August 2009

We want to know what you want to know! Email education@doba.com with your suggestions of what you want to see in future issues of the Doba eNewsletter.

	Featured Article: eBay Announces More Changes in 2009 eBay makes changes to improve their marketplace for sellers of all sizes.
	Marketplace Spotlight: Merchandising and Marketing - Back to School Jeff Knight, Doba's Vice President of Marketplace, discusses the online retail marketplace.
	Member Q&A: Understanding Doba's Order Process Kay Russon, Doba's Support Team Lead and technical liaison, explains the steps involved in an order placed from Doba's product catalog. Do you have a question you want answered? Email education@doba.com.
	Supplier Information: New Suppliers and Products from the Doba Product Catalog Expand your niche with new products and suppliers added to the Doba Product Catalog.

Featured Article: eBay Announces More Changes in 2009

by Jake Sabey, Educational Specialist - Doba

In efforts to improve their marketplace for sellers of all sizes, eBay announced more changes that will launch in the end of September and begining of October (Click here to view the original announcement). These changes are steps toward rewarding great service, to bring in more sells sells and increase profitability, and help retail businesses succeed.

These are the areas that will be updated:

Rewards for sellers delivering great buyer experiences
Enhanced search presents more relevant listings
Easier, more profitable selling on eBay

(Click here for more update details)

How does this affect you as a Doba member and online retailer in the eBay marketplace? It is important to familiarize yourself with these updates and change accordingly to make your eBay buying and selling experience a successful one. The more you know the marketplace, the easier it will be to plan, organize, and execute effective business strategies.

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

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!

Marketplace Spotlight: Merchandising and Marketing - Back to School

By Jeff Knight, Vice President of Marketplace - Doba

As the end of summer approaches, students will soon be returning to school and this presents many great merchandising opportunities for the Internet retailer. When I speak to a lot of our retailers and manufacturers and I ask about back to school merchandising, I am surprised that a majority of them think largely of large ticket, parent-oriented opportunities and neglect to consider the 18+ year old, internet savvy, college bound shoppers and opportunities that appeal in both style and price, to this demographic.

My background falls in the computer and consumer electronic industries. The companies I have worked for have enjoyed the boost in computer and laptop sales that occur in the back to school season. While I wouldn’t ignore opportunities to sell larger ticket items, such as laptops, MP3 players, etc., you should also consider selling items that appeal directly to the college student. While some generations have remained cautious, skeptical buyers on the internet – the college age demographic has largely grown up immersed in a internet world and grown increasing comfortable with making choices, (e.g. purchases) that allow them to personalize, and accessorize their environment.

The idea is simple – instead of concentrating on the selling the xBox 360 – considering focusing on the faceplates, the cable organizers and travel aids. When you look at selling home furnishings look towards flat packed, ready-to-assemble hip, urban, size sensitive items with several color and fabric options. If you need inspiration, look to world-renowned retailer, IKEA who does a great job of merchandising and creating furnishing that is geared towards the space and price sensitive demographics. Sports fan and licensed goods present opportunities in everything from NFL team logo’ed decorations to college tailgating accessories. If a logo can be stamped, printed, stickered, embossed, or engraved onto the item – rest assured that there is a sport fan oriented item that can be sold.

I wrote in a previous Marketplace Spotlight about considering bundling and add-on items when selling to consumers. There are similar opportunities available for the college bound consumer. Quick ideas include dorm-room appliance essential packages that maybe include a small coffee maker, microwave and hotplate. Consider a laptop essentials bundle that includes a variety of accessories, cables, adapters, organization options and maybe a cold pack for carrying a lunch. Who knows? Be creative and see what works.

Finally, be conscious of the ever-increasing demand for earth-friendly, ethical and socio-geographic concerned consumers. In the last 2-3 years there has been trend in consumers looking for products that appeal to a higher sense of obligation to the causes and beliefs they hold important. Luckily in home furnishings, there are species of Bamboo and Teak that are not only renewable, green sources of wood but also employ artisans and as it turns out, ‘Green’ wood is affordable. I am not saying that a bamboo desk will compete on price against a glue and pressed particle board desk but I think you will be surprised at how little monetary difference there is overall and how many customers will gladly pay the difference.

As I have written before in this series, always be on look out for opportunities to differentiate you and your merchandising from the pack. While this article was specifically written on opportunities concerning college bound consumers – I could have just as easily written the article about wedding seasons, NASCAR fans, birding in North America or any specific economic demographic. The point stays the same – look for merchandising and marketing opportunities that tie your products and retail presence to the right audience.

