Table of Contents
Featured Article: Use Reporting to Take Out the Trash
By Jake Sabey - Education Specialist, Doba
With Father's Day quickly approaching, the thought of my dad has been
on my mind. Growing up my dad use to always tell me, "Don't get
comfortable, get prepared,...gather up the trash and take it out."
This advice always confused me, because I can still picture my dad relaxing
in a reclined chair at the end of the day, eating popsicles like they
were going to expire at the strike of midnight. He explained that when
you get comfortable you get relaxed-even lazy; your guard is put down
and your strengths become weak, leaving you a prime candidate for unexpected
surprises. He would remind me of his philosophy by randomly assigning
me a chore each time he saw me getting comfortable (telling me to gather
and take out the garbage was one of his favorites). "There is a
time and a place for comfort," he'd say followed by a, "...make
sure you prepare for when that time comes."
How does this pertain to you as an online retailer?
Similar to everyday life, there are many unexpected surprises, out
of your control, that present themselves when running a business. The
shock value is determined by how much your business is affected by these
surprises. How much your business is affected is determined by how much
you are prepared. Becoming too comfortable in your business strategies
may find you sitting in a recliner eating popsicles, as your competitors
are taking the garbage out and taking care of business. So, where do
you start? You have to gather the trash.
Gathering the "Trash"
Reporting should be a habit for any business. Every business should
create reports or documents that holds all information and statistics
about your company, often done through a data
warehouse of some sort. Documenting this data will give you a better
idea on how your business has progressed and operating as a whole; how
much you are making, how much you are spending, what strategies are/are
not working, and what your business's strengths and weaknesses are.
This progress report for your business will also show how close you
are to reaching your goals, and allow you to set new goals.
Organizing the Trash
After you gather the data, you need to organize it. Doing this will
determine what business practices and strategies you should keep as
is, what you need to throw out, and what can be recycled and used for
something else. This is also a good time to see what is missing in your
business.
Taking out the "Trash"
Now that you have the trash separated from the goods, you need to take
it out. Taking out the trash involves much more than just wheeling the
trash can to the curb. You have to make sure that what is in the trash
can is indeed trash, because once the garbage man comes and takes it
away, it will cost you time, money, and other resources to get what
you threw away back, if you can even get it back at all.
Ok, so the trash has been organized, analyzed, and picked apart. Now
what? You have to prepare for future trash days.
Preparing for the next "trash day"
There is always something to do when running a business. Keeping yourself
actively engaged in preparing for the future will put you in a better
situation in handling the unexpected surprises the ever changing market
creates. Unexpected surprises don't hurt as much if you are prepared
for them as much as you can. The more you organize your business, the
easier it will be to analyze and make adjustments where ever necessary.
Prepare for the future by setting a specific time or date for reporting.
Push yourself when determining a time or date to have reporting meetings.Set
goals, and plan the necessary steps to reaching those goals (through
brainstorming and testing), and report on them frequently.
Taking out the trash will keep your guard up and help you get prepared,
not comfortable. You can be comfortable later; for long enough to relax
in a laz-y-boy and eat some popsicles. Now, go take the trash out before
it gets piled up and starts to stink.
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 Spotlight: Introducing Terapeak 5.0
What is your number one issue when it comes to your eBay sales?
Knowing what consumers want, and giving it to them! Growing your profits
would be much simpler if you could determine what shoppers on eBay are
looking for - if you could read their minds - and choose your
inventory based on what they want.
Terapeak 5.0
Over the past year, the team at Terapeak Marketplace Research has been
working hard on the development the latest and greatest version of Terapeak!
Terapeak 5.0 now offers you faster, easier to read reporting, and fabulous
new features specifically designed to get your eBay sales up and running.
We’ve built brand new search tools based on our user feedback to
help find new niches and hot products. Terapeak 5.0 includes even
more tools to make your eBay sales easier and more profitable.
- Hot Products – find the top products and look at individual
categories
- Hot Titles – review the top titles across eBay
- Hot Searches – determine what sellers are actively searching
for on eBay
The latest version of Terapeak is a subscription-based market research
tool that provides sellers with a complete understanding of opportunities
on the e-Bay platform. These tools include: item pricing information
(average pricing, sell-through rates, and more); the best keywords and
categories to use; how to determine when your customer will be shopping;
and two years' worth of category trends to track individual item seasonality.
