5 Reasons You Need a Strategic Selling Partner to Scale Your Online Business

Dec. 16

We get it. You want to sell your products to as many distributors/partners as possible. Who doesn’t like more sales? However, there are reasons why offline retail strategies may not align as you think they would when you are trying to adapt to online retail in a post-covid era.

1. The Selling Landscape: In the offline retail scenario, it was important to be able to reach customers across states and even countries. The best way to do that was to find distributors across different regions who would then be able to offer your products to the customers in those regions quickly and at best prices. Online retail is different. eCcommerce marketplaces and websites are targeting customers across states and countries and all the distributors/partners begin fighting for the same pool of customers. This results in undercutting each other’s promises on marketplaces to win the sale, ultimately impacting the shopping experience.

2. Brand Experience: With multiple sellers trying to represent your brand on different marketplaces, they might misrepresent key details about your products, your brand story, or the softer aspects of the experience that make your brand unique. With a strategic seller, you can easily manage your content, prices, and brand story and plan your brand stores, etc. on marketplaces. You can hold them accountable for the missed promises to ensure that the customer is not associating the poor experience with the brand itself.

3. Price War and Future Unknown Issues: This is one of the biggest concerns. As mentioned earlier, to win the customer there is often an unhealthy price war on marketplaces that can seriously drive the perceived price down for the brand. There have been past cases where suppliers/distributors engaged in selling counterfeit products to be able to drive the price down (remember Nike and CK?). Sellers can make big promises to customers and not deliver. For example, delivery promise, freebies, and coupons. They may engage in practices that are against the policies of key marketplaces such as Amazon or Walmart. A strategic seller gives you full control over managing your prices, experience, and any unknown issues that may arise in the future. They are expected to be your experts in marketplaces.

4. Consistency Along with Concentrated Approach: With everything mentioned above, you also need a strategic seller that can provide you with the right data and the support that can allow you to forecast and plan your business for achieving long-term goals. Predictability in the business allows you to make the right investments, hire the right team members, and plan budgets for various spends.

5. Shared Knowledge: A strategic seller usually works with multiple brands in a similar industry that you operate in. This doubles down on the knowledge you can get into your business and almost acts as a consultant that can guide you with helpful advice while driving towards the next big goals. Who wouldn’t want that?

In conclusion, a strategic seller isn’t just a product reseller for you but a trusted partner who can drive your business forward. They are someone that aligns with your needs and listens to you, a solution that is getting difficult for individual businesses to pursue as major marketplaces continue to grow and complexities expand.

This blog was written by Mahesh Wani, Account Director at Cymax Group Technologies.

Cymax Group Technologies is a leading eCommerce technology and logistics services platform for furniture vendors and retailers. www.cymaxgroup.com

Zoe Zettel