Meet the company: Channelgrabber

We’ve recently had a couple of comments from readers asking for more information about some of the solutions available and useful input from some of the experts that built these solutions. Today Daniel from Channelgrabber talks about the problems he faced as a seller, how Channelgrabber was built to solve them and what you should consider when looking for a multi-channel management solution .

Introduction to Channelgrabber

Hi there, I am Daniel Williams, the Managing Director at Channelgrabber, I’ve been asked to introduce myself and Channelgrabber and the benefits of using a solution like ours.

I used to sell on Amazon and eBay myself and the aim of Channelgrabber is to make the process simpler and easier. Our aim is take away the mundane, daily routines so that you can concentrate on more productive task such as marketing, diversifying your company and making more sales. By automating basic tasks your time and efforts can be freed up to focus on growing your business.

When I sold on eBay and Amazon I got to the stage where I was selling enough to need a proper multi-channel solution, but not making enough profit to warrant a bespoke system or one of the other solutions on offer. There were three tasks essential to running my business that I desperately needed to automate – Inventory Management, Listing Management and Order Management.

We designed Channelgrabber to specifically meet these requirements, but as an automated self service system that online merchants could set up and run themselves at an affordable cost. The main issue faced for me was that I had to deal with every sales channel differently and often navigate the channel in a language I didn’t understand. Channelgrabber addresses this by making the process of dealing with inventory and orders the same no matter what channel you sell on which not only saves time, but also makes the process simple.

Essential tasks that can be automated with software

• Inventory Management
  • Have one “master” list of inventory items regardless of what channels you sell on – This allows you to easily manage all your products in 1 place
  • Have stock level that automatically updates all channels when you receive orders or manually change quantity – This means you can have all your products on every channel and yet never oversell an item or miss a sale
  • Store images on our server for use on all channels – No need for an image host or to have to upload images every time you create listings
  • Have your Amazon UK listings translated for free in to French or German or use your own translations – Don’t miss sales by using English listings in France and Germany
• Listing Management
  • See the status of all your listings together as well as sort by status – You can see any problems at a glance so that you don’t miss sales
  • Sort, filter and search by status – Find all listings with errors or where you need to make changes and fix them with ease
  • Relist your eBay listings either automatically or via 1 click activation – Never have an item not listed
• Order Management
  • Receive all your orders from all your channels in one place – You’ll never miss an order because you forgot to log into that marketplace to check
  • Dispatch all orders on all channels with the click of one button – Save time; one login, one click and all orders will be dispatched
  • Print out all invoices which are formatted for use with integrated labels – All invoices will be printed when orders are marked as dispatched
  • Find old orders and print invoices out as needed – Useful for customers requesting another invoice or for accounting
  • Create new customer files and orders for mail order/telephone orders – This allows you to create a record of customer details and past orders for marketing

  How to choose an ecommerce management tool

  When you choose a management tool for your business there are several considerations to take into account. The most important consideration should be identifying tasks in your business that could be automated. Look at the task that are the biggest drain on your time and then choose a solution which can automate them. Good management software should not only free up your time, but can also help you expand your business both in profitability on existing channels and the give you the ability to expand onto other marketplaces without negatively impacting your current business.

  The costs for management products vary, some solutions are priced on a monthly basis and others take a percentage of your sales (or possibly both). You also need to consider the time it will take to learn the software and how long it will take to implement the solution.

  Channelgrabber is aimed at low to medium volume sellers (Less than £100k revenue a year) and currently supports eBay, Amazon UK, Amazon France and Amazon Germany (although we’ll be adding more platforms in the future). There are two price plans – £50+VAT per month for the standard package with email technical support, or £200+VAT per month which gives you an account manager and priority technical support.

  If you have any questions please feel free to add them in comments below, or you can contact Channelgrabber directly and we’ll be happy to help.

  Daniel Williams
  Managing Director
  Channelgrabber.com

  customerservice@channelgrabber.com
  0161 209 3161