Christmas is fast approaching, and many retailers are already on the countdown to final product assortment. As a well-organized e-commerce merchant, you’re also looking to jump on the assortment planning bandwagon. However, the challenge for most retailers lies in determining what products to select for their holiday e-commerce assortments.

Essentially, product selection is at the core of holiday selling success or failure. Those who get it wrong often face the following consequences:

• Deadstock: Items that don’t move are a direct cost to your business.
• Lost opportunity: By having the wrong item in your holiday product mix, you lose the opportunity to move your company forward.
• Additional workload: With the wrong product stocked, you have delayed getting the right one and created extra work for yourself and your team.

So how do you ensure your product selection is well-suited for the holiday season? Here are some helpful tips:

Pay Close Attention to Amazon & eBay

Start studying the product selection of Amazon and eBay to get an idea of what product mix does best during the holidays. We’ve found, time and again, that the hot selling products for the big guys will also be the hot selling products for smaller e-commerce stores.

For instance, if you open up Amazon, you’ll see holiday specific sections on the homepage. At this time of writing, here’s what the homepage looks like:

Clicking on one of the icons under explore “Explore Holiday” will take you to the relevant webpage for that product or deal category. For instance, if you click on Holiday Toy List and view the top 100 toys, here’s what you get to see:

See What Products Won Last Year’s Holiday Season

Why look at last year’s holiday winners in 2017? Well, there’s a good chance that a major portion of holiday shoppers weren’t able to get their hands on last year’s hot sellers due to budget constraints and they don’t want to miss out this time around. Therefore, including last year’s holiday best sellers in your product selection could bring you a plethora of benefits.

The easiest way to find last year’s winners is by conducting a search on Google. Try the following search strings:

• Holiday products
• 2016 holiday products
• Holiday hot sellers
• 2016 holiday hot sellers
• Amazon hot sellers 2016
• Best sellers holidays 2016
• Christmas best sellers
• Christmas best sellers 2016

Each of these strings will present you with an informative list of last year’s hot sellers. For instance, if you search “2016 holiday products,” you see the following:

A lot of results reveal what holiday shoppers were splurging the cash on in 2016. For instance, one of the results showcases a list of products that sold well on Amazon.

That’s a lot of items from different categories to add for your product selection.

Research Pinterest & Instagram

Pinterest has its own search engine, while Instagram is big on hashtags. You can use these functions to discover and select new products.

On Pinterest, try search strings similar to the ones recommended in the previous section. For instance, if you search “holiday products,” you get to see the pins posted by other retail outlets.

Most of these pins are about holiday items. You can even check the original source (website) to see if there’s a supplier you could get in touch with.

In addition, you can search Pinterest boards for product selection ideas. A board is where people curate ideas on the theme of the board.

For holiday product selection, board contributors will likely post about products that people have or could have a knack for.

It’s worth mentioning that most products displayed on Pinterest are DIY. However, you can still find suppliers for such products on sites like Wish.com. There’s also the option of private label (where you make the product yourself), but sourcing seems more viable if you’re short on time.

On Instagram, you can leverage hashtags. Enter hashtags in the search bar to find and select products. Hashtags like #holidaypresents #holidaygifts and #christmaspresents should give you a wide range of results.

Of course, select items that meet your core customers’ needs so that your product selection generates revenue during holidays as well as post holidays.

Use Google Trends to Vet Products

Doing demand-related research helps you go deep into the viability of items, as well as explore if there’s a demand for items that sold well over the summer.

Google Trends is a tool you could use to see how frequently your potential product selection has been searched for in a specific period of item, ideally from October to December. This will let you know whether people are looking forward to seeing it retail or if it is on its way out.

For instance, if you are considering a trendy fitness accessory for your product selection, you could compare consumer interest in Apple Watch series 3 and Garmin Fenix 5X.

Based on this comparison, Apple Watch series 3 is trending much more highly than Garmin Fenix 5x and has had experienced major spikes in the past few weeks, especially around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. As a result, this would be the right product selection for your holiday season assortment.

If you have an account with Google Adwords, you can also leverage Google’s Keyword Planner tool to analyze products’ current and predicted demand using keyword research.

Narrow Down Your Options

At this point you might have a few product selection ideas. It’s a best practice to run these ideas through a standard set of guidelines that top retailers use to narrow down their assortment. While these guidelines aren’t strict, they go a long way in minimizing business risk.

See if the products are:

• Easy to ship
• Lightweight
• Small in dimensions
• Seasonal
• In a stable or growing market

The general perspective is that the best product selection should have some moving parts, fit in the smallest of boxes, and sell for $200-$1000 with a profit margin of at least 30-40%.

