This is my journey as an E-commerce Consultant
Consultancy
Freakishly Narrow Shoes on eBay and knowing your MARKET…
430 days
I like shoes, nay…I am obsessed with shoes so I end up buying lots on eBay.
A friend of mine sent a link through from a Chinese seller of seemingly fabulous looking shoes and this was the link: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Show-Story-Shop
Oh dear, I thought – I am supposed to be saving money…oh well just one pair….
So I took at look at the size 7′s. I have wide feet as a general rule so always look for measurements on width and got a bit of a shock..
All of the shoes have a width of 7cm, regardless of being a size 3 or a size 7.5.
Unfortunately in the UK, length is the only standard for shoe size but these dimensions are crazy, but being a scientist I need to make sure this wasn’t just MY assumption. So upon going shopping I decided to visit Next and measure the width of a ‘normal’ size 7 shoe.
It was 9cm.
So upon getting home I started to madly measure shoe widths and yes, the smallest shoe width for a size 7 was just over 8cm for my rocket dog wedges.
Now, if this seller (and sellers similar) wanted to clean up with their cut price fancy shoes they really need to think about the product and sizing. These shoes are too narrow for the western market after a size 4 and they are limiting themselves to people with very narrow feet. My sister is one such person, however at a size 6, 7cm width is still too narrow to be able to feel comfortable or not stretch the shoes.
For comparison Japanese Zori at 23.5cm long (UK size 4) are about 8cm wide, smallest I have seen have been 7.5cm wide. Japanese kimono zori are suppose to be smaller as it is ‘iki’ or fashionable.
The moral of the story is to check your product is fit for your target market. No marketing strategy or SEO techniques will gloss over that one. If it looks like a shoe, it doesn’t mean it will function like a shoe for you. Another one is always read the description, I would have been red mad if I had brought a pair and missed the width sizing.
Facebook E-commerce and the UK in financial freefall…
505 days
Is it just me or has there been a steady rise in anarchy in the UK? Money is always the cause.
Over the snowed in December, I was informed by almost all of my service related companies energy, insurance etc that the VAT was rising AND their prices were going up. The largest increase was my pet insurance at 25%. I just hope the car insurance doesn’t follow suit!
So as my family costs per month rise a further £211 (I kid not, family of two adults, two cats, one car) what will this do to my spending in 2011? I, like most who probably read this blog make money from or as an on-line retailer. The VAT rise will slow everyone’s spending in the New Year on face value, at least until they forget it happened. But the increase will squeeze the ever dwindling household budgets and affect spending. In this environment I imagine we shall see an actual increase in on-line spending. Why?
1. Online ‘sales’ are ALL YEAR ROUND baby..
2. Choice
3. Easy to price compare
4. No parking fees
5. Fast and competitive shipping
Now, I hear you say ..well you have to pay shipping on top! True, true, there is a shipping cost. But if I go to Birmingham by car, the cheapest car park is around £6 and the most I have paid is £11. I have to carry the heavy stuff home if I want to be cheap and take the train at £4.
Facebook is getting in on the e-commerce action, fan pages are coming with buy buttons and featuring eBay listings. You have been able to have your Etsy store showcased on Facebook for a while. This is now not a nice addition to your business model it is essential. I communicate kimono buys and bargains to my kimono friends via facebook, at least once a week. One friend mentioned that she has brought two of the items I posted to my profile.
On the flip side, I have been stalking the sales on Rakuten with my friends and we have all been recommending things to each other. This is the future of shopping.
I hope I will have more time this year to blog on the changing face of e-commerce. I have separated out my kimono blogging to a new site so you won’t be troubled by that obsession.
My sideline e-commerce business Hairfreax has started the year with a waiting list, booked up till mid April already! Its going to be a defining year for e-commerce. I am excited!
A bit random on the blogging side of things, but I am striding forward into a new genre/customer base in April for the Hairfreax brand. I will document the successes and pitfalls or hitting a new audience!
We have *love* – we are someone’s favourite!!
525 days
OK, well due to being busy I have not blogged in a while. I am still here, still e-commercing and will do more updates soon.
But in the meantime we have been given some love:
http://www.onlineaccountingdegree.org/best-ecommerce-blogs
I have more blog posts up my sleeves ready for publishing but I imagine it will be over Christmas when I will release the content with a reflection on my year as an e-commerce nut and also consultant.
