As expected in year 2016, online sellers were clear winners. The BlackFriday-Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday shopping carnival proved this. Those who had online presence benefited most as the paradigm shift towards E-commerce continued in the year 2016, and the year 2017 would be no different.
The bandwagon of e-commerce will only grow year-on-year from now on. The global online sales for 2016 are staggering $1.915 trillion (up 23.7% from last year), and are approximated at $4.058 trillion in 2020.
What is shaping E-Commerce Industry?
First factor is the acceptance by the masses. E-commerce as a concept has been not only been accepted but embraced. However scale depends on the number of people using it. As the days go by its acceptance is only increasing. Therefore the first factor for e-commerce – or, for any industry – is the acceptance of people.
Second major factor is retail coming online. In the year 2016, the revenue generated from e-commerce sales – $1.915 trillion – was only 8.7% of the total retail sales worldwide. Imagine what will happen when almost all of retail would be online although still a very long way to go.
Third is the amalgamation of several factors that range from increased familiarity with the concept to the customer friendly policies and services of e-commerce firms, and the incentive that both the customers and sellers get from the e-commerce.
How Small Sellers can SCALE-UP IN 2017?
For small sellers there are two ways to scale up – by selling on the popular marketplace or, by inviting other like-wise sellers to sell on their platform.
When it comes to selling on Marketplaces, Amazon and eBay are the clear winners. However, the companies helping online sellers ask too much which in some cases become difficult for small online sellers.
Hence affordable solutions that help small online sellers expand their outreach will be hot favorite in 2017.
Moreover, there are far too many options for small sellers to expand apart from Amazon and eBay. There is Jet.com, fastest rising marketplace famous for its basket based economy and then there is its acquirer and retail behemoth Walmart. Computer appliances and gadgets marketplace Newegg is another marketplace. And then there is Bonanza.
5 TOOLS TO EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS IN 2017.
1: JET INTEGRATION APP
From its inception, the Jet.com’s journey has been every entrepreneur’s dream. Within Four months of its inception, Jet.com became the 4th largest marketplace of U.S. Not only that its growth story has been phenomenal – 248 times growth than Amazon in their First year of operations and acquisition by Walmart in $3.3 billion dollars.
Famous for its offering lower prices, it is increasingly making inroads in the primary household. 400,000 new customers joining every month justifies its growth, and sellers too, are benefiting from this platform.
The Jet integration app lets you connect your online stores (Based on 13+ frameworks such as Magento, Shopify, Bigcommerce, Woocommerce etc.) with Jet.com, and helps list your products on Jet.com for sale. You can manage order, inventory, and shipment with this app.
2: WALMART INTEGRATION APP:
The biggest retailer in the U.S. is also desperately investing in its e-commerce infrastructure. Acquisition of Jet.com is one step toward making its e-commerce presence authoritative. Third party sellers too are an integral part of Walmart’s e-commerce arm expansion.
Here Walmart Integration app comes to the fore. Similar to Jet Integration extension, Walmart extension enables 3rd party sellers to connect their online stores with Walmart. With this app, you can easily list your products on Walmart, receive orders and manage shipment.
3: NEWEGG INTEGRATION EXTENSION
Newegg is the leading computer appliances, gaming and accessories marketplace of the U.S. Also, it is hugely popular as it claims to charge the lowest commission from the sellers.
Like the Walmart Integration extension and Jet Integration extension, Newegg extension facilitates small sellers to list and upload products on Newegg, import and manage inventory and shipment from their WooCommerce stores.
4: BONANZA MAGENTO INTEGRATION
Bonanza – “Everything but the ordinary” – is among top-rated, niche marketplaces for Men and Women Clothing, also involving hard-to-find products including collectibles, artwork, crafts, fashion, vintage and more.
All the online sellers using Magento stores to offer their products can use this Integration extension to offer their stores products at Bonanza marketplace.
Aforementioned are the tools that help online sellers extend their e-commerce stores. Sellers can install these extensions and can increase the visibility of their products. They can benefit from the high traffic on these websites and expand their outreach, and maximize the sales.
And now comes the tool that lets likewise sellers sell on the same platform – Magento Multi Vendor Marketplace.
5: MAGENTO MULTI VENDOR MARKETPLACE:
Developed for both Magento 1 & 2, upon installation this extension enables users to convert their existing Magento stores into a marketplace platform where other people can also sell. And more importantly, it can be customized to meet the best interests of your business.
If expanding your shop to include others like you sell on your online store is your wish in 2017, then Magento Multi-vendor marketplace is the best solution for you. It’s the most effective and efficient extension, for its pricing, out there for small business owners.
Now that you have the list of the most effective extensions that can increase your sales for the year 2017, better install the app and start your new year on the upswing.
Thanks for your interest!
Team CedCommerce