Other than that, check if the product can be sourced easily. The final seal of approval requires the product to be easily available to source. Make a list of the products you’re planning to sell, and check their availability with local vendors.

In addition, check if the items could be dropshipped if you want to avoid storage and shipping hassles. Modalyst, for instance, allows merchants to sell millions of products without the financial risk of buying inventory upfront.

You can choose to source directly from Wish.com with their new Chrome Extension or from their vetted marketplace of independent brands. Their Shopify / BigCommerce app allows for one-click sourcing so within minutes (and no cost!) you can have a fantastic assortment of holiday items up on your store.

Final Thoughts

Evolving consumer preferences combined with the dominance of big players like Alibaba and Amazon have forced merchants to evolve. Smart ones are driving more sales and enhancing customer loyalty with a wider product mix using dropshipping. However, it’s crucial to not just expand your assortment, but expand it intelligently. Use the tips mentioned above to get your holiday product selection spot on and enjoy a season of festivities… and high profits.

The post Holiday Tips Part 2 : What Product Selection Sells Best During Holiday Season? first appeared on Modalyst.

It’s practically tradition for the holiday season to mean great deals, starting with Black Friday through to the classic after-Christmas and New Year’s clearance sales.

According to Deloitte’s 2017 holiday survey, these sales have become so reliable that 44% of participants said that they wait for holiday sales to make big-ticket purchases, and 42% said that they only purchase sale items when holiday shopping because they know that their desired items will eventually go on sale.

These holiday promotions can often be a win-win for businesses and their customers. They help clear out old inventory and generate spikes in revenue as the year comes to a close. On the other hand, they can also put businesses in a risky “race to the bottom” to beat out their competitors and win over customers, ultimately resulting in low profit margins that small businesses may not be able to afford.

Before choosing a holiday pricing strategy, it’s important to take a 360-degree view of your business and the competitive landscape, in addition to evaluating some strategies that can help to preserve profit margins.

List of strategies include:

1. Calculate Your Minimum Price
2. Do Your Own Market Research
3. Proactively Gauge Demand
4. Do Competitor Research
5. Statistics Say Free Shipping Is King
6. Margin-Preserving Pricing Strategies
7. Emphasize Value Year Round

Calculate Your Minimum Price

Before considering any promotional strategies, businesses should have a solid grasp on their costs and how they may fluctuate during the season, including:

• Purchasing and production costs: Does the holiday surge change costs for raw materials or agreements with your suppliers?
• Staff salary: Will you need to pay overtime hours or hire seasonal staff to keep up with demand?
• Partner fees: If you’re selling or dropshipping from a marketplace or other partner, are prices fluctuating?
• Shipping costs: Are backed up orders and a busier marketplace causing a spike in delivery costs?
• Marketing and advertising: Are you paying extra for promotions, like buying ads and running digital marketing campaigns?

Do Your Own Market Research

It’s hard to tell whether you really need to offer a certain discount or promotion to land the sale, or if the customer was going to purchase from you regardless.

One of the best ways to gauge which offers are truly effective is to check your analytics performance. Look at key metrics from last year’s holiday season, like:

• Which time periods brought the biggest spikes?
• What were the most popular items sold?
• What was the average order value?
• How did your previous holiday pricing strategies perform?
• Which strategies brought the highest ratio of profit margin? The lowest?

Proactively Gauge Demand

To see how many customers were actively searching for deals before the holidays, Pendleton had a brilliant idea to encourage shoppers to sign up for early notification of holiday sales. This way, the company could gauge the interest of their shoppers while keeping these more price-conscious shoppers engaged.

                              source : Juno

Do Competitor Research

You’ll also want to tap into what your competitors are doing. You can do this manually by periodically going to your competitors’ websites and recording this information, or you can solicit the help of a specialized tool that will do all the dirty work for you.

If you’re interested in having competitive research handed to you on a silver e-platter, look at a competitor price tracker like Prisync or Import.io that automatically scrapes this information and delivers it through on-demand reporting.

                                  Image credit: Import.io

Statistics Say Free Shipping Is King

There are a handful of classic strategies that e-commerce companies rely on for the holidays, but key 2017 surveys are showing that this is the year of free shipping.

In Deloitte’s holiday survey, 72% of participants said that they plan to take advantage of it, followed by 44% who plan to take advantage of easy returns and 42% for price matching.

                       Image : Deliotte

The same survey also said that the top three reasons participants chose to shop online over in-store were convenience, saving time, and free shipping. To confirm this sentiment, a 2017 holiday survey by BDO showed that 21% of consumers claimed free shipping will have the biggest influence on their holiday shopping decisions.