Channeladvisor Insite Birmingham..no Manchester…
636 days
Channeladvisor insite is back with us again a month earlier in September. Better for the Christmas rush but maybe the timing is why the Birmingham event has had to be cancelled. But no fear, Manchester is not far away so I shall be attending the Manchester event!
Ebay is doing some funky (and possible flunky knowing eBay) things in the next 12 months, changing the customer experience, fiddling with the feedback and unpaid item process, writing bad automated emails that you can’t change….
The double edged sword in this mix is the eBay shopping cart. On one side its a big ‘YAY’ finally eBay has done this but a big…hmmmm as third party checkouts will be banned from June next year.
We knew that things would get difficult but as an eBay buyer this is a good move, the eBay checkout process is familiar and quick. On the other hand as a seller, third party checkouts let you use other card payment systems other than paypal. From next June it will just be known that you use Paypal for eBay and that’s it.
eBay wants the money to keep within its walls, it has more control over it that way, it can refund a buyer and take the money away from the seller at its own discretion. eBay wants a dictatorship and not a democracy.
Will this totalitarian eBay control be a good thing or bad thing? We can only wait and see, its only the kind of control Amazon has over its sellers and that’s doing okay for itself.
However this move might take eBay away from its community routes which made it great, and this is a shame.
Is this freedom of community a little to hard to control now the hyperweb has become so big? Fraud, privacy and security always feature in the news to terrify people and I wwould like to hear eBay speak at insite about its direction and why it has taken those decisions.
Two great forces on the interweb for me are Amazon and Ratuken which operate a shopping cart. Rakuten are going from strength to strength.
Rakuten are a big lust for me with a fantastic kimono section and for a English site just machine translated is surprisingly not that complicated to buy from. I do think we shall see more of this marketplace in the western hemisphere with their acquisition of things over this way 
Rakuten, make sure you let your shop owners have a unique design…I could do with making money from you to buy more kimono stuffs….and err…lets sort that shipping out its like a black hole when you buy if you don’t know how much things cost to be shipped from Japan 
*edited to remove the over use of the word ‘however’
Why you should sponsor Channeladvisor Catalyst…
768 days
I did think about writing what was learnt at CA catalyst this year, but as Tamebay do this already – I thought I would put my sponsor head on and detail for potential new sponsors why Createyourtemplate has bothered these past 3 years
1. The food – you are always fed ‘n’ watered well as a sponsor and attendee at Channeladvisor events. This year we had more time for the feeding process (which so happened to be in the room with all the sponsors) so as people eat they like to talk, so potential clients will wander round with their coffee chatting to other attendees and to the sponsors.
2. Other third party providers – Catalyst is always good to catch up with our fellow third party providers and competitors (Grrrrr…arrrrg) to see how they are fairing in business and exchange experiences.
In the Channeladvisor world the third party provider space is not that huge, so we all get to know one another. When you have a network of trusted service providers you can recommend to your existing clients, we all bounce off one another. Even companies who on the face of it are direct competitors, are not normally carbon copies of each other. They can offer and lend services so that the client gets what they need.
3. Other third party providers, that don’t sponsor also attend the event – I negotiated a nice deal and introduction to a newer marketplace (playtrade) that would suit the direction one of my clients is taking. He will be happy with this
4. Potential clients – it’s why us sponsors go really, to get business. The good thing with potential and current ChannelAdvisor clients is that they are pre qualified. When you are speaking to a potential they are interested in moving forward and contracting a company to make this happen.
5. Networking – Talking e-commerce with a few free alcoholic beverages in you is fun. You meet new friends and clients in a more relaxed atmosphere.
6. Ideas – potential clients are brimming with ideas, information and enthusiasm after all the seminars and speakers. They are in the MOOD, and ready to make waves with the help of us sponsors perhaps?
7. CA Staff – I spoke to lots of CA staff, to catch up with personally and to speak about clients. Lots of new introductions too. I had a demo of their new ‘salesforce’ offering which a client of mine wants us to integrate in his store and eBay design. I also got a pair of fresh eyes on a clients SearchAdvisor account because it is driving sales and traffic to a store designed by us. We want the store to be excellent in all things and we take conversion very seriously
Well that is what as a sponsor and eBay/E-commerce design company, CA catalyst means to me.
