6 Signs You Really Need Multichannel Management Software

There is a lot of talk today about Multichannel Management Software and how it can help businesses to develop and grow but realistically not all businesses are ready for it just yet. Our users frequently ask us, “How do I know if I need Multichannel Management Software yet?”. Here is a list of the things we look for in a business before recommending it is the right route for you.

You are likely to need Multichannel Management software if:

Sign 1: You are selling products through 2 or more channels, perhaps including your own website. Or want to.

The benefits of small business Multichannel Management Software become overwhelming somewhere around the point where you have two established sales channel(s).  For most small businesses, this is normally one marketplace coupled with your own website, or two marketplace accounts (perhaps with the same marketplace). At this point businesses are generally starting to get big enough to really feel the administrative pain of multichannel selling and have the revenues needed to justify using a multichannel tool.

If you only have one account so far, multichannel management tools can be very useful in helping you implement additional sales channel(s) quickly.  Perhaps you are selling your products on your website and want to open a marketplace store, or are successfully selling on Amazon or eBay and have decided it is time to start your own website? If so, Multichannel Management Software could help you to quickly take all your product listings from one platform and transfer them into products and listings on your new platform. (see blog post – increase sales by selling multichannel)

Sign 2: You are juggling stock between platforms and/or are paranoid you will have stock shortages

You only have one #mn345 left. Which channel do you list it on?

How will you handle the stock issue if your remaining 3 Medium Tshirts sell on both your platforms?

If questions like this are concerning you on a regular basis and are causing you to deliver late or even worse, cancel orders, then this is a strong indicator that you need Multichannel Management Software and it would make your life a lot easier. Multichannel Management Software gives you peace of mind, knowing that you won’t miss a sale and at the same time won’t suffer stock outages.

Sign 3: It feels like a daily struggle to keep track of order activities

If you find yourself constantly flicking between logins and platform login screens, this is a sure sign that you would benefit from using a tool that centralises all your activities for you and presents a single environment from where you can administer all your listings, products, orders and shipping activities.

Sign 4: Order fulfilment worries you or you struggle to fulfill all your orders on time

If through no fault of your own you are finding it hard to fulfull your orders on time, due to the sheer volume of tasks you have to complete you may well need Multichannel Management Software. It will help you to view all your orders from a single location and process them rapidly. You can see what is due and when, and organise your workload accordingly. Multichannel Software can also help you to make sure you don’t miss fulfilling an order on one of your less used channels.

Sign 5: You are struggling to keep your online catalogues and listings up-to-date across your channels

Your product catalogue has grown and it is a nightmare keeping it up-to-date across all channels. You want to make changes to 5 variant items on each of your 3 channels, that is 15 changes you need to make when potentially 1 would do. This is a key indicator that you need Multichannel Management Software. It will allow you to make central changes to your products and push those changes to all your sales channel(s), saving heaps of time.

Sign 6: You are drowning under admin tasks

If your list of administrative tasks is continually growing without an end in sight, it is another sign that multichannel management software could help you out of a hole.  Sometimes it isn’t any one specific individual task, like updating your product data, or managing your listings, that is taking a huge amount of time, it is more that when added together all the inefficiencies you are suffering are adding up.

Multichannel tools reduce the amount of time it takes to do most of your administrative Listings, Order management and Shipping tasks and the small reductions in time spent on each can soon add up.

If you want to know more about how multichannel management software can help your business, feel free to get in touch. We are always happy to talk through your individual business needs – no matter what the size of your business.

Good luck!

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About Expandly

Expandly is multichannel management software that is all about saving you time and effort.

From the moment you login in the morning to the moment you ship your orders, Expandly aims to reduce your workload. It is simple, easy to use and focussed on helping small eCommerce businesses go from home-office or unit to warehouse and beyond.

Find out more about Expandly Multichannel Management software