Fred Speckeen, AERS President and Chief Executive Officer says, “More
people than ever are selling both new and used items on eBay. Terapeak
5.0 helps you maximize your profits in a market that has more than five
million new listings each day. It is a fun, reliable and easy-to-use
solution with innovative features that take the guesswork out of your
eBay experience.”
Visit www.terapeak.com/learn
to check out the latest educational videos introducing Terapeak 5.0.
Take part in a special
offer for Doba Members only!
Marketplace Spotlight: Doba's Supplier and Product Sourcing
Process
By Jeff Knight, Vice President of Marketplace
As retailers, sourcing is always at the foremost of your concerns.
How do you decide what to sell? How should you sell the item and where
should you source the item? If there is a supplier integrated onto Doba’s
platform, then the sourcing question is largely answered. However, what
if there isn’t a supplier currently on the Doba platform and how
does getting suppliers onto Doba’s platform work? What is the
process and how does Doba determine which suppliers to work with and/or
prioritize who are on boarded? This month, I am going to explain Doba’s
supplier on-boarding and explain the role a retailer plays in many of
the questions asked above.
Supplier Pipeline
Suppliers are introduced to Doba in a few different ways. Doba’s
category managers attend several different trade events throughout the
year. At the events, we touch base with our existing suppliers, and
introduce Doba to new prospects. We tend to focus on suppliers whose
products have a certain dollar density (sales price versus pounds to
ship), their products are shippable via commercial ground carriers,
and finally suppliers who add breadth and enhance our catalog. In addition
to trade events, Doba does contact suppliers who are attractive or have
been referred to us.
As Doba has grown, we have seen explosive growth in the number of suppliers
who contact Doba directly and apply to be a part of our platform. As
I have stated in previous Marketplace Spotlights, Doba believes in an
open, transparent marketplace. In other words, we believe in explaining
both Doba’s and our retailers’ expectations up front to
the supplier. In reverse, we expect the suppliers to provide transparency
to their limitations and benefits. Our backend allows for rapid on boarding
and our transparent philosophy is conducive to moving suppliers quickly
into the marketplace.
Finally, we rely on the referrals and recommendations of our retailers.
Suppliers that are on boarded after being referred by a retailer tend
to be more motivated and therefore, more productive than their counterparts
on-boarded through other means. For retailers using the Doba platform,
there is very little reason not to use Doba for the ‘heavy lifting’.
We are experts in aggregating and standardizing disparate data and as
a retailer; you should leverage the resource as if we were your IT department.
If you want to refer a supplier; simply direct them to fill out the
simple application at http://smb.doba.com/suppliers.
Doba will promptly send them all the information they need to get started.
Priorities
As you can guess, Doba interacts with thousands of potential manufacturers,
distributors, artisans and liquidators every year but we only on-board
several hundred. Why is this? There are a variety of reasons. The supplier
could have limited technical resources or they do not have the ability
to fulfill packages individually. A majority of suppliers who enter
the pipeline but don’t leave – are for this very reason.
Another common reason is that the supplier has concerns over channel.
The concerns generally revolve around who is going to sell their items
(e.g. protect their existing retailers), where their items are sold
(e.g. eBay, website, physical stores, etc) and for how much the items
will be sold for (e.g. MAP violations). All channel strategies, regardless
of whether you are a retailer or supplier, have advantages, and limitations.
Some strategies will work/mesh well with our platform and others require
a more cautious approach. Doba works with the supplier and addresses
their concerns by providing a transparent marketplace and explaining
our value.
The final reason suppliers remain in the pipeline comes down simply
to Doba’s resource allocation. Just as with the supplier, Doba
has a limited number of people and resources to focus on the endless
possible candidates. We, like all of you, are forced to make priority
decisions based on our perceived return on investment (ROI). We look
at the number of retailers who will be affected (or are requesting the
supplier/category), the technical sophistication of the supplier, the
strategic value of the category versus the time/personnel costs. Ideally,
the demand for a supplier/category is directly proportional to the number
of retailers requesting products on Doba. Largely this is the case,
but there are occasions where limited resources cause delays or inability
to respond your requests for products in particular category.
As I stated above, part of your strategy should be to think of Doba
as your personal, in-house, supplier on-boarding IT department. One
way to insure you keep costs down is to maximize efficiencies in your
operations. Supplier and inventory management are among the biggest
expenses to your growing business. That said, you need to take an active
role in which suppliers are brought on to Doba – Doba provides
your backend/catalog. Research categories and find sources. Inform both
the source and Doba that you want their products and help initiate the
process. The Marketplace Department is keen on feedback and we have
the expertise and technology to act quickly as we see the need arise.
