$20m funding and business as usual at ChannelAdvisor
September 4, 2008
There have been rumours flying around the industry regarding ChannelAdvisor and today I spoke to CEO Scot Wingo for the full story.
Over the last two years ChannelAdvisor have made several acquisitions (Marketworks, RichFX). The International offices have been run as separate entities but will now be integrated into the main corporate structure. The restructure will affect about 20% of employees worldwide.
International expansion is key to ChannelAdvisor’s success. Scot spoke of the importance of the UK saying “The UK is one of fastest growing markets and we will continue to invest there.” There will be training investment in the global sales team to enable them to provide new applications such as RichFX media offerings in the near future.
For customers the restructure is good news, there will be a new product release in September along with incremental changes and support for the new 30 day eBay listings. A new ChannelAdvisor Complete console will allow sellers to manage all their multiple applications, from eBay sales to Google Adwords, from one user interface.
ChannelAdvisor have just received $20m in what’s expected to be their last round of investment needed to break even. As a Software-as-a-Service company their income is reliant on growing their user base and today they report revenues are up 55% year on year so the business is in good shape for the future. ChannelAdvisor have focused on growing revenues but will now look to streamline operations and cut expenses as they push towards profitability.
iPhone hysteria
July 12, 2008
What is it about the new 3G iPhone that makes it so desirable? Scot Wingo was up a 4am in the morning to be 11th in line for his. David Suen was first in the queue at the Apple store in Regent Street, London but he didn’t queue. Suen won an auction on eBay for the bargain price of just £41.00 and the seller had the job of standing in line for eighteen hours to reserve his spot.
Of course it’s a great phone, not least because of the new Apple App store which enables you to download tools for everything from games, business, news, sports, health, reference, and travel. Top iPhone downloads for TameBay readers should of course be the eBay and PayPal apps.
It’s not been plain sailing for those clutching their new iPhones though, when they tried to activate them there was a meltdown with O2 and Apple’s servers unable to handle the traffic. In stores across the country people waiting up to two hours to try and get their new iPhones activated and many were sent home to activate the handsets from their own PCs only able to make emergency calls in the mean time.
I’m tempted by the new iPhone, but not enough to buy one. I’ll wait until I can at least get an iPhone on Vodafone with my existing telephone number and wait for the price to drop. After all, do I really need a phone that can do more than make calls?
How to open a UPI without getting bad feedback
June 29, 2008
As a method for improving your DSRs Scot Wingo recently posted not filing unpaid item disputes (UPI) as tip for improving your DSRs.
Whilst this has certain merits and has been met with approval I’d argue against it on the grounds that bad buyers will never be sanctioned, UPI strikes are the one sure way to get persistant non-payers kicked off eBay. What I would strongly suggest is following some best practices when opening a UPI.
- As soon as you open a UPI add a message
The wording from eBay is unfortunate to say the least - no one likes being involved in a “Dispute” so the email a buyer receives automatically isn’t the friendliest. By adding a friendly message along the lines of “Hi, we don’t appear to have received your payment, please could you let us know if you’ve already paid and how payment was sent” it takes the sting out of the “dispute” and sends a more friendly worded email. It also indicates to the buyer you’re a good guy and not assuming they are at fault, after all their cheque may genuinely be lost in the post. - If the buyer doesn’t respond close the UPI
Don’t leave open UPIs longer than you have to - if they buyer doesn’t respond close the UPI as soon as the seven days are up. A closed UPI with no response from the buyer removes their ability to leave any feedback whatsoever. - Respond to messages promptly
Check your UPI console at least three times a week if not daily while you have open disputes. The quicker you respond to a buyers reply the more likely they are to pay, or if not that you can close off the dispute. - Avoid antagonistic language
Keep your communications calm and friendly, either you have a customer who has genuinely forgotten to pay or one who has changed their mind and simply doesn’t want to pay. In the former they probably only need a gentle reminder and in the later an argument won’t get you paid but may get you poor feedback. - Telephone your buyer
Typed words can be easily misconstrued - don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call your buyer. A friendly phone call often solves more problems than it calls and again gives you the opportunity to explain you consider it a non-feedback transaction - If the buyer wants to back out of the transaction let them
Offer them a mutual withdrawal from the transaction without giving them a strike. Remember in the UK under the Distance Selling Regulations if they do pay they still have the right to return the purchase anyway - you’re simply saving the postage cost. - Tell them you won’t be leaving feedback
There is absolutely nothing wrong with telling the buyer you consider it a non-transaction and won’t be leaving feedback. It’s also an indication to them that you don’t expect them to leave you feedback either and in my experience most don’t - Highlight why they haven’t paid
Make sure you highlight why the customer hasn’t paid and get them to repeat it in the UPI. Don’t forget, unless they specifically call out a shortcoming on your part, eBay have undertaken to remove any non-positive from non-paying bidders.
We’ll all get a bidder that doesn’t pay for their purchase sooner or later. Knowing how to handle a non-paying bidder should be one of the tools in your selling arsenal.
The most important tip of all is to remain calm and dispassionate when dealing with non-paying bidders, as soon as you get emotional or adversarial so will your buyer. Act as if you work for a large corporation and credit control is simply your job, the UPI console is the most important place on eBay to remember “The customer may not always be right but they are never wrong”.
If you’ve got some more tips on how to handle UPIs let us know in comments below.
Scot Wingo’s inside info from eBay Live!
