December 2007
Table of Contents
Featured Article: Last Minute Holiday Sales Strategies and Safe Christmas Ship DateBy Jake Sabey - Education Specialist Jupiter Research reported online holiday sales in 2007 to surpass $39 billion, an increase of 20% over 2006. This number is higher than the 19% that was the projected online sales growth overall for 2007. High oil prices are persuading consumers to use their mouse and keyboards to take them to internet sites instead of going to retail stores in their vehicles, using money normally spent on gas towards shopping online. Having computer and internet access at work, in schools, as well as wi-fi and hot spots around town, make it more convenient and accessable to get their shopping done online. On Cyber Monday, known as the busiest online shopping day of the year, comScore Inc., an online metrics firm, reported shoppers spending $700 million, an increase of 26% over Cyber Monday last year. I know what your thinking..."It's too late, the bulk of holiday sales has come and gone with Black Friday and Cyber Monday having already passed"...but I am going to tell you that it's not too late! If online holiday sales are expected to reach $39 billion, and Cyber Monday accounted for roughly $700 million, that leaves about $38.3 billion to be spent online through the rest of the holiday season. Shopping.com predicts the second Monday in December (December 10th), not the first, to be the busiest day for online shopping. The number of sales leading up to, and carrying over from, Cyber Monday may be a peek at a record breaking holiday season. comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni believes, "We can expect to see even stronger days ahead as the 2007 shopping season progresses into December." What does this mean for you? It is time to put your game face on, because there is still time left in the 4th quarter. It's not over, even if the fat man (seasonal replacement for the fat lady) is preparing to sing, "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!". Here are some strategies that will help you bring in last-minute holiday sales, attack the rest of 2007, and prepare for 2008: Know Your Suppliers It is extremely important to know and understand the details of your products suppliers. Knowing the return policies and process, as well as shipping times and methods will assist you in a smoother transaction and satisfied customer. The more familiar you are with the policies and procedures of the supplier, the easier it is to communicate with your customer, and the better the experience for everyone. Want to know the last day to place an order and still get it to your customer before Christmas day? Visit our Supplier Safe Christmas Ship Date list. Watch the Clock As Christmas gets closer with every day that passes, keep an eye on your listings and make any necessary changes. For example, shortening your listing or auction length will still provide opportunity for late shoppers to become potential customers. Also, it will provide more of a window to get the product delivered on time for Christmas, a benefit for the shopper and the retailer. Ship to Yourself Because the clock ticks even when you don't want it to, shipping times can become a thorn in your side. Since Doba suppliers do not offer expedited shipping, ordering products ahead of time and shipping them to yourself not only gives you the option to expedite the shipping to your customer, but assures you of the inventory of your product and the increased flexibility of your listing that comes along with it. Keep in mind that this strategy may not be a good idea for all products, but might be good for your best selling items. Gift Certificates Offering printable gift certificates is an excellent strategy to create a bigger audience: serving the indecisive customer, the procrastining consumer, as well as those who are impossible to shop for. Plus, with the ability to hold a gift certificate in hand within seconds after printing it, there are no ship times. Customers can order the gift certificate on Christmas morning and still have it under the tree before the unwrapping begins. With gift certificates, everybody wins! You make a sale to the consumer, they print out the gift certificate, the consumer gives the gift, and the gift reciever gets what they want. Post Holiday Sales Like it or not, the door to the holiday season will eventually shut. Don't let this closing door 1) hit your in-laws in the rear on the way out of your house, or 2) prevent you from opening a new door with post holiday sales. Here are a couple of tag lines for possible post holiday sales:
Take advantage of this time of year. A time of year where so many of the elements you seek to find have been defined for you by the consumers themselves. You know what they want, you know what you want. Even though the holiday season is upon us, the right planning and approach will create more opportunity to get you your piece of the last minute holiday sales. About the Author:Jake Sabey is an eBay Certified Consultant and an Education Specialist for Doba. Jake's educational strategies and methodologies help online retailers meet and exceed their business-related goals. Prior to working for Doba, Jake was a team leader, supervisor, and trainer for Toys R Us, Sinclair Oil, SBC, and AT&T. Partner Highlight
BlueHost Marketplace Spotlight: Changes to Shipping ChargesBy Jeff Knight, Vice President of Marketplace When running an online business, one of the many tasks you are responsible
for is setting retail prices for your products. This decision requires
a lot of research and consideration. One element in particular is your
shipping cost. Especially in dealing with items of all sizes, the shipping
cost can become the deciding factor to the question, is this product
even worth trying to sell? With this in mind, Doba will be instituting
new shipping calculations on the website this week. The changes are
all centered around how Doba handles 'ship-alone' shipments. A 'ship-alone'
cannot be boxed with anything else. Examples of ship-alone products
would be TVs, computers, furniture, etc. They are generally heavier,
larger in size (dimension) and require special packaging for them to
arrive safely.
