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Nancy L. Hix continues her series on Storefronts for online-auction sellers. To read her first installments covering eBay Stores, go to:
eBay Stores Part I: Setting up an eBay Store
and
eBay Stores Part 2: Seven Ways to Promote Your eBay Store
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"A seller wishing to open an online Store can do it affordably with Vendio," says Dean Vest, a Vendio merchant at http://shop.vendio.com/EveryThingAndMore2004 where he lists his inventory of Videos, CDs, and DVDs. One glance at his Store is enough to reveal that Vendio provides a powerful seller tool. According to Kevin Wray, Vice President of Marketing at Vendio, thousands of Vendio merchants have opened Stores. Looks like Vendio's got the right idea: list your inventory at your Vendio Store and link to your eBay, Amazon, and Yahoo auctions as well - all on the same page.
In addition to his inventory, catching my eye at Dean's Store was the Auction Gallery box where he links to his Internet auctions. Clicking on "eBay Auctions" brings up an index of his eBay listings, where you can click directly over to the eBay auction page to place a bid or Buy-It-Now. This also works for your Amazon and Yahoo auctions. Select the option and an index link for those listings appears in the Auction Gallery box.
There's also an intriguing mailing list tool in the Customer Resources box. Customers who want more information about the seller's products can sign up to receive email updates from that seller. This gives Vendio merchants an opportunity to keep their customers informed of new products, promotions, and special offers; knowing that when they send the email it will be received by someone who requested it.
As a Vendio Store merchant, you have a few other advantages. For starters, you can showcase your auctions in a photo gallery. You'll also have a unique URL assigned to your Store with which you can create the usual array of Web links wherever you wish to promote your Store. You can also create item associations that become upsells - more on that in a bit. Meanwhile, let's not overlook the fact that Froogle contains links to Vendio Store items. "Since Froogle is emerging as a shopping destination that buyers are using with increased frequency," says Kevin Wray, "all of our Store items are indexed daily to help drive additional traffic to our merchants - at no extra charge."
OK, we're interested. Just how do you set up a Vendio Store? First, visit http://shop.vendio.com/my/shop/promo_st.html and register with Vendio (heads up on the trial offers). Once you're sold on the idea, select your merchant service monthly plan: Bronze, Silver, or Gold. Each plan requires a monthly fee, and for each item sold you'll pay a sales fee. Base your plan selection on your average item sales price and monthly sales volume. Here's a notable eBay contrast: you don't pay any insertion fee for Vendio Store listings - you only pay if you sell an item.
The Bronze plan works well for lower-priced items. The final value fee is 1% of the selling price but never more than $4.95 for each sale. The Silver and Gold plans are flat rate plans; these are both viable options if you list pricey items. For the Silver plan at $9.95 per month, you pay $.20 per sold item regardless of the sale price. With the Gold plan you'll pay $.10 per sale with a $14.95 monthly fee.
Next, you'll set up shop with help from the Vendio Stores Wizard. You can customize your Store with contact links; your policies for taxes, shipping, and return policies; logo and color scheme; and item categories that you create. Customizing your Store can be wise. "We allow sellers to use their own logos," says Wray, "because we feel it facilitates merchandising familiarity. This graphically ties the same logo wherever the seller has a presence on the Internet."
Be prepared to enter a name, welcome message, and searchable keywords for your Store at setup time.
"I was able to set up my Vendio Store just by reading the Help pages," said Dean. "I printed them out and had them next to me as I went step by step." Got questions? According to Dean, you'll get answers. "I also found that Vendio has good customer support via email. The only flaw in the program that I've noticed so far is when the customer doesn't follow directions."
Now back to upsells - what exactly are they? Most of us are familiar with the checkout process. Vendio's upsell engine provides the buyer with links to similar items for sale by the same merchant. "This upsell ability is one of the best reasons to own a Vendio Store," says Wray. "Winning auction bidders who go through the Vendio Checkout process will be able to browse related items at the point of purchase. It's quite easy for a buyer to add Vendio Store items to their shopping carts at Checkout along with the item they won at auction. By channeling all your auction traffic through your Vendio Store, you can maximize the value of every auction buyer." The upsell feature is also a powerful tool for those "ask the seller" questions. In addition to answering questions, you might upsell prospective bidders to items more to their liking.
Unlike randomly generated upsell links, the Vendio upsells typically map to items similar to the one just purchased. The seller creates the link associations when he or she lists the item. "This association mapping is part of my inventory setup," explained Dean. "When I list each item, I promote additional items by clicking on the "Promote" button, selecting items to associate with it, and then clicking on "Save." For me, this is a powerful use for my Vendio Store!"
So how do buyers who normally shop the auction venues get to your Vendio Store? Vendio sellers can link to their galleries from their eBay listings with a link-coded icon. When the buyer clicks the icon, he or she sees that index of eBay auctions also seen when visiting the Auction Gallery link. From that index page, clicking on the Home tab takes buyers right to the seller's Vendio Store. Eyebrows raised? No need. "We respectfully abide by eBay's two-click rule," assured Vendio's Wray.
Seeking other ways to promote your Vendio venture? Since each Store has a unique URL, you can publish it wherever you're prone to including Web links. And don't overlook the advantage in having your items indexed by Google as a service included with your Vendio Store merchant plan.
Is a Vendio Store worth your time? Dean thinks so. "A person who wants to do an online store can do it affordably with Vendio. What you put into it is what you get out of it."
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