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

LotusJump
A solution to help small to mid-sized businesses do their own SEO, without having to outsource to expensive agencies. LotusJump shows you how and where to build links, join in online conversations and boost your web presence â€” with the end result of better web site rankings and traffic. Try the tool that John Jantsch, Author of Duct Tape Marketing, referred to as a "gold mine." Exclusive offer for Doba clients: Sign up today and get a FREE 10-Point SEO Analysis! ($100 value!)

Member Q&A: Understanding Doba's Order Process

By Kay Russon, Technical Liason and Support Team Lead - Doba

It is important to understand the process an order goes through when ordered on Doba's website. In this article I would like to take some of the mystery of how that happens, explaining what goes on behind the scenes. Knowing the steps an order takes will give you a better understanding of your order status and prepare you to communicate to your customers with order information.

The Doba Order Process

When you hit that 'Place Order' button in the shopping cart of Doba's site, the order begins order procedure. First, the order is checked through Doba's system for a number of things like a valid SKU number, address, and payment for the order. If an error is encountered, then order will manually be reviewed by a member of Doba's Fulfillment team. If you happen to check the status of your order at this time, you may see ‘order is being reviewed’. Not to worry, all orders are reviewed and it takes a very short time. If things are OK, the order is sent to the supplier.

Suppliers Order Processing

After a review by Doba, the order is sent to the supplier for review and fulfillment. Each supplier in Doba's product catalog have different methods and practices in processing/fulfilling your order.

Distributor/Suppliers
On one end of the scale you have the large distributors/suppliers (like Diamond) that have multiple warehouses around the United States carrying thousands of products and are highly automated in both getting their orders from Doba and processing those orders.
Manufactures
On the other end you have the small manufacturer, possibly working out of their garage, making Indian jewelry items and putting them in Doba's catalog. He has no automated process and has to connect to Doba to get his orders. He may wait until he has an order to build the product. These variables may effect the order processing time. This is why each supplier has a posted processing time in the 'Order Details' section of the product.

Once the supplier receives the order, they review it to verify a valid SKU number for product availability and correct price. After it passes review, the supplier will accept the order and send it to shipping. Suppliers may reject an order because the product may be out of stock, discontinued or not fulfillable. An order that is not fulfillable is usually due to a price increase and they can no longer sell it at the price listed in the order.

Now that the supplier has accepted your order and fulfilled, it enters a processing flow and is given to the carrier to be shipped to your buyer. You are then emailed the tracking number and the order is on its way.

One thing you must remember, eBay may be open 24 hours a day but suppliers are not. They normally work 5 days a week and have set business hours. So an order that gets placed late on Friday night will not get picked up by the supplier until they start business on Monday. If you are on the Seattle and place the order at 4:00 pm and the supplier is in New Jersey, they are already closed. Also, money that is transferred from the end buyer to you and then to Doba and the supplier, moves according to the banking schedules.

So, you may ask, how long does all this take? In visiting with Jeff Knight, Doba’s Vice President of Marketplace, he explained that over the last couple of years, the orders ship on average in 2.5 calendar days or less. Yes, there are exceptions, when it may take longer, but your customer should receive their product fairly quickly.

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:

Kay “Papa” Russon is an eBay Certified Consultant, Customer Service Team Lead, and technical liaison for Doba. His knowledge, experience, and expertise assist retailers daily in running a successful online business. Before Doba, Kay was a team leader, supervisor, trainer and manager for World Support, Digital Equipment Corp., Digital Remote, SBC, AT&T, Macromedia, Sun Microsystems, and Motorola and served in the Army National Guard.

Partner Highlight

ProStores, an eBay company, enables small- and medium-sized businesses to sell products and services online through a completely customizable virtual storefront at their own internet domain, accelerating the growth and profitability of their overall business and extending their brand online. Use Doba's Push to MarketPlace tool to push Doba products directly in to your ProStores webstore. Free one month trial!

Supplier Information: New Suppliers and Products from 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 new wholesale suppliers and manufacturer to the Doba Catalog:

Beethoven - From puzzles to puppets, plush to play food, magnetic activities, music, and more, Melissa & Doug is one of the leading designers and manufacturers of educational toys and children's products. Started in 1988 in their garage, Melissa & Doug has something for everyone, with nearly 800 unique and exciting products for children of all ages!