It’s safe to say that people really love free shipping. And that’s no surprise, since it offers plenty of benefits like increased sales revenue and order value, and overall happier customers.

After crunching the numbers and doing some competitor research, consider this strategy for your own store.

Keep in mind that it can be a great holiday offer, but paying these costs out-of-pocket can also eat into your margins. You’ll also want to ensure that you have the financial flexibility and software infrastructure to handle these requests.

If you’re hesitant to offer free shipping across the board, consider some variations like offering it:

• With minimum purchase amounts, like orders over $100
• For certain items only
• During specific time periods, like three weeks before Christmas only
• Only on returned items but not the original delivery

One way to make sure you don’t lose money is to include the shipping cost into the price of the item but offer “free shipping.”

Modalyst now offers the ability to automatically add in the shipping costs when adding products to your store so you never have to worry about your margins.

Another option is offering flat-rate shipping. This may encourage larger purchases since customers will pay the same shipping rate regardless. To build loyalty in addition to offering free shipping, work it into a subscription or loyalty program like Amazon did with its Subscribe & Save program.

                                             Image credit: IgnitionDeck

Margin-Preserving Pricing Strategies

Instead of blasting out sales and discounting everything to bring in high volumes of customers at the expense of your profits, consider some alternative strategies that can help preserve your margins.

These can be life-savers for businesses that simply can’t afford the race to the bottom in competition with big-name marketplaces like Amazon.

Step Discounts

Step discounts can help to encourage customers to spend a bigger slice of their holiday budget at your store, instead of spreading out smaller purchases across multiple stores.

For example, depending on your product line and average sale totals, you can offer a 5% discount for purchases over $100, 10% for purchases over $250, and 15% off for purchases over $500.

Flash Sales

Keep in mind that flash sales should be around a specific product. Focusing on a single product helps build a higher urgency to buy while ensuring that customers aren’t expecting a similar store-wide discount in the future.

This could deter customers from making future purchases, as they might feel that your inventory isn’t worth purchasing at full price, if it will inevitably be on sale again soon.

Take for example Watches.com’s flash sale for the Xeriscope Squared automatic watch.

                       Image credit: Just Uno

Incentivize Low-Volume Sellers

It’s the natural ebb and flow of business for some products to naturally sell better than others. Instead of losing that revenue on unsold products, try incentivizing them to get them out the door. This way, you’re still offering customers a special deal without cutting into the revenue of your best-sellers.

You can do this by:

• Simply slashing prices on these items or having flash sales for them
• Including two or more of them in a discounted bundle
• Adding one as a “bonus” for purchasing a higher-priced item, to help justify the price tag

Price Matching

More price-sensitive shoppers often hesitate to make purchases because they’re unsure of the best time to buy. They wonder is this the lowest price, or will this store or a competitor have a sale soon?

To alleviate this uncertainty and reward cost-conscious shoppers for doing their research, consider a price guarantee for your own store as well as matching competitors. Of course, you’ll have to be committed to following through, so be sure that you have the technology or manpower to confirm pricing and adjust when needed.

Emphasize Value Year-Round

While it won’t necessarily help you with pricing for a holiday that’s right around the corner, it’s worth noting that brands can avoid the disastrous race to the bottom by competing on value, not price. This is a long-term strategy, but it pays off for brands that do it right – they don’t find themselves freaking out about holiday sales every November.

To do this, offer your customers a stellar experience the whole year by:

• Clearly and consistently communicating your value
• Focusing on solving problems over selling features
• Building a positive reputation for your brand
• Offering exceptional customer service
• Rewarding loyal customers and building a community
• Creating awesome content to educate and engage

Finding the Sweet Spot

The holiday season can be stressful for many e-commerce entrepreneurs who aren’t quite sure how to keep up with high demand for promotions and how their competitors are meeting them.

However, coming up with a pricing strategy doesn’t have to hurt your bottom line.

With some thorough research and business analysis, coupled with some strategic short-term and long-term planning, your business can rack up holiday revenue while building strong, loyal customers throughout the entire year.

If you want to be notified when our next article is posted, please sign up below!

The post Holiday Tips Part 1 : What Should Your Pricing Strategy Be for the Holidays? first appeared on Modalyst.

In today’s age of growing eCommerce, free shipping has become a competitive necessity for online retailers.

While there are certainly several costs associated with offering free shipping, these may be outweighed by the numerous benefits.