The total weight would be approximately 1.3 pounds and therefore they
would be charged for the rounded value of 2 pounds. If they were to
add 7 more sheets, they still would be charged for 2 pounds. Once again
these numbers are an estimate, and when figuring the weight of the boxes
and other shipping material, our new system provides a more accurate
shipping cost then the system before. For an exact cost of shipping,
add the products to your shopping cart. This will give you a detailed
look at the shipping charges per supplier and per product. This creates a more accurate shipping cost per order. More acurate shipping costs may assist in creating profit margins that are more appealing to retailer's. Afterall, your cost plays a significant role to determine the retail price. Supplier Safe Christmas Ship Dates Part of a successful online sale includes satisfaction from your customer. Having their product under the tree on Christmas morning will help determine their level of satisfaction. With this in mind, we have put together a Supplier Safe Christmas Ship Date list. This shows the last day to place an order from some of Doba's suppliers and still get it to your customer safely before Christmas day. About the Author: As the Vice President of Marketplace, Jeff Knight is responsible for all aspects of the merchandising strategy, supplier acquisition, and vertical category management and fulfillment operations of Doba's marketplace. Prior to Doba, Jeff was Director of Merchandising for Overstock.com where he developed the growth and management of the Computer and Home Office category. Jeff's background includes merchandising and technology leadership roles at DealDeal.com and BCI International. He earned Bachelor and Masters of Arts degrees in Communication from the University of Wyoming. Partner Highlight
eBay
Stores Doba Update: What's New?Doba Supports Developing World Entrepreneurs Doba invested $4,000 in unexpeected profits from a recent event to Kiva.org, a company that connects lenders with borrowers in impoverished communities world-wide. For more information on Doba's investment, click here. Doba Honored as a "Best Company to Work For" by Utah Business magazine Doba has been recognized by Utah Business magazine as one of the 12 "best companies to work for" in Utah. Learn more about how Doba received a spot on the 2007 Best Companies to Work For in Utah list, as revealed in the November 2007 issue of Utah Business. As always, the employees and company are a direct reflection of the customers they serve, and for that, we share our great appreciation for your business! Partner Highlight
VistaPrint Member Q&A: "My Product Sold, Now What?"An obvious goal for any retailer is to be successful, which means having sales. So many resources are put into this goal, that post-sale thoughts are often put off until a sale presents itself. Getting the product into your customer's satisfied hands requires more than just listing a product and hoping the product will magically get to your customer when it sells. There is the need to place the order, communicate order information to your customer, and manage any possible hiccups that may come up during the process. Examples of possible issues include non payment, canceled orders, tracking, or returns. Especially during the Holiday Season's high volume of sales, managing the post-sale process is extremely important—efficiently and effectively doing so will give you the ability to place, process, and ship orders in an organized fashion. This will result in smoother interaction, allowing you to have contact with more customers. Preparing your business ahead of time will replace the stress and possible "oops" during the congestion and fast-paced retail season. For help in dealing with the post sales process, shipping, or RMA's, see:
We Want to Hear from You! Want to see your question featured in the eNewsletter Member Q&A? Well we want to hear from you! Please email education@doba.com if you have any non-account related questions or topics you would like us to write about. If you have questions concerning your Doba account, such as billing, product or order questions, please search our knowledgebase site content or contact our Customer Support. Supplier News: New Suppliers Added to the Doba Product CatalogStarting an online business is relatively easy. Making it a success takes hard work and the right mix of products. To help you achieve your business-related goals, we recently added 4 new wholesale suppliers and manufacturers to the Doba Catalog (bringing the total number of Doba suppliers to 104), including:
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