Doba is not interested in working with all suppliers. We do reject
a fair share of suppliers who we feel will not be able to meet standards
or meet expectations. I would challenge you to do the same as your evaluate
sources and look a products/suppliers/categories. Suppliers can apply
directly at: http://smb.doba.com/suppliers.
Finally, remember that while on boarding may seem simple and even though
a supplier may be technically sophisticated; there are always other
projects, complications, vacations, etc that cause delays. Plan ahead.
Christmas buying season starts in a few months – if you want suppliers
on boarded on Doba to sell this Christmas, then get started sooner rather
than later.
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.
eBay Live! 2008 Chicago: Come See Doba in the Windy City
In the month of June, Doba will be exhibiting at two trade shows held
in the McCormick Center in Chicago: Internet
Retailer and eBay Live!
Both are great shows. If you plan on attending either one, stop by our
booth to chat, give us feedback, or just to say hi. Hope to see you
there!
Partner Highlight
3XP
WebSolutions
3XP Web Solutions gives you everything you need to start an online business
in one complete and easy system, including a web store and a merchant
account so you can accept credit cards. Best of all it is seamlessly
integrated with the Doba product catalog! Also included are traffic
analysis tools, search engine submission, domain name registration,
multi-tiered affiliate program, and more. Click
here to view 3XP's special offer for Doba members!
Member Q&A: "How do the new eBay changes affect me selling
on eBay?"
By Rick Limon
In this month’s Q&A, I will take a look at the recent policy
changes eBay announced and how they affect retailers. On May 19, 2008,
John McDonald, Sr. Director of US Trust & Safety for eBay, announced
changes to eBay policy. The full announcement may be viewed at the eBay
Community General Announcements page.
The changes announced include a New Links Policy, the end of Mystery
Auctions, the removal of the Choice and Multiple Items listings policy,
as well as changes to the Search & Browse Policy and the Best Match
search feature. The question most frequently asked is “How do
these changes affect me selling on eBay?” We will cover the changes
that most affect our retailers.
New Links Policy
Beginning in July, sellers will no longer be able to link from any
eBay page to any site off of eBay that offers a product or service for
sale. In addition, this new policy requires that sellers include all
information relevant to the item being sold within the item description.
This means that sellers will no longer be able to link to their websites
from their About Me page.
Choice and Multiple Items Listings
You may now offer your customers a choice for items you sell, in one
listing. If you are selling shoes, for example, you may put up one listing
giving your customer the choice of size or color. If you offer a choice,
you are required to deliver the buyer’s selection so you should
only offer choices you have available for sale.
Beginning in June, you may now have unlimited amounts of identical
listings. eBay use to limit you to 15 identical listings for an item.
That limit is no longer in effect.
Here is a link to the FAQ for the new changes: http://pages.ebay.com/sell/May2008Update/FAQ/.
In addition, eBay has come out with an expanded version of the Seller
Dashboard. The dashboard gives you more information about where you
stand in regards to your Detailed Seller’s Ratings (DSR) and your
seller performance.
It is important to be aware of eBay’s policies and to stay in
compliance with them. This will allow you to sell on the largest retail
marketplace on the internet.
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.
About the Author:
Rick Limon is an eBay Certified Consultant and an Account Manager
for Doba. Working directly with new online retailers, Rick assists retailers
in meeting their business specific goals by helping them take full advantage
of the resources and services Doba offers. Rick holds experience as
a Behavior Specialist and Mental Health Worker with Lackland ISD, Southwest
Mental Health Center, and Parent Child Incorporated.
Partner Highlight
BlueHost
BlueHost has been hosting business and personal web sites since 1996.
They currently host over 500,000 websites. BlueHost provides 300 GB
of Space, 3000 GB of Transfer, Free Domain, Unlimited Addon Domains,
2500 POP Emails, Webmail, and much, much
more for only $6.95 a month!
Supplier Information: New Suppliers Added to the Doba Product
Catalog
Starting 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 1 new wholesale supplier and
manufacturer to the Doba Catalog:
Sea
- Manufacture of Air-Trekkers jumping stilts.
Doba has
updated their privacy policy. Click
here to read Doba's updated Privacy Policy.
|
