Thank you Scot
April 23, 2008
A couple of weeks ago we put out a plea for a US supplier who could obtain a couple of Flip Video cameras for Sue and myself. Evan of PeSA offered to help out but in the end Scot Wingo of ChannelAdvisor made things easy and offered to bring a couple over with him to the Catalyst conference this week.
Having got the cameras it only seemed fitting that the very first film should be of Scot, so here he is talking from Catalyst at Vinopolis:
Video is becoming increasingly important as a differentiator on eBay and the web in general so it was no surprise that vzaar were one of the Catalyst sponsors. They told us “vzaar had great fun at Catalyst connecting with PowerSellers and demonstrating to them how beneficial video can be for eBay listings. We were particularly pleased to partner with Monday’s presenters Red Letter Days who have just started to include experience videos on eBay in association with Channel Advisor”
We’ll be making good use of the Flip cameras so look out for more video on TameBay in the future. A huge “Thank you” to Scot from Sue and myself for bringing the cameras over for us!
Now if someone can start importing the Flip cameras there’s a ready made market for them… I could have sold mine about ten times the first evening (and yes Nick, I’ll try to remember to get you one when we’re in the US for eBay Live!)
An American road tests the Skypephone
April 23, 2008
Billy Purser of ChannelAdvisor was absolutely amazed at my 3 Skypephone when I showed it to him at the Catalyst US conference. It appears that there is nothing like it in the US, and in fact my distinct impression is that Skype usage is not nearly as prevalent on the other side of the Atlantic as it is in Europe.
Knowing he was due to visit London, I promised to buy him a Skypephone to use at Catalyst UK this week. Billy loved the idea of being able to keep in touch with his family, and more importantly for his kids to be able to phone him whenever they liked.
He explained that Christian (aged 9) and Sully (aged 6) had really missed their mom when she visited the EU. While she was in London and Italy there was no way for them to easily keep in touch. For this trip Billy explained to Christian and Sully, before he left, that they’d be able to call him on Skype whenever they liked.
His kids have been really excited and have called Billy two or three times every day, as they’ve been off school. Having them gathered around the home PC on speaker phone has enabled the whole family to chat at the same time. The best part of all, is that calls to Billy didn’t have to be pre-arranged and of course were free.
With calls for eBay to sell Skype, investors would do well to look at Skype outside the US. 209 million users can’t all be wrong, Skype is making good money, and the applications and potential for growth is immense. Tools like the Skypephone whilst great for keeping in touch with family are even more powerful when used for business, such as for buyers to contact sellers instantly from eBay listings or websites.
Skype is continually innovating and generating new tools and interfaces to communicate, the Skypephone is just one of them. eBay would be mad to dispose of the fastest growing communications company in the world, it’s an asset they could never replace.
PayPal buyer protection to increase
April 22, 2008
Carl-Olav Scheible of PayPal had some interesting comments regarding buyer protection, at Catalyst today.
When asked if PayPal in the UK would be increasing buyer protection cover upwards from the current £500 maximum he explained that the level of protection doesn’t influence buyers more buyers to use PayPal. Generally if a buyer is wary of spending online it doesn’t appear to make a difference if all or just part of their purchase is protected.
However the long term aim is to increase covereage, the first step will be to bring the £150 level up to match the £500 coverage, and from then on to increase the total coverage level which is expected to be between £2,000 and £10,000. We should see this in six - twelve months time.
Get people away from your site as fast as possible
April 22, 2008
Robert Swerling, Head of Commerce Partnerships at Google gave an outstanding presentation at Catalyst this morning with four principles of successful online retailing.
1) Velocity
Give customers what they want as quickly as possibly. Customers don’t want to be impressed with a complex site, they just want to come, buy and go. 31% of abandoned shopping carts occur when buyers are forced to register with a site and 27% because the checkout process is too long.
2) Visibility
Don’t surprise customers on your website, 36% of abandoned shopping carts are due to hidden charges such as shipping or VAT. Keep all the information a customer needs to make a buying decision easily available.
3) Provide Value
Value isn’t just the price products are offered at, but includes customer reviews, discounts and free shipping. Equally don’t add features that don’t add value for customers.
4) Variation
Always continue to optimise your website - both the design and promotions. Offline retail outlets constantly rotate stock and offer discounts, you should be doing the same with your website.
Google summed up the presentation with the principle of their own website - “Build a business by getting people away from your website as quickly as possible”. If a buyer visits your site to buy a product make sure that there are no barriers between them landing on your site from a search engine, adding the product to the shopping cart, checking out and paying. Some may want to browse, but many buyers simply want to complete the purchase and your aim should be to make this as easy and fast as possible.
