Selling your WooCommerce products on multiple sales channels  (often referred to as multichannel selling) will help increase your revenue and grow your business.

Sounds Great! But:

Exporting your products to other eCommerce marketplaces, and then keeping your inventories across the channels updated can be a difficult and an extremely time-consuming process.

If you have ever ventured over the other “side of the fence” you might think that only Shopify is good when it comes to multichannel selling!

But don’t leave the Woo fold too quickly…

First read this article.

We will explore how to export products from your WooCommerce store to other selling channels, with minimum hassle and keep your inventory in sync.

With a particular focus on syncing with Amazon and eBay, we consider a number of WordPress plugins and services that will easily enable you to expand your business and reach a wider customer base.

By the end of reading this, you will have a good understanding of what multi channel selling is, and the pros and cons of the solutions available. This knowledge will then enable you to make a decision on which multi channel plugin best suits your business needs.

So let’s get started…

What Is WooCommerce Multi Channel Selling?

What is Multi Channel Selling in WooCommerce

Multi-channel selling is a straightforward concept involving selling your products on numerous marketplaces.

There are a number of ways to do this – but…

We are going to look at how you can use your WooCommerce store as the central stock control website from which you can then export your products to other selling channels.

For example, you may initially start by selling your products on just your WooCommerce store. However, to grow your business, you should consider also selling your products on multiple marketplaces, like Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Facebook, and many more.

An effective multi channel WordPress plugin will help you quickly integrate your products with the marketplaces of your choice.

It will also ensure:

That your inventory and orders are easily managed and updated from a central location, usually your WordPress dashboard. Your inventories will also be automatically synced across the platforms if a sale is made.

So we know a little about what multi channel selling is. Let’s now take a look at the benefits of selling your products on other marketplaces other than your WooCommerce store…

Pros of Multi Channel Selling

There are numerous reasons why you should consider selling your WooCommerce products on other eCommerce marketplaces. Here are a few of the main ones…

Increase Your Exposure

Promoting your eCommerce products on numerous websites will help them reach new potential customers.

Here’s how:

Your WooCommerce store may receive an adequate amount of traffic, but it can’t compare to the number of visitors browsing sites like Amazon and eBay. The exposure your products will gain from being displayed on large online marketplaces will help market your brand and importantly, increase sales.

Retain Existing Customers

Make it as easy as possible for your existing customers to make a purchase by taking your products to where they hang out.

Don’t wait for them to come to you. Most people have a marketplace of choice, and if your products aren’t present on it then your customers will end up switching to one of your competitors. Therefore, selling your products through different vendors is an effective way to encourage your existing customers to continue shopping with you.

Don’t Be Reliant On One Sales Channel

You may have worked hard on SEO for your WooCommerce store, and now be receiving high levels of organic traffic from the search engines.

But what if:

As sometimes happens, Google alters its algorithms and all your page rankings disappear from Google’s first page. Traffic and sales will fall dramatically and it may take months to regain your position in the search engines.

By promoting and selling your products on multiple sales channels, you are not over-reliant on just your WooCommerce store traffic.

This means you run less risk of your profits plummeting if there does happen to be a problem with one of your marketplaces.

What Are the Cons?

There are, of course, a couple of cons to multi channel selling….

  • Time Consuming – Importing products to each marketplace can be time intensive.
  • Stock Management – It can be hard to manage a range of selling channels effectively. If you don’t have large amounts of stock, it can be easy to sell out, or double sell an item, which can then create some unsatisfied customers and reviews.
  • Labour Intensive – If sales increase quickly, the picking, packing and posting of each item can quickly become labour intensive.
  • Fees – Most online marketplaces will charge fees for selling on their sites. These fees will vary from site to site, so make sure you check costing before you start selling.

Luckily, as we mentioned earlier, there are some impressive WordPress plugins that will not only help you set up multi channel selling, they will also take care of some of the cons we have just mentioned.

So let’s now take a look at some of these solutions…

Connect WooCommerce to Amazon and eBay with WP Lister Pro

The WordPress developers WP Lab offer a number of plugins that will enable you to connect your WooCommerce store to Amazon and/or eBay.

WP Lister Pro for Amazon

Sync Amazon Orders with WooCommerce WP Lister

WP Lister Pro for Amazon is a premium WordPress plugin that will allow you to integrate your WooCommerce product category with your Amazon inventory.

You can:

Easily create new product pages on Amazon from your WooCommerce dashboard, or automatically match your WooCommerce products to Amazon products using the SKU.

Once set up:

WP Lister Pro for Amazon will automatically sync your WooCommerce inventory to Amazon and when you make a sale on either platform your WooCommerce inventory will be updated. The Amazon re-pricing tool will adjust the price of products across the board, depending on the lowest price on Amazon. And there is also support for Amazon FBA to fulfil your Amazon and WooCommerce orders.