When big companies like Amazon first offered their free shipping model a few years ago, it was difficult for every online merchant, especially smaller ones, to follow suit.

However, with growing sales and customer expectations, free shipping has become more common and more beneficial for businesses than ever before.

1. Free shipping can increase your sales revenue

There is no doubt that offering something for free will be appealing amongst your shoppers.

However, having a free shipping option has also been proven to not only increase revenue and sales conversions but also increase customer acquisition.

As Inc.com states, 96% of online consumers are more likely to shop on a site if it promises free shipping.

2. Free shipping can boost average order value

Offering free shipping has also been shown to encourage consumers to buy more online.

Shoppers are incentivized to add more to their carts! In fact, statistics show that 28% of online shoppers will abandon their carts completely if faced with unexpected shipping costs.

Source : Kissmetrics

3. Customers love it!

Offering free shipping is directly associated with customer retention.

It not only will help your business acquire new customers but also will incentivize customers to continue buying from your store.

It also serves as a great marketing tool to advertise and promote your business to potential customers.

According to a poll conducted by the National Retail Federation, 66% of online shoppers declared that having free shipping is a very important deciding factor for them when choosing to make an online purchase.

Source : rjmetrics

4. Free shipping helps rationalize shopping online

As consumers, free shipping helps rationalize buying something online versus driving to the store.

If the cost of shipping an item ends up being too expensive, we can simply abandon our carts and drive down the street.

Free Shipping with Modalyst Products

We just launched a new feature for Modalyst Suppliers who would like to join this movement of free shippers.

In addition to all the benefits listed above, offering free shipping on our platform will be a great opportunity for brands to gain traction and even more exposure.

Retailers are now able to filter for “free shipping” products.

Interested in offering Free Shipping on Modalyst?

Contact team@modalyst.co

The post Free Shipping on Your Online Store: 4 Benefits Explained first appeared on Modalyst.

Los Angeles mom Evelyne Teman made $500,000 dollars in three years from selling clothes on Poshmark. On Depop, Millennial entrepreneur Bella McFaden(depop username: @InternetGirl) withdrew from College to sell on Depop full time. Like Teman and McFaden, many individuals today use P2P fashion platforms such as Poshmark and Depop as mechanism to get rid of unwanted clothing and as an alternative way to make a living.

The continued strong dominance of e-commerce in retail is largely the result of “re-commerce”–the process of reselling goods. Re-commerce is a thriving industry, growing at 13% YoY and was already an $18 billion business in 2016 with expectations to double in the next 5 years – and that just in the United States!

This growth is spearheaded by the Millennial market, which has taken up re-commerce in a viral manner due to 3 key areas: convenience, experience, and personalization.

Convenience

Digital-savvy Millennials are accustomed to navigating through their day-to-day interactions through their mobile devices – interactions are more convenient and productive. Thus, since many P2P platforms are mobile-first applications, they have been able to penetrate into the Millennial market rapidly. By simply taking a photo and uploading it to the app, people are able to sell their unwanted items, declutter their closets, and earn money.  For buyers, this saves the hassle of making a trip to the mall – instead, one can simply shop via their mobile device. Since P2P platforms operate with no middleman, consumers are also able to save significant money by avoiding the mark-up price stores would charge.

Experience

76% of re-commerce shoppers rank “fun factor” as one of their top three reasons for participating in the marketplace. Why? Because sellers are able to truly bring their “virtual closet” to life through imagery. Top sellers take pictures of themselves wearing products out on the scene, with their personal flair. They curate their virtual “closet” towards a specific theme and vibe, forming an emotional connection with their followers. Moreover, today’s consumers are increasingly concerned about the backstory of their product. Buying from a trusted source on a re-commerce platform aligns their beliefs, for example when looking for items made in ways that correspond with their values and style (eg. environmentally friendly, vintage, handmade, etc.). And, as buyers and sellers can communicate directly with each other, they comprehend the full story behind their purchase. There is also the emotional appeal of buying directly from hot bloggers – who wouldn’t want to own the Manrepeller’s wardrobe (depop: @leandramedine)?!

Source : sftcdn

Personalization

P2P platforms source products from millions of people – so the offering available is huge and limitless. While traditional stores offer the same products to a mass audience, the items listed on these re-commerce platforms are differentiated whether it be vintage to fashion-forward, or petit size to plus. Thus, people with all different styles are able to items that appeal to them. Moreover, on many apps like Poshmark and Depop, one can filter the search engine to cater to one’s specific preferences–making the shopping experience more personalized and direct.

