box. It works straightforwardly, and whenever the buyer clicks on buy now or add to cart for any product, the customer will eventually buy the product from you only. 

This feature is given to you only after completing some of the main criteria set by Amazon. The selection process is also straightforward; there are some benchmarks on which it is given to a seller, like performance, service quality, order defect rates, and your duration of affiliation as a seller with Amazon.

FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon)

When amazon sellers outsource their shipping to Amazon itself, this service provides the advantages of customer service and returning of the order if the buyer returns for any reason.

The idea is to smoothen the seller’s work, as this FBA part shortens up all the delivery and customer handling processes on the seller’s behalf.

With this option, Amazon stores, packs, picks, ships, and delivers your product to the customer. The seller must contact the nearest fulfillment center, and then the rest is done by Amazon itself, which lessens the seller’s burden of the backend work incurred in delivering the product.

ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number)

Amazon has numerous operation ideas and ways; each one is there for different sorts of scenarios. ASIN is a vital part; it is used by Amazon, which helps them identify and track products on the platform from different sellers.

An Amazon exclusive feature gives reasonable customer satisfaction, and the seller stays updated through it. It is a 10-digit alphanumeric character code.

DS (Drop Shipping) 

Another important term that all the sellers should be aware of is DS which means drop shipping. In this method, products visible on the Amazon platform are not kept in-house.

Whenever the buyer orders any product, the store will purchase it from a third-party seller and deliver it to the concerned customer. This method evicts the warehouse part in which the product is stored. It gets purchased based on the orders.

SKU (Stock Keeping Unit)

 The Stock Keeping Unit, which retailers use to keep track of their inventory, is a unique number consisting of letters, brands, and numbers per the manufacturer or brand. Sellers generally confuse the bar code, and the SKU is entirely different. 

SKU is unique for a seller or a particular business. It is used in warehouses, retail stores, and catalogs. eCommerce Inventory Management is critical for sellers to keep their customers satisfied. 

IPI

It stands for the Inventory Performance Index, generally called IPI. It is done to calculate the effectiveness of a seller with the maintenance of the FBA inventory. Different factors affect the Inventory Performance Index Score. 

Popular products should always be very high in number in your stocks to maintain a reasonable customer satisfaction rate without getting out of stock; these things can sometimes get tricky when managed manually. Although, for a smooth operation, you can opt for eVanik for eCommerce Inventory Management.

Conclusion 

These terms will be used all day long with your trend going on with Amazon. A seller must be aware of the needs of the business according to the market in which they deal. It makes the business handier.

You cannot afford to lag in this highly competitive eCommerce world. Usage of the skills in the proper manner helps the business to flourish unexpectedly.

Understanding Marketplace Reconciliation for Online Sellers

Understanding Marketplace Reconciliation for Online Sellers

Understanding Marketplace

we at eVanik felt the need for complete guide on marketplace reconciliation for all E-commerce sellers. This article will make you understand all the stages where there is revenue leakage and what parameters you should keep in consideration for marketplace reconciliation

Let’s start with the general definition of “Reconciliation” or “Account Reconciliation”.

Account Reconciliation is the process of comparing internal financial records against monthly statements from external sources—such as a bank, credit card company, or a supplier/vendor/customer other financial institution—to make sure they tally with each other. 

In our discussion, the external source is an e-commerce marketplace such as Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, PayTM etc.

In every business, reconciliation of accounts is essential to maintain the financial health of the company, detect frauds, errors and discrepancies and ensure long term sustenance and profitability of the company. Using a software like eVanik OneWorld Suite to reconcile your marketplace business does most of the work for you and saves over 99% of time for you, but there is still that bit of human intuition and intelligence required to make the reconciliation process fool-proof.

Many e-commerce sellers are unable to complete the marketplace reconciliation process in a timely and accurate manner, which introduces risks, leakages and losses and eventually winding up of business. Sellers that adopt a more automated and continuous reconciliation approach benefit from a more controlled and preventive environment and reduced risk of misstatement.

To understand the marketplace reconciliation process in detail, we will first list down the basic steps involved in the reconciliation in a traditional business environment.

Understanding Marketplace 2

Now let’s expand the above by understanding the transactional complexities involved in marketplace business. Let us quick understand  the business process flow vs the reconciliation process / challenge involved.

