Josh
No, it’s not a magic potion, but it is THE tool for marketplace growth and success
I was receiving emails and calls from Channel Advisor for at least 12 months before we engaged in formal discussions about the platform, before that our online business was not “ready” to make the leap. To be honest, the sales person we dealt with was overly pushy and definitely over promised in a few areas. Clearly from other reviews this is a common theme, this was over 2 years ago so things may well have changed by now. The sales person I was dealing with left the business weeks after we signed the deal. To be honest, in the interlude between signing the contract and launching the software, I did feel a little nervous, the software is not cheap and it also requires a substantial time investment to get launched. Looking back on the decision now, it was absolutely the right way to go and pivotal in our ecommerce journey. In the 2 years since launch, we have more than doubled our marketplace revenue (£2m to over £5m in 2016), obviously that growth is not entirely down to the Channel Advisor system, however, we could not have achieved the rate of growth with the level of resources without the Channel Advisor Platform. All of the information and support is provided, but you have to have the time to put the work in. Someone in your business needs to become the Channel Advisor “Guru” and be proactive about managing and growing your marketplace accounts and maximising the use of the software. Channel Advisor can do as much as you want it to – but you cannot be passive in the process and expect huge levels of sales growth simply as a bi-product of listing your products via this system. As well as growing in existing channels (eBay UK, Amazon UK), we have expanded into new domestic and foreign markets, which took a few months from concept to conclusion (much easier if like us you have Magento & in house dev). I also signed up to their “digital marketing” module and have again seen triple digit growth over 2 years, and again, no, it is not just using this software, but as part of a wider aggressive growth strategy, Channel Advisor has helped us grow website sales faster with less resources. Channel Advisor staff, particularly account managers, launch managers and support are excellent to deal with – responsive, polite, friendly and incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the product. The SSC (strategy and support centre) actually has the answers to most questions or detailed easy-to-follow instructions for anything you are trying to achieve. If you take the time to look, you can pretty much solve any problem from there, but if not support are quick to respond and usually solve issues in a couple of emails. Out of all the platforms we use in our web and retail operations (WMS, CMS, delivery management, CRM, EPOS, Email marketing software etc.) Channel Advisor has the best interface, usability, stability, and support and account management. I’ll sign off by saying, if your business is in good shape, you have time and ability to get to grips with the platform and maximize it, Channel Advisor will be the best business partner you could ever wish for.
Response from ChannelAdvisorNov 14, 2016
Thanks for taking the time to write about your ChannelAdvisor journey so far. It sounds like you've experienced fantastic growth during this time and to say that our platform and team has been pivotal to this success is music to our ears. We love to see customers getting the most from the platform by scaling to new channels and regions – and we hope we can assist you with even more expansion in the years to come. We're glad that the SSC is a useful resource – we'll continue to build this tool to try and make it even more useful for customers. We're also so thrilled that you find the teams responsive, knowledgable and passionate. We're delighted to have you as a customer and wish you many years of success ahead.