Ebay is perhaps the most well-known reselling platform, however Millennial fashion resellers are gravitating towards Poshmark and Depop. These apps offer users a social experience through the ability to curate a profile and directly contact other users through likes, comments, and private messages–a major appeal to Millennials. And, with an interface similar to Instagram, users have a familiar, aesthetically pleasing, easy-to-use experience. They allow users to buy apparel at a lower price point than traditional stores with a more diversified selection of products, and the opportunity to interact with other users

There are some incredible success stories of sellers quitting their jobs or making a significant secondary income through re-commerce. For them, the problem is keeping supply up with demand.

Source : RoseMary Maccabe

So, how do fashion resellers find their inventory, once their closets are emptied?

When sellers on Poshmark, Depop, Ebay etc. re-sell clothes from their closet, they have a limited supply of clothes they can offer their followers. Once they sell out of their closets, they are forced to buy inventory through other means, which is expensive.

Interestingly, Modalyst has become an alternative supply of inventory. Instead of scouring the markets, Modalyst has ~500 brands offering ~50,000 items for sale in a marketplace – all with stock available and ready to dropship directly to customers. Meaning, Depop sellers are curating a selection of items to add to their shop, and sell. Additionally, this means that one is able to sell quantity of an item, as opposed to one at a time. Once the item sells to a customer, the reseller pays for it and retains the profit.

This has been an interesting change in our business model. Previously, Modalyst only worked with ecommerce retailers. But, as we have seen demand grow amongst users on apps like Poshmark and Depop, we have opened the platform for P2P businesses to source from us.

Contact us at team@modalyst.co to learn more and join this program.

The post P2P Marketplaces : Retail first appeared on Modalyst.

Apart from the technological features behind these P2P platforms, the most important actor in these sharing economies is without a doubt, the “peer” as evidenced by the name. Like any economy, P2P economies rely on the basics of supply and demand. They rely on the fact that individuals are willing to offer their services – whether it be driving a car, selling a dress, or renting a car –  as well as the fact that individuals are looking to employ these services. These platforms operate on the basic principles of trust and cooperation between suppliers and demanders.

So, why has this business model become so popular in recent years?

Accessibility

Anyone with access to the internet can use a P2P platform. In fact, actions like booking a car ride have become so habitual in cities, it is the norm. In just a few taps on one’s phone, a car arrives. Additionally, regulations to become a provider of a service are much more lenient compared to traditional industries – just think of how anyone can be an Uber driver, while it took years to earn a taxi medallion. These platforms also provide market access to individuals who don’t have the funds to establish their own business but own desirable assets such as a house, car, or household items.

                                       Source : TechCrunch

Choice

Because accessibility to these P2P markets is so easy, there is an extensive base of suppliers resulting in vast options for consumers. While traditional industries offer conventional, mainstream options, P2P marketplaces encompass a much greater range of options for the consumer. An individual looking for a specific vintage necklace or a local, authentic experience in a European town will have much better luck using P2P platforms than buying from a department store or booking a hotel room in a tourist corridor. People are also able to showcase their individuality whether it be through the clothing they’re selling in their Poshmark closet or the home they are renting out through AirBnB.

                                              Source: Techcrunch

Social / Trust

A differentiator of P2P marketplaces compared to traditional marketplaces is that it allows for social interaction. Although the two people involved in a transaction may live completely different lives, technological features allow them to connect and get to know each other through uploading photos, private messaging, and curating an online profile. In fact, many people use P2P platforms as a way to socialize and meet new people – think of how online dating has grown in the same way!

                                                   Source: ThirdWaveFashion

Cost

People want to save money and P2P economies enable one to do so. A person can buy a luxury designer bag on Poshmark for less than 50% of the discounted price. AirBnB enables consumers to rent an entire apartment in New York City for an average price of $240 compared to the median hotel price of a single room for $180. Moreover, on platforms such as eBay and OfferUp, individuals are even able to negotiate prices.

The emergence and dominance of peer-to-peer marketplaces are reflections of the changing attitudes of individuals – specifically the millennial. The impact of these P2P economies is just beginning—a PWC 2014 report estimates P2P economies will grow to $335 billion in 2025 compared to $14 billion in 2014. Fashion and apparel, alone, is expected to be $33 billion by 2021. As a result, traditional industries are being disrupted and pushed to re-strategize. Businesses and individuals must find ways to integrate into peer-to-peer economies across sectors in order to stay relevant and competitive in today’s economy.

Stayed tuned for the next post on the emergence of Peer-to-Peer marketplaces in retail!

The post P2P Marketplaces: An Introduction first appeared on Modalyst.

