Running an online business from home is no small feat, especially for busy moms who have to balance family, chores, and work. It can get pretty overwhelming. That’s where multi-channel selling comes into the picture.
By selling your products on different platforms, you can reach a maximum number of buyers and increase your store sales without overexerting resources. Let’s explore how multi-channel selling can simplify your online business and why it is a game-changer for the home-based mompreneur.
Why Multi-Channel Selling Matters for Busy Moms
Managing a business online is demanding, more so if you are a mother. Your schedule includes taking children to school, planning for meals, and, in between all this, getting down to work.
You enjoy operating your own business and want it to expand, but you cannot afford to spare hours on marketing or reposting the same items on several platforms.
That is where multi-channel selling comes in handy. For example, perhaps you work mainly in an office but have a small business on Etsy selling handmade jewelry. You’re performing ok, but you would like to expand past the current customer base.
Why not open an account on eBay, Amazon, and even Facebook marketplace to reach new customers? Out of the box thinking, isn’t it?
Simplifying Inventory Management Across Platforms
One of the biggest headaches in multi-channel selling has got to be inventory management. You might ask yourself: “If I’m listing the same items on different platforms, what happens if they sell out on one site?”
This is where it gets tricky. Overselling can lead to unhappy customers and negative reviews. On the other hand, manually updating each platform every time you sell an item is exhausting.
This is where inventory management tools come in handy. Platforms like Crosslist.com, Vendoo, and other Vendoo alternatives allow you to list, sync, and manage inventory from a single dashboard.
Streamlining Sales and Order Fulfillment
Another headache with multi-channel selling is the order fulfillment part. Once these orders begin coming in from every direction, one can scarcely keep up.
Try to imagine having to pore over a dozen or so different email notifications and trying to make sense of it all—who ordered what, where it needs to go. Not only does this eat away at valuable time, but it opens the door to mistakes.
Happily for the seller, most multichannel selling tools have a way of providing centralized order management. Your orders on eBay, Etsy, and Amazon all show up in one location where you can print shipping labels, track shipments, and even communicate with customers on one dashboard.
Reducing Time Spent on Marketing and Listing
Your business marketing is, or should be, crucial in the growth of your business, and let’s just put it quite frankly here: it can be a full-time job.
Sometimes, you may be writing descriptions and taking quality photos, among other things, for hours on end. Multi-channel selling platforms make it so easy since you get to make listings from one place with just a few button clicks.
You could use templates for the listing descriptions and stop having to write a different one for every different platform. Suppose you sell vintage clothing; a cross-listing tool like Crosslist.com lists that 80s denim jacket on Poshmark, eBay, and Depop all at once.
Boosting Visibility Without Extra Effort
One of the main advantages of multi-channel selling is increased visibility. Each platform has its own audience. Etsy brings in the handmade enthusiast, and eBay and Amazon cater to the bargain hunters and mainstream shoppers. You increase that reach with a few additional efforts by listing your products on multiple channels.
For instance, a busy mom selling customized children’s clothes on Etsy will soon realize her items are also selling off well on Facebook Marketplace.
This vendor at least stands a better chance of making a sale by putting up the same items on both platforms.
Balancing Work and Family Life
Another of the huge advantages of selling on multiple channels is the time you save. By using platforms that handle inventory management, order fulfillment, and even marketing, so much time is freed up each week.
This is priceless for busy moms trying to juggle work and family life. Imagine putting your business onto autopilot for an extra few hours in the day while you spend much-needed time helping with homework or attending a school event.
Winding Up
Multichannel selling is not all about having more sales; it is about making life so much easier. With the right tools and strategies, one can simplify this into an easier workflow—a less stressful workflow that allows one to spend more time focusing on what one loves.
Whether a mompreneur selling handcrafted items or running a vintage clothing shop, multichannel selling could be a potent tool for thriving.