Store.Shop: A Different Kind of Marketplace
Amazon, Ebay, Walmart, Target: all of these marketplaces were designed with a focus on the customer first and the seller as an afterthought. This strategy made sense when these marketplaces were first designed; they needed to convince giant, multi-billion dollar companies to add their already-successful brands to unproven online platforms. But as the market evolved and e-commerce has proven itself, the growth of third-party sellers has been exponential. There are now over 200,000 US-based small businesses selling on Amazon, accounting for 58% of their annual revenue in 2018. The third party sellers, as Jeff Bezos put it, “are kicking our [Amazon’s] first party butt. Badly.”
With this in mind, Store.Shop is a marketplace built for small businesses and third party sellers to flourish and thrive. Where traditional marketplaces fear the seller interacting directly with the customer, Store.Shop embraces it. When someone buys a product off the Store.Shop marketplace from your store, it’s your customer to create an exceptional long term relationship with, the same kind of relationship mom and pop stores have been building with their customers for centuries.
For more information on all the ways Store.Shop differs from traditional online marketplaces, check out our How Store.Shop Differs from Traditional Marketplaces page here.
How to Sell on Store.Shop
The best way to learn about Store.Shop is by talking directly to someone who works here. They can teach you about Employee Badges, the importance of our 4 Points of Customer Contact, how to get approval to be a seller and all the basics of the marketplace. To contact an employee, just click one of the 4 Points of Contact (email, chat, phone, video) on the Employee Badge below. At Store.Shop, every employee is available to talk to you about our marketplace, and our Founder/CEO Ed Wagner is obsessed with talking through the long-term vision of Store.Shop with sellers.
If You’re Not Ready to Talk to a Store.Shop Employee Yet, that’s ok