Before starting Le Chic, Joanna worked at a fashion accessories company in Los Angeles doing product development and sales for the junior retailer market. She then branched out into designing her own swimwear label.

According to Joanna, the inspiration behind Le Chic was the 2008 recession:

“It was a horrible economy at the time and women were spending less on extravagant, impractical pieces of fashion and investing in classic, versatile styles that compliment the majority of what was in their closets.”

She started her brand with the intention of creating chic accessories that were also affordable and timeless.

Business Practices

Joanna originally began selling her pieces directly to her end-customers. Over the years, however, she has begun focusing on selling her label to brick-and-mortar retailers through Modalyst. Besides Modalyst, Le Chic is featured on Wanelo, Keep, Loehmann’s, Filene’s Basement, and Walmart.

Modalyst is a curated b2b marketplace connecting suppliers and retailers. It is our goal to match our retailers with brands that will be a good fit for them.

Joanna states:

“When looking for an e-commerce retailer to work with, I always looks at their reputation and reliability. These are two key factors that will ultimately affect my reputation as well. In order to build long-lasting, effective, and fruitful business relationships, I believe it is important for both parties to maintain open lines of communication and understanding.”

Joanna is the first to admit that she was not initially a fan of dropshipping. It has proven itself valuable over time, however, as it allowed her to forge relationships with new customers and make her products more available and accessible to a wider audience.

“Dropshipping has become a thing of the present and future–as seen more frequently with Amazon, Jet Blue, and Bed Bath & Beyond–and we all have to keep up with what is trending for the future!”

Check out Le Chic on Modalyst and email team@modalyst.co if you’re interested in being the next supplier in the spotlight!

The post Dropshipping Supplier Spotlight : Le Chic first appeared on Modalyst.

So, how do you compete in the world of e-commerce and launch a successful site?

Modalyst is extremely excited to be teaming up with our friends at Parkfield, a leading New York e-commerce design and development agency to offer expert advice on how to position your business for success. Parkfield specializes in creating unique, online storefronts that are geared to each individual client. As a preview for our event on June 22nd in NYC, we have asked them to share some of their basic tips below.

Don’t Rush

The launch of your site should be calculated and include plans to maximize SEO, content marketing and social media. Patience is key!

Test and Analyze

We advise investing in testing and analytics both before and after the launch of your e-commerce business. It is vital to know what works and what does not.

Investigate Your Software

Regularly investigate to ensure you are using the right software for your business. Scalability, usability, security, and other effective marketing tools are important factors to consider when choosing a suitable software for your business.

Add Credibility

Add credibility to your business by sharing testimonials and reviews from your satisfied customers.

Find Your Customers

Locate your customer-base and market your product services to them.

Make Checkout Easy

Make sure your check-out process is easy and simple to navigate.

Consider a Dropshipping Inventory Model

Dropshipping specifically is a profitable model for many e-commerce businesses, as it eliminates the need for online stores to buy inventory upfront. Instead, it allows these stores to sell their products, while having the supplier ship the items directly to the end-customer. Dropshipping is a valuable business model that allows stores to fill their sites with merchandise in minutes!

Together, Parkfield and Modalyst we will be hosting the fifth “New York E-Commerce Meetup” on Thursday, June 22nd from 6:30pm-8:30pm. Hear from several panelists including, Thor Berntsson, the co-founder of Parkfield; Tracey Wallace, the marketing manager at BigCommerce; Van Hakalir, the co-founder of Andy & Evan Industries; Melissa Gonzalez, founder of Lionesque Group as well as, Jill Sherman, our co-founder!

Join us by RSVPing and buying your tickets below to learn more about the profitable world of dropshipping from both a dropshipper’s and supplier’s perspective.

Save me a seat!

The post Advice From the Experts : How to Launch a Successful Ecommerce Site first appeared on Modalyst.

Get personalized product recommendations and add them to your store on-the-go

As a Modalyst user, each product you add to Shopify runs through our unique algorithm that determines its category, price range, sales performance and much more. With Kit, you can now receive product recommendations for items with similar characteristics as well as those that are selling particularly well in your store delivered directly via text messages or Facebook messenger. If you like the products and wish to add them to your store, simply reply “Yes” from your phone and those items will be instantly added to your store. You don’t even have to log into Modalyst for it to work!  Our constantly improving algorithm works to recommend the perfect products for your own personal brand.

Start a social media campaign for your new products

Once the products are added to your storefront, Kit can automatically create a marketing campaign and share the new products on your Brand’s Facebook account.  You can also run paid Facebook ad campaigns through Kit with just a few messages! Instead of having to go to your computer, log onto Facebook, design and create the ad for your new products, now Modalyst and Kit will do it all for you on-the-go.

