Responses:

Sue Bailey says

2:24 pm on 19/02/2008

Hosted on YouTube again though, tut tut

Store Your Stuff aka Jade says

5:38 pm on 19/02/2008

James could have done with a shave, looks unprofessional, sorry I know that goes against the grain in a cool media environment, but it looks sloppy

Mark Classic says

5:43 pm on 19/02/2008

Question:

If I have one item listed on Amazon and Ebay, will ChannelAdvisor being able to manage the inventory when it sells?

How much do they want for this privelige, if indeed it does this?

Is it difficult to list my type of item on Amazon (Antiques)?

Thanks folks

James Scott says

6:06 pm on 19/02/2008

Hi Jade!

Thanks for you honest comments! Do you realise how much stick I’m now going to get from my colleagues….??

Hopefully, stubble aside, you found the content useful.

Next Month’s Edition is sponsored by Gillette

Store Your Stuff aka Jade says

6:31 pm on 20/02/2008

Hi James, sorry if I came across a bit “old school”, I’m 35 now perhaps I’m slowly assimilating my old man’s values, having spent most of my life arguing against them

The video is actually very slick and despite your stubble has a polished feel about it . But I’d like more nitty gritty, just exactly how is Channel Advisor going to help me? What difference have existing business benefited from paying for your services. What exactly does “MarketplaceAdvisor” mean.

Chris Dawson says

6:40 pm on 20/02/2008

Hey Jade now you’re asking….

I have to say one of the things I like best about ChannelAdvisor is that they never try to sell their services but wait for you to approach them. They’re more than happy to give advice and run some excellent events such as the upcoming ChannelAdvisor Catalyst without actually trying to push their products down your throat. To find out how they can help you is easy though… pick up the phone and give em a call on 0800 345 7504

However if one of the ChannelAdvisor guys would like to break with tradition and post a quick breakdown of how they can assist sellers expand their online businesses please feel free to post it here

James Scott says

8:16 pm on 20/02/2008

Thanks, Chris, for the kind words. Yes, our philosophy has always been to let people come to us when they’re ready for our products and services, rather than actively chase people who we think would be a good fit. It sounds like a cliche, but it has stood us in good stead over the years and I don’t envisage it changing anytime soon. It’s kind of nice too, right, because we can have these sorts of conversations without you feeling like we’re only interested in your money?

Jade – the basic premise is this. We develop technology to help online retailers get their products in front of buyers wherever those buyers happen to be shopping online – whether it be on marketplaces such as eBay and Amazon, comparison shopping engines (think Shopping.com, Kelkoo, etc.) or search engines (Google, Yahoo & MSN). And we do this in a very efficient way which enables our retailers to reach many more potential customers online with minimal extra investment in time or resource – as well as then track which of these ‘channels’ delivers the best return on investment for every £ of marketing spend, right down to a product-by-product analysis.

In my experience, it seems that online retailers instinctively ‘know’ when their business is ready for our technology and come to us to find out more. In the meantime, we like to provide education that opens everyone’s eyes to the massive opportunity that’s out there and often still only partially tapped by even the most experienced of online brands.

As for the nitty gritty – we’d be happy to get into that with you when you feel the time is right and take time to learn more about your business goals and challenges. We find that every merchant we speak to has different ones and therefore we tailor our discussions to address those that are most relevant. You know, it’s a bit like Microsoft Excel – you can get a lot of benefits from the software but only be using 10% of the available functionality. Our challenge is to work out which 10% of our software is most relevant to you and delve into that part in more detail. That’s why we don’t go into a detailed sales-type pitch on public forums where everybody is looking for something different. Make sense?

Mark – to that point, we’d be happy to show you what is possible if you want to give us a call and spend 10 mins on the phone. We can do some of what you need but not all of it – however I have actually have heard of some good successes with antiques on Amazon in the US, although first instinct usually suggests otherwise. Ask for me when you call and I’ll do my best to help you.

Thanks for all the good questions – keep them coming and hope to see some of you at Catalyst in April!

James.

Store Your Stuff aka Jade says

9:02 pm on 20/02/2008

super response!

I can hardly wait for the day when I will instinctively know that I need your services, I imagine it is just before/during the time that one’s own systems start to creak and groan under the strain of a rising tide of orders and a burgeoning inventory!

Thanks for taking the time to post an informative and considered approach, I look forward to speaking to you guys soon!

Mark Classic says

10:08 am on 21/02/2008

I will take you up on that offer over the next few days James, thank you

Mark