Why is multichannel such a vital topic to cover right now? As a seller or brand, you are no stranger to the current concern of inventory issues and shipping delays. These concerns have driven many to reconsider their ecommerce strategy to include multichannel selling if they were not already doing so. 

Cameron Yoder, Senior Manager of Content and Community, sat down with Nicole Kapopoulos, Account Team Lead here at Teikametrics, to dive into the hot topic of multichannel selling and why so many sellers are starting, or continuing, to add this to their business’s ecommerce strategy. 

Prefer to watch the interview? Check out the full video below. 

Why Multichannel? 

As we watch Amazon continue to grow and dominate the space, there is more and more competition on the marketplace. Additionally, CPCs continue to rise year over year. Last year, our team saw an increase of around 40% on CPCs. As more sellers continue to enter the market, CPCs will likely continue to naturally rise.

If one platform is starting to get more competitive, it makes sense to consider other platforms. With the caveat being that the traffic on this new platform.  

Adding a marketplace comes with many perks. Most marketplaces have less competition comparatively, allowing for CPC efficiencies. 

Let’s dive into Walmart, the growing player in the ecommerce ecosystem. This marketplace is doing a lot to grow its ecommerce business and boasting the traffic to show that. Walmart has the advantage of brick-and-mortar stores for online pickup on top of its online marketplace, which generates an increased incentive for consumers to buy knowing they have the option to pick up in-store if desired. 

It is important to note that with new platforms come new processes. These marketplaces are not set up for sellers to copy and paste their strategy across platforms and still see success. With Walmart comes different consumer behavior and different pricing strategies. 

Multichannel Strategies To Know 

When heading into the multichannel approach, be flexible and keep an open mind. The good thing about ecommerce is that performance is visible quickly and allows for shifts accordingly. 

Next, think through which products and verticals make sense for different marketplaces. Not every product will see major success on every platform due to the variation in consumer demand. For instance, Walmart tends to have lower grocery, tech, and home goods pricing. Because of this, it might make sense to test out Walmart if you are a seller in those verticals because it indicates high consumer demand. 

Diving into advertising on Walmart, our team has seen that auto campaigns tend to drive the most traffic on Walmart.  If you’re a seller just starting on the platform, begin by utilizing auto campaigns, then building out from there and watching performance over a couple of months. 

Another advantage Walmart has when testing out the platform is drilling down to device types for bid modifiers. 

Wondering how long you should test your products on another platform? This varies based on the product and category. Our experts suggest at least three months because it takes time for new campaigns to ramp up and optimize once that data is there. 

The Big Picture of Multichannel 

Stepping away from Walmart as a platform, what other marketplaces will be significant for the multichannel approach? Instacart is a big platform to watch for those in the grocery or household vertical. The convenience of grocery delivery has become a significant staple in consumer behavior since the beginning of 2020. Other than Instacart, the big marketplaces to keep your eye on are eBay and Target.  

eBay and Target are both marketplaces that Teikametrics already has on our radar so be sure to check out our other multichannel content if you are thinking about expanding your business into one of these marketplaces. 

The bottom line is the state of ecommerce today has brought more channels than ever before for consumers to buy products and brands to sell. Between Amazon, Walmart, Target, eBay, and many more, the opportunity for explosive growth through multichannel sales is immense. Don’t miss out on this opportunity.