Multi Channel Ecommerce Software – Review of Top 5 Services

 

Are you selling ecommerce products on multiple platforms such as your WordPress site, ebay, Shopify, Amazon, etc? If so you know first hand that keeping up with inventory syncing, selling products on multiple platforms, managing sales, and so on can get very burdensome very quickly. The solution to that overwhelm is using what we call multi channel ecommerce software services.

What Is Multi Channel eCommerce?

Using the power of systems to automate the retailing of 100’s to 1,000’s of products across many platforms all at once is what multi-channel ecommerce software can do for you. Manually selling and managing the sales of thousands of products is far too time consuming (aka a recipe for burn out!)

These automated sales systems are also called Software As A Service (SaaS). That means you do not need to download the service to your computer to use it. Instead you use their 3rd party software as a service in the cloud or strictly online.

Major Benefits of Multi-Channel Sales Systems

In 2017, total global ecommerce sales were estimated to be $2.3 trillion; that’s a $500 billion increase from 2016. By 2021, that number is estimated to be close to $4.9 trillion.

Yet channel loyalty is a thing of the past when buying products. A total of 81% of online shoppers research products before purchasing.

Roughly 50% of all sales on Amazon come from third party sellers. And consumer surveys have indicated that customers are three times more likely to purchase from multiple sources than a single seller. All of which indicates that consumers are becoming much more shrewd in their choice of storefronts.

And few businesses (perhaps with the exception of box retailers) can afford to forego leveraging the power of multi channel ecommerce storefronts if they hope to compete.

But when it comes to multi channel ecommerce software comparisons, dropship retailers are wary of claims. And with good reason. Many are unaware that not all are fully integrated.

Besides the benefit of staying competitive, here are 6 more reasons to be using a multi ecommerce channel service:

1. sync product across many selling platforms
2. avoid the hassle of manually posting products
3. automatically updates product data feeds
4. syncs inventory totals for products
5. simplifies all order management across all platforms
6. manage shipping options in one place

If you’re presently dividing your dropship sales between eBay, Amazon, Walmart, your own WordPress or Shopify ecommerce store, you’re going to need dropshipping software that provides both multi channel listing and inventory management, as well as a comprehensive selling platform.

So which is the best multi channel ecommerce software for your drop ship business? We reviewed the most popular platforms for listing & auto-posting ecommerce products, inventory management and product fulfillment and narrowed it down to five.

A Review of The Top 5 Multi Channel SaaS’s

1) Sellbrite

Sellbrite is touted to be the #1 among all multi channel ecommerce software services for eBay, Amazon, WordPress, Shopify and more. One of the more intuitive ecommerce software platforms we’ve seen; Sellbrite not only provides full sales, listing and inventory management, order fulfillment processing and dashboard controls but also provides automated inventory and listing synchronization across channels (a must for sellers who frequently find themselves overselling stock.) Ideal for small to medium sized businesses, Sellbrite can list & sync product data across 2-15 channels, and is fully compatible with all major platforms and shopping carts.

2) SellerActive

SellerActive is one of the more well established multi channel ecommerce solutions which focuses primarily on direct sales. There’s numerous tools (such as automated repricing and single portal access to your selected channels) that can’t be obtained elsewhere. In addition they offer one-on-one customer service that can offer you configuration advice. However, it is primarily designed for active high-volume sellers with significant gross merchandise volume; subsequently, it is one of the more expensive multi channel ecommerce software platforms available.

3) ChannelAdvisor

ChannelAdvisor is one of the more popular multi channel ecommerce solutions; particularly among small to medium sized businesses. It’s also one of the more broad reaching marketplace solutions, compatible with Amazon, eBay, Google, Walmart and nearly 100 other storefronts. Because it provides automated listings, data collection, repricing tools, product intelligence and full integration into merchandising and marketing solutions. It’s a perfect all-in-one enterprise solution that’s easily accessible. Small volume ecommerce businesses, on the other hand, may find many of the features irrelevant to their day to day operations.

4) CedCommerce

CedCommerce is probably the most ideal multi channel solution for small to medium size businesses who are looking to branch out from their online storefront to larger ecommerce marketplaces. Fully compatible with eBay, Amazon, Etsy, Jet.com and others.

One of the more convenient features of CedCommerce is that solution channels are plug-in based; making configuration as simple as logging in
to any given channel’s server. With a wide range of inventory management solutions and bulk listing synchronization, it’s an ideal ecommerce software platform for sellers just starting to consider multi channel sales.

5) Sellware

While Sellware is probably better suited for medium sized businesses, smaller but established ecommerce sellers could easily benefit from it as well. And while it is limited in comparison to some of the other providers we’ve mentioned, it does provide extensive customer and channel support, strong template and workflow creation, inventory synchronization and automated listing compatible with Magento, Amazon, Zen Cart and eBay.

Now, the platforms above can help you integrate your ecommerce systems very easily, some of which I’ve shared. Let’s highlight a bigger list of 3rd party market places, shipping services, and shopping cart systems you can integrate your dropship business with.

Any of These 3rd Party Integrations Are Available:

• Marketplaces:

  • Amazon
  • eBay
  • Etsy
  • Walmart
  • jet.com
  • Sears
  •  Newegg.com
  • Rakuten

• Shopping Carts

  • WooCommerce for WordPress
  • Bigcommerce
  • Shopify and Shopify Plus

• Service Integrations

  • United States Postal Service (USPS)
  • Ship Engine
  • Deliverr
  • ShipStation
  • Amazon Fulfillment
  • Easyship
  • Salespad Cloud
  • Inventory Source
  • Algopix

• Service Partners

  • DXL ecommerce DFY service
  • Pixc – ecom image editing service
  • CrazyLister –

Conclusion

The move towards ecommerce & dropshipping has been gaining steadily since the first known online purchasing transaction was made in 1994. In virtually all retail segments, online sales have surpassed their brick and mortar counterparts exponentially each year since 2013.

And to meet this growing demand, solutions have never been more diverse. A robust ecommerce platform isn’t just a question of keeping up with competitors. It’s a question of expanding your business into both uncharted and wildly profitable territory. You can’t afford to limit your options to manually syncing store data these days; you need both exposure and the automated systems to maintain it. Multi channel ecommerce software can provide you both more free time through automation and increased profits.