WP Lab offers a Lite version of this plugin, which will enable you to list products from WooCommerce to Amazon. If you are interested in purchasing WP Lister Pro, then trialling the free version first might be useful.

WP Lister Pro for eBay

Sync eBay orders with WooCommerce WP Lister

WP Lister Pro for eBay will enable you to list your WooCommerce products on eBay in just a few simple clicks. You will essentially provide an eBay feed from your WooCommerce Store to eBay.

You can:

Manage all your listings from within your WordPress dashboard, sync inventory between the two platforms, and create eBay orders from your WooCommerce store.

WP Lister Pro for eBay also works hand in hand with WP Lister Pro for Amazon. So if you purchase both the plugins, your products will sync across all three marketplaces. And if you are using Amazon FBA, you can use this service to ship both your WooCommerce and eBay products. Check out the Lite version of this plugin before committing to a purchase.

Pros and Cons for WP Lister Pro for Amazon and eBay

Let’s have a quick look at the pros and cons of WP Lab’s plugins…

Pros:

  • Free versions available and the pro versions are very reasonably priced at $149 for a years license, updates and support.
  • Manage all products from within your WordPress dashboard with automatic syncing across all platforms.
  • Integrates with Amazon FBA.

Cons:

  • Plugins have to be purchased, setup and installed separately.
  • Amazon and eBay are the only sales channels available.
  • No analytics provided.

Integrate WooCommerce with Etsy (Plus Much More) Using SellBrite

SellBrite connects WooCommerce to Amazon eBay Walmart Etsy

SellBrite is an impressive solution that will enable you to connect your WooCommerce store with a wide assortment of online marketplaces.

These include:

Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Walmart, to name a few. List your inventory on multiple channels, then Sellbrite will automatically sync data to prevent overselling and ensure high-level customer service.

SellBrite bases its prices on the size of your business. As your sales increase, so will your monthly SellBrite payments. This makes it an effective solution for all eCommerce stores small and large, new and old.

Pros:

  • Prices are based on your sales numbers.
  • One-click integrations with multiple sales channels.
  • Extensive support provided including one-to-one phone support.

Cons:

  • The SellBrite service cannot be accessed within your WordPress dashboard, you will always need to log in to your SellBrite account.
  • The ‘Starter’ plan only connects with two sales channels, syncs every 60 minutes, and doesn’t include many of the features mentioned, including integration with Walmart and phone support.

Sync WooCommerce Inventory with Amazon and eBay Using Veeqo

Veeqo connects WooCommerce with Amazon and eBay

Veeqo is a high-end solution that will help you grow as a multi channel retailer. Integrating your WooCommerce store with Amazon and eBay,

Veeqo incorporates a range of features that are integral to large eCommerce sellers. Easily push your products from WooCommerce onto Amazon and eBay with a couple of clicks. Then have your inventories automatically synced across all your WooCommerce stores and marketplaces every time the data is modified.

Veeqo also directly integrates with the world’s largest shipping couriers. This will not only save you time logging on to different systems to dispatch your orders, but also ensure smooth transactions at your customers’ end.

Pros:

  • Veeqo streamlines your accounting process by integrating with Xero and QuickBooks.
  • Receive accurate insights and sales reports to help you track the performance of each sales channel.
  • Customized emails are automatically sent to customers after they have made a purchase.

Cons:

  • Veeqo isn’t cheap so it is not a great option for those on a small budget.
  • To access the Veeqo software you will need to log into your Veeqo account. You cannot manage your multi channel products in your WordPress dashboard.
  • There are no other sales channel options other than Amazon and eBay.

eBay Sync for Australia

WooCommerce offer their own free extension for those of you running an online store in Australia. Simply install the eBay Sync for Australia extension on your WordPress website and then follow the setup instructions. This extension will then automatically export your products to eBay and keep them synced with your WooCommerce store.

Pros:

  • Free to install and use.
  • All orders are managed from your WordPress dashboard.
  • Automatically syncs.

Cons:

  • Only for Australia.
  • Only for eBay.
  • International shipping is not supported.

Final Thoughts on WooCommerce Multi Channel Selling

Multi channel selling can be a very successful way to reach potential customers, sell products and grow your business. As we have seen, there are numerous WordPress plugins available to quickly and easily help you integrate your WooCommerce store with key vendors like Amazon and eBay. So if you haven’t yet started selling your merchandise on other online marketplaces, it’s time to give it a try.

Do You Need Help Setting Up WooCommerce for Multi-Channel Sales?

At WP Hero WooCommerce Support is our speciality, so we can help you set up your WooCommerce store for multi-channel selling and multi-channel inventory management. Just get in touch with us to get started.