Newsflash: eBay moving to free insertion fees
April 21, 2008
In a workshop at ChannelAdvisor Catalyst, Jody Ford from eBay has just announced that they are heading towards FREE insertion fees.
They are working to offer great economics linked to sellers success and are working to reduce insertion fees. Having already reduced them in January this year they are looking towards a pricing structure which would include free insertion fees to enable sellers to list all of their inventory on the site.
There are no timescales, but free insertion fees are definately on the agenda for some products / catagories / listing formats.
Catalyst and Thames cruise sold out
April 17, 2008
The Catalyst conference taking place at Vinopolis in London next week is fully booked and registrations have closed.
Bookings this year are up 100% compared to last year, which may be in part due to no eBay Universities being scheduled for 2008. If you want to attend an eBay related event this year (without travelling to eBay Live! in Chicago) there are a few unannounced events we know will take place. ChannelAdvisor will be running their Insite and Academy events and The Conference People are expected to announce an event for eBayers to take place in September.
If you were still debating whether to book for Catalyst your only chance to attend will be to email UKteam@channeladvisor.com to go on the standby list and you’ll be contacted if a place becomes available.
Discount code for Catalyst conference
April 9, 2008
For anyone still undecided whether to attend the Catalyst conference taking place on 21st - 22nd April there’s an incentive to make the booking. We’ve gotten wind of a discount code valid for bookings up until 11th April lowering the cost to £149.00.
When booking simply enter the code “VIP” into the discount box when checking out to activate the £30 per person saving.
For anyone who is attending and looking for “affordable” accomodation in London the best I’ve been able to locate are the easyhotels (Mind you, the rooms are tiny and they charge extra if you want a TV remote, but the prices are amazing for central London!)
Facebook to add e-commerce module
April 3, 2008
Ben Ling, Director of Platform Product Marketing at Facebook, today shared the roadmap of how e-commerce will be enabled on the site.
Currently there are two ways to advertise products, but that’s all about to change with the launch of a new application enabling real e-commerce. Facebook already have the Gifts application, which allows users to send personalized messages with icons to their Facebook friends.
The cost to send a virtual gift (in reality an electronic item of no tangible value) is $1.00. Facebook plan a similar application where real products can be purchased.
They already have a credit card facility to collect payments, but will be implementing a new payment processor when the application goes live.
There are no indications on which payment processor will be used, options could include PayPal, Microsoft, Google Checkout and Amazon, two of which already have ties with Facebook. Previously Ben Ling was a product management director for Google and oversaw the launch of Google Checkout. Microsoft are a significant investor in the Facebook platform.
With the active Facebook developer network it is likely that once the first application is enabled many more will rapidly follow.
eBay to rebalance fees again
April 2, 2008
Stephanie Tilenius arrived at ChannelAdvisor Catalyst, wearing shoes she purchased on eBay, to emphasise that she’s committed to the site, both as a user and as the new General Manager of eBay North America.
She told the Catalyst conference to expect to see bold change and faster change in the future. Pricing, seller standards, incentives and feedback are only the start but are already driving sellers to raise their game in the race to get products to the top of Best Match search results.
Pricing will be rebalanced again and eBay.com are to introduce category specific pricing across the site. Stephanie said that by this time next year eBay.com will be unrecognisable in comparison to today.
eBay.com are behind eBay UK on pricing, the UK were first to introduce specific pricing for media and technology categories. In the future pricing will be much more sensitive to the different markets, and the expectation is that insertion fees will drop further with emphasis on aligning eBay’s success will seller’s success.
ChannelAdvisor: Strategic Alliance with Buy.com
April 2, 2008
ChannelAdvisor announced today a strategic alliance with Buy.com and will become the first channel management solution to offer an integrated solution for merchants to list stock on the platform.
Buy.com are a fixed price marketplace similar to Amazon, majoring on consumer electronics, jewellery and home & garden products. They have a marketplace product where you can checkout on site, as well as offers through a comparison shopping engine where merchants can pay for visibility on the site.
Neel Grover, CEO of Buy.com said “ChannelAdvisor clearly understands the rapidly evolving needs of today’s online retailers and this shows in the retail-focused solutions they have developed”.
According to Scot Wingo “By integrating Buy.com into our platform, ChannelAdvisor continues to provide online retailers the solutions they need to become mutli-faceted and innovative retailers”. The integration is expected to be completed by summer 2008 and ChannelAdvisor will waive all fees associated with selling on Buy.com for a promotional period which is sure to be welcomed by sellers.