Business ProcessParametersReconciliation Challenges
Buyer Order StatusMultiple stages like pending, approved, packed, ready, shipped, delivered, returnedDynamic statuses get updated regularly thereby making it impossible to track on downloaded spreadsheets
Marketplace Payment CycleOrders get cumulated for a time period and get collectively paidAggregated payment cycle involve deductions and reserve amount held up to cover future possible returns from customers
Commissions & Marketplace FeeMarketplaces deduct commission charges on all ordersCommissions vary basis category, event based seasonality, tier/level of seller, fulfilment model etc. Actual vs Applicable charges
ShippingShipping charges levied by marketplaces for delivering ordersShipping charges calculated basis weight type (dead weight vs volumetric), distance (Local, Zonal, National) and charged twice in case of customer returns
ReturnsOrders returned either by buyers or by shipping providers and ReplacementsReturn Status (Received or Not), Damaged or Sellable, courier or customer return
ClaimsMarketplaces reimburse some amount to sellers against loss or damage caused due to customer / courier or at the Marketplace WarehouseCheck claim eligibility, claimed on time (Claim Window), right amount claimed, claim reimbursement status, right amount reimbursed
CancellationsOrders can get cancelled by Buyer, Marketplace or Seller at any stage of the orderOrders which are not cancelled by the seller may attract a penalty which may need to be claimed back
Other ChargesMarketplaces levy other charges like Fixed Fee, Closing Fee, Packing Fee, Storage Fee and many more.Multiple heads of charges against every order level for thousands of orders across multiple marketplace channels, products and categories is virtually impossible to keep track of.
Payment SettlementMarketplaces pay after keeping themselves covered and deducting the applicable charges and holding a reserve amount.Bulk settlement invites reconciling every single order under various cost heads. Manually doing this will involve huge manpower bandwidth and costs and a very long time.
Inventory ReconciliationFulfilment models like FBA involve storing sellers inventory at the warehouses owned and operated directly by marketplaces.With no physical ownership and visibility of inventory at FBA type warehouses also involving fast and continuous movement of stocks, it is impossible to keep track of inventory count on a real-time basis. Some marketplaces move the stocks between multiple warehouses and provide a stock statement only once at the end of the month. Inventory also gets damaged, stranded or lost at these warehouses.
OthersOther challenges including non-order related costs like advertising fee, storage fee etcNon-order related fees are deducted from the eligible settlement value and a statement is provided at the end of the month.
AccountingSales, Returns, Commissions, Payments, Reserves, TCSAutomating accounting entries into the accounting software used by sellers, ensuring that the same is always matched with the reports provided by the marketplaces and being compliant on GST and other Government requirements.

E-commerce sellers business owners typically spend their maximum time trying to be on top of their reconciliations with marketplace channels. 

However, the results are mostly ambiguous and outdated because of the dynamic nature of e-commerce business. Complexities widen when sellers are doing business with multiple marketplaces and have expanded their operations to various branches across multiple locations.

Manual and spreadsheet reconciliations are good in a situation when orders are limited and sellers are operating in a single marketplace and a single location. When the multiplier effect steps in, manual efforts will not just increase costs and inefficiencies, it will also lead to frustration and loss of sale.

Marketplaces also impose penalties based on their policies and subsequent algorithms configured thereof. Some wrong penalties may get unnoticed and the seller could incur unwanted losses on the same.

Keeping the above in mind, it is absolutely essential that one should have a good payment reconciliation software which has established credibility, is time tested and approved by marketplaces themselves. All of these ingredients are available with eVanik OneWorld Suite, which is helping sellers reconcile and recover millions of dollars arising from reconciliation gaps and leakages.

Here’s what you can expect from a good marketplace reconciliation software.

  • Transactions related to orders, returns, commissions and payments always updated in your panel 24×7
  • Identify wrong charges
  • Provide alerts on claim window timelines
  • Provide reconciliation reports in the format which can be directly raised as tickets to the marketplaces
  • Keep track of your claims with marketplaces
  • Micro analyze gaps in every cost component like commission, shipping, pick and pack charges, fixed and closing fee, carrier damaged without reimbursement, replaced orders not reimbursed, customer refund claims and lots more
  • The system should incorporate the reconciliation reports in-line with the claim and reimbursement policies of the marketplaces
  • Provide profitability statistics at product level incorporating your purchase costs / COGS and GST / Tax rates giving you the true picture so that you can drill down if there are any gaps.
  • Estimated receivables vs actual received at order and product level.
  • Fully integrated and compliant with all popular accounting software like Tally ERP9, Zoho Books, Alignbooks, FCA Integral, Netsuite, SAP, Navision etc
  • Downloadable reports with summary of reports for CXO / Management view.      If you are looking for a robust, time-tested and proven marketplace reconciliation and integrated accounting solution for your e-commerce business, look no further. eVanik OneWorld Suite has helped over 12,000 e-commerce companies since 2006 to power-up their performance on marketplaces. To request assitance on Reconciliation Click here to read more.