Get started now

If you’re a Retailer on Modalyst using our Shopify app you can start using our Kit integration right away! Simply click on the “My Dropshipping” tab on your Modalyst dashboard and visit the “Apps” section where you can install Kit. After you sign up for your free trial and install the Kit app you will start receiving messages up to twice a day based on your Modalyst activity*. Kit is free to try until you make a few sales, so you don’t have to spend any additional money until you are sure it works for your store.

To learn more about Modalyst and Kit you can check out our FAQ here: Kit Integration

To learn more about Kit, check out its Shopify Documentation and Official Website

The post Introducing Kit: Your Very Own Virtual Drop Shipping Assistant first appeared on Modalyst.

First we will go through ways to gather qualitative research about your visitors and next we can look at ways in which you can put that data into action.

Look at the data already available.

Almost all ecommerce platforms offer basic information about the buyers on your site. If you are using a CRM, this will certainly offer copious amounts of information to put together a great profile. Shopify for example, has several great apps that will complement the information and service they already provide. The goal is to put together a Buyer Persona which has become a popular exercise for companies to deeply understand their users.

To begin, you want to gather the basic information: Gender, Age, Location, Profession, Income

As a new retailer, it is normal to see a wide range of demographics in the beginning. The exercise is not meant to over simplify your audience. Instead, the purpose is to create a generalized character that represents your largest market. In fact, many companies go as far as putting a name and face on this persona so employees can visualize him/ her. Again, feel free to have multiple personas if you see you are reaching a wide customer base.

As you dive deeper into the exercise you can start gathering more physcographic data such as, what are your customer’s interests, hobbies, values, lifestyle etc. This will allow you to segment even more aggressively and create marketing campaigns that match their profile.

“34% of users say they have “broken up” with a brand due to receiving poor, disruptive or irrelevant marketing messages”

If you are able to reach your customers with relevant messages, you will become a trusted resource, which inevitably leads to more purchases.

Ask.

Sounds simple but many businesses forget that most people are happy to share information if they think it will be to their advantage. As an ecommerce site, it is easy to frame these questions. For example, asking for their interests will help you select better products for them, thereby saving them time. That being said, you want to choose your questions carefully. The point is to gather useful information without disrupting their experience too much. Be sure you are asking questions with answers that are actionable.

There are different ways of approaching your customers but many choose an in-app experience. This means you have a pop up that will appear on a certain page or after a certain behavior. The key is to test out different scenarios and iterate based on reactions / opens / replies. As always, listen to the data and evolve the strategy accordingly.

Others choose to send surveys to customers through software like surveymonkey. To incentivize more answers, provide a reward at the end such as a coupon code or free shipping on their next purchase. Many of these survey software’s will also help you analyze the data into nice charts and graphs to better visualize the responses.

Organize Focus Groups.

I truly believe that watching someone navigate your site in person will provide you with invaluable feedback. You can apply all the advanced software in the world to track behavior and you still won’t be able to see the emotional reaction of users as they explore your site.

Invite a few friends to come by (who have never seen your site before) and record them as they navigate the store. What you think seemed obvious, may not be obvious to them and this can inform you on simple text changes or button placement that may make a huge difference. Never underestimate a pair of fresh eyes.

Now that you have strategies on how to gather information about your users, what do you do withthis data?

Create Emotional Triggers.

Data about your customers is ammunition for you to use to entice them to stay engaged and ultimately purchase your product. The messages you deploy for your 50 year old man who is purchasing $400 leather loafers is going to be different from the ones you send to your 20 year old buying a $60 cocktail dress. Language is a powerful tool to connect on a personal level.

Take your personas and create narratives for each one to imagine when they may be most receptive to a message. Maybe you have a user adding lots of items to their shopping cart but never purchasing. Explore what may be stopping them by looking at their profile. Then compose a message that addresses that directly. IF you think it’s price, offer them a coupon. If you think it’s indecisiveness, offer advice.

Personalize the Experience.

Go through your site and explore places that are appropriate to customize based on your persona. Consider the “frequently bought together” tactic by suggesting items that are related to the product your user is currently viewing. Be sure to reference your personas for this so you can offer relevant supplemental products. For example, cross-selling cameras to professional and amateur photographers will likely require different products. The more relevant your suggestions are, the more likely you will get them to purchase one. This is a tremendous opportunity for you to not only build trust but sales. In 2006, Amazon reported 35% of the year’s sales came from cross-selling. Wow.