June 25, 2008
In todays webinar the first thing that Scot Wingo and Max Leisten emphasised was that eBay have had to take action to stem the flow of buyers quitting eBay. Pretty much for every new buyer they attracted another would leave if not more. That’s why eBay have taken such radical steps such as no neg/neut feedback for buyers and higher seller standards.
The new eBay management have also seen that buyers like fixed price listings and have embraced them rather than concentrate on auctions.
eBay policy
There were some warnings against breaking policies which appear to be more rigorously enforced than before. This includes search manipulation where they have seen sellers suspended for gaming best match or DSR farming by rotating listings between multiple User IDs.
There is no longer a 15 item limit on identical listings, but it’s suspected eBay can scan items across user ids so simply changing the title or listing identical products on multiple ids is not recommended and could be viewed as search manipulation. However this could work to the advantage of smaller sellers who may gain greater visibility when competing with the larger sellers in their category.
The links policy will be enforced more rigorously than before and the recommendation is to remove all links. As eBay are about to route all communications through My Messages it’s recommended as you remove web links that you consider removing both email and telephone numbers to save future changes (It’s safe to insert them in the Business Seller Information, Returns Policy or Payment Instructions sections as they can be edited in bulk). At the same time sellers using active content (Flash, Javascript etc) consider back up plans as eBay have stated they will move from a banned list to an approved list for code in auction. This may block certain gallery type applications in the future.
Sellers should also ensure that shipping is included in the eBay postage information section. Not only will this be essential to appear in search, but it’s possible acceptable shipping bands may be introduced at some point in the future.
Listing strategy
On listing stategies Max and Scot recommend trying International Listing upgrade on your top selling international items. This may be expanded to include more countries in the future and appears to be working for many sellers.
What were they thinking?
In the “What were they thinking” category Scot highlighted the number of coupons, rebate and Microsoft Live search cashback and that you can use multiple discounts for the same purchase. Perversely none of the coupons are compatible with third party checkouts like ChannelAdvisor causing unhappy customers, although in the future it’s likely third party checkout will be phased out.
The 3rd party checkout redirect is already closed to new applications, but is likely to be discontinued by mid 2009. Although personally I dislike 3rd party checkouts they can have positive benefits for example offering an automatic merchant card facility which can’t currently be handled by eBay checkout.
The choice policy is being discontinued, but there is currently no corresponding way for sellers to list showing what colours/sizes are available, or for buyers to checkout indicating what choice they would like. Sellers will have to manually enter choice information into listings and rely on email communications for buyers to state their chosen options.
Top messages eBay need to hear
If you use a 3rd party checkout email your account manager and tell them why it’s important to you and which functions are essential to your business.
Ask your account manager why 3rd party checkouts can’t handle coupons when eBay are sending out millions of them.
Honest sellers want to see which of their buyers left less than a 5 star DSR, so that they can improve. Inability to see where they could improve is hampering their ability to give customers better service.
eBay need to evaluate messaging on DSRs to buyers to indicate that 4/5 is a failure.
Consider removing neutral feedback altogether - make it postive or negative. Today 100% are counted as negative but Scot believes at least 10% would convert to postives if the neutral option wasn’t available.
Advice for sellers
Be nimble - There will be more changes before the Christmas selling season so be wary when investing in stock.
Be prepared for more large sellers such as Buy.com to come to eBay and consider what would happen if a major competitor arrived in your category.
Continue to experiment with Best Match and use the BayEstimate tool.
My takeaway from this webinar is that, more than ever before, sticking closely to the eBay way of doing things is essential for sellers. 3rd Party Checkout, shipping or returns information in listing text rather than the eBay specified areas and failure to use item specifics are all problematic, either from useability or simply because it will get you lowered in search visibility.
Understanding more 2008 eBay changes
June 12, 2008
Scot Wingo is one of the people I always look to for thoughts and predictions on how ebay will be shaped in the future. He was the first to analyse the DSRs and put together a 10 point action plan for sellers to improve ratings from buyers.
Scot is now hosting a webinar on June 25th to cover:
- International Seller Visibility listing upgrade
- PayPal Extended Seller Protection
- Payment method restrictions
- eBay’s required shipping policy
- Scot’s take on eBay for the second half of 2008
Doubtless the webinar will include the latest gleaned from ebay Live!, and it’s an event well worth putting in your diary. With Best Match listing algorithm, Detailed Seller Ratings, new PowerSeller requirements, new listing fees and the Seller Dashboard 2008 has already seen more changes than ever before.
Keeping current with eBay changes is no longer simply keeps you competitive, it’s key to long term survival on the site.
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!)
John Donahoe and the eBay circus
April 2, 2008
Talking at the Catalyst conference at Pinehurst Scot Wingo today revealed his thoughts on how eBay will change under JD. When asked how eBay would change from a buyer and sellers viewpoint under JD, specifically in comparison to Meg Whitman and Bill Cobb, Wingo explained that the site is likely to become more business orientated.
Speaking of eBay Live!, due to take place in Chicago this June, Wingo likened JD to taking the “CEO of a fortune 100 company and seeing him run a circus”. Mentioning a square peg and a round hole he said one of JD’s challenges will be engaging with eBay buyers and sellers - something that Meg Whitman and Bill Cobb have excelled at.
Whilst Meg and Bill are exceptional and talented business people, they have always connected with the eBay community and appeared to enjoy contact with eBay buyers and sellers. This is something which to date JD has appeared uneasy with; eBay Live! in Chicago will be his first opportunity to set the tone for the eBay of the future.
