The company is a supplier of carpets. Most of the sales are done with wholesale, but there is a lot of work being done via webshop on e-bay. Now, the issue arises as it happens often that the goods from the webshop suddenly run out-of stock and the customers are let down. We still don't use any software for tracking but are slowly moving towards that modernisation. In the meantime, what do you suggest?
Setting up a proper accounting system should be your #1 priority. There are many services such as Webgility that will sync your inventory with Quickbooks, Xero, etc and all of your sales channels (ebay, ecommerce, etsy, etc).
Great, I recently worked with a non profit who sells Pashmina shawls from kashmir on ebay and also to European suppliers (wholesale). Luckily they were using magento kind of platform that offers multiple customer account types (for wholesalers and retailers).
This is an integration question. How do you integrate your ebay selling event to your inventory (inhouse / cloud) systems.
Option 1 - Hire a freelance and build a hook using EBAY api - http://developer.ebay.com/devzone/guides/ebayfeatures/Notifications/Notif-ItemSold.html
OR 'Out of stock API
http://developer.ebay.com/devzone/guides/ebayfeatures/Development/Listings-UseOutOfStock.html
Option 2 - Wait for Zapier web hooks. It is in their wish list.
Option 3 - Some scraping hacks :-) Not the best way but definitely a TACTICAL way to see if th product is in stock on not...
Option 1 is the neatest one and scalable.
Are you using a online/saas product for your wholesale business.. Just curious ...
If you need any help in implementations/online-presence strategies..let me know. Happy to speak !!
I think getting a software system to track current inventory should be your #1 priority.
We use StitchLabs and love it. It would connect to your eBay store and allow you to create wholesale invoices that would all pull from the same inventory.
Hi, I am a business performance expert with over 25 years of experience doing this kind of work you are asking for.
If your systems cannot keep your online store stocked, and your customers are leaving, you have a BIG problem that threatens the existence of your business.
We live in a world today where people want what they want NOW and not later. They won't buy if they can't get it NOW.
Automation of your inventory management is a must or you will lose business. I'm sorry to be so blunt, but in the world of internet sales, customers pay by the click and if they are not clicking, you need to react FAST!
I suggest you automate and properly stock your in demand merchandise or you will not have a business in the very near future. If you need to finance the right information system, I suggest you get on it right away.
Good Luck!