Buyer personas are fabulous tools with which to build an effective marketing strategy. Just remember to constantly refine the profiles based on data and evolve your strategies to suit those users.

The post Create Buyer Personas: Increase Sales by Learning about your Customers first appeared on Modalyst.

Powering over 39% of all online stores, it was a no-brainer for us at Modalyst to make our next integration with e-commerce platform WooCommerce. Advertised as the most “customizable eCommerce platform for building your online business,” we decided to evaluate some of the advantages of using WooCommerce and also asked our own WooCommerce users why it was their platform of choice.

Pricing

One of the biggest benefits of using WooCommerce is that it is free.

While you may have to pay to install extensions and web hosting, installing WooCommerce itself is completely free which makes it a great starter platform for entrepreneurs just entering the e-commerce space.

Aaron from Seefashion agrees! “WooCommerce is scalable, cheap to run, versatile and restriction free, I love it.”

“WooCommerce is scalable, cheap to run, versatile and restriction free, I love it.”

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Customizability

While a free platform may seem like something only starter stores would use, the availability of advanced apps and tools allows the platform to grow with its users.

WooCommerce has hundreds of extensions, both free and paid that WooCommerce promises will cover their users’ every logistical and technical requirement.

These extensions include MailChimp, Stripe, PayPal, USPS and soon Modalyst!

One of our online retailers, Laurent from Tailorinn says “WooCommerce is profitable, frequently updated and with the right research (server, host, themes, plugins etc.) you can really take advantage of the platform.”

Aaron from Seefashion also emphasizes the importance of research into the right plugins in order to see success with WooCommerce:

“Woocommerce’s secret weapon are its plugin super powers – they give hugely extended capabilities! Just make sure they are well maintained or your whole site could go down”.

Since WooCommerce uses extensions for crucial e-commerce areas like payment processing, making sure your extension is reliable is top priority. Therefore with proper research, you can customize WooCommerce to make it work best for your own personal needs.

Development and Support

WooCommerce is unique in the sense that they are constantly updating their software and offering fantastic customer support.

They are members of Automattic, who boast over 506 employees that they call “Automatticians.” This department represents people that come from 50 different countries and speak 69 different languages.

Laurent concurs, “WooCommerce is…frequently updated…and the WooCommerce community is very active so you can always find answers to your questions.”

The diversity of the software has also helped him, as he states

“WooCommerce gives me the opportunity to create and retain my customer base by offering them new options to facilitate their discovery, sharing and purchase of my products. For example, I use The WordPress Multilingual Plugin (WPML) to translate my website to multiple languages”.

Ease of Use

While WooCommerce is free, it’s not an all in one e-commerce platform like some of its main competitors Shopify and BigCommerce. This can intimidate some users, as setting up a WooCommerce store requires a bit more technical knowledge and time to set up. That does not, however, mean it is difficult to use! WooCommerce offers numerous helpful tutorials, demos and documentation that is extremely useful for users, ranging from topics about hosting, setting up themes and making the best use of extensions. Additionally, Laurent states “With their new one-time installation, WooCommerce is now easier to install on a server, thus easier to use”. Upon installation, WooCommerce also has an informative onboarding wizard to make sure you have a handle on everything before you get started.

“The synchronization of WooCommerce with Modalyst dropshipping will benefit me so I can devote that time to develop other aspects of the site.“

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Style

Every e-commerce store has a platform that bests suits their style and WooCommerce is no different.

With a wide range of themes designed by the WooCommerce team themselves known as WooThemes, you can extend the same quality of service you get from WooCommerce to your store’s themes!

Storefront, a free theme offered by WooCommerce allows for a cost effective design that seamlessly integrates with the WooCommerce and offers customizability that is supported by the WooCommerce team.

Alternatively, you can choose from numerous purchasable themes that are also great, depending on your personal business needs.

Support for Dropshipping with Modalyst

Soon, you will be able to integrate your Modalyst account directly into WooCommerce which will come with amazing benefits, like the ability to add thousands of products to your store, including product imagery, descriptions, pricing and inventory count with one click.

Aaron at Seefashion also states that the app will  “enable them to help designers with great products reach more customers”.

Laurent says “I try to optimize my process in order to save time for example in adding products and images, inventory management etc. The synchronization of WooCommerce / Modalyst dropshipping will benefit me so I can devote that time to develop other aspects of the site such as digital marketing, social media etc.”

Without the risk of buying inventory and the ability to manage several dropshipping relationships on one platform, we can’t wait to share this app with you!

The post Dropshipping for WooCommerce: Why the World’s Most Popular E-Commerce Platform May Be Perfect for You first appeared on Modalyst.