The $, the £ and eBay
April 2, 2008
Speaking to ecommerce merchants at Catalyst in the US this week, one common theme has been how they can maximise on the weak dollar. For most sellers this has been to expand their US operations to Europe but with one exception - Patrick Sherlock of Luzern Solutions is from the UK and he’s bucking the trend intending to expand from Europe and break into the US marketplace.
Luzern already have clients with products in the US so this will minimise the impact of the $/£ exchange rate. Luzern intent to leverage exisiting relationships to ease their way into transatlantic trade.
When asked why Patrick is attending Catalyst he said “I just think it’s a great source of information” and recommends other sellers to consider Catalyst UK which takes place on June 21st - 22nd. Explaining that the conference is not a hard sell he said that “They [ChannelAdvisor] don’t try to sell their products, I always like that”. Catalyst is simply, in his opinion, the best opportunity to network with top ecommerce merchants and to gain an insight into the roadmap for online selling in the future.
eBay MD to meet sellers at CA Catalyst
March 14, 2008
ChannelAdvisor are poised to announce a major coup on Monday, they’ve secured new eBay UK MD, Mark Lewis, as a keynote speaker for the Catalyst conference taking place in London this April. eBay joins Google, Frooition, Vzaar and Royal Mail as sponsors of the conference.
Mark Lewis took over as UK MD in January this year, having joined eBay in 2004. This will be the first opportunity eBay users will have to be able to meet him face to face.
It’s expected that after the keynote speech, Mark will stay for an open Q&A session as well as participating in workshops and panel discussions throughout the two day conference. These sessions are liable to be lively as the changes to feedback and search roll out across the site and sellers begin to discover how they’re affected.
The long awaited 30 day DSR console is due to be released at the end of March, just weeks before the conference takes place and Mark will be participating in a DSR workshop at the conference.
Look for more news on the Catalyst website after the weekend and make sure you’ve booked a place. With no eBay Universities this year it will be one of the few opportunities to meet eBay employees in 2008. If you’ve ever wanted to quiz to eBay’s top management this is the event to attend.
Catalyst now has a confirmed attendee
March 12, 2008
Tank Stikman, the face of ChannelAdvisor has been quiet since making his first appearance back in December, but he’s now the first confirmed attendee at the Catalyst US conference.
It’s a great advert for Pinehurst, the resort hotel where the conference will take place on the 1st - 3rd April. Between bouncing on the bed, a game of golf, a massage and beauty treatments I don’t know how the attendees will get time to attend the conference sessions.
If you’re going to Catalyst in the US (or in the UK) look out for Tank, if you spot him let us know 
Time to book for ChannelAdvisor Catalyst
February 28, 2008
There’s been quite a lot of interest in ChannelAdvisor and Amazon lately, and for those that are serious about finding out more tomorrow (Friday 29th) is the last day for booking for ChannelAdvisor Catalyst at the discounted price of £129.00. From then on the price rises to £179.00
Not only will Amazon and Play.com be represented, but it’s been revealed that Bill Alexander, Managing Director of Red Letter Days will be their to talk about building a brand for your business. It promises to be a fantastic event with the opportunity to talk to the speakers in person at the Dinner Cruise on the Thames which is included in the booking fee.
Sue and I both intend to attend Catalyst in the UK so let us know if you’re going, it would be great to meet you. I’ll also be in Pinehurst NC for Catalyst US and look forward to meeting some of our US readers. Both the UK and US events are looking to be superb!
ChannelAdvisor Catalyst news and booking
January 16, 2008
Over the last year eBay has ceased to be the only marketplace where sellers are having major wins. Amazon is increasingly important for many sellers and they’ll be presenting at Catalyst. Media sellers should make this a must attend event, Play.com are also on the speaking agenda. (For anyone that doesn’t already know Play.com have opened up their platform for third party sellers.) If you’re selling media this is your opportunity to meet the senior managers from Play.
Talking of meeting, one of the most beneficial aspects of Catayst has always been the chance to network and this year is no exception. On the evening of the 21st ChannelAdvisor are hosting a Thames Dinner Cruise for all conference attendees. If you want to mix with Amazon, Play.com, Google, PayPal, Scot Wingo, CEO of ChannelAdvisor and of course other attendees and the ChannelAdvisor team this is the one time in 2008 that they’ll all be available.
If you’re serious about growing your business on eBay, on other marketplaces and your own website this is the best £79.00 you’ll invest in 2008. If you’re wondering if this is the right conference for you, or if your business is big enough to benefit, the answer is a resounding “Yes”. The conference is to bring online sellers together with senior management from the Marketplace and Payments businesses we trade on. If you thought eBay University was good you’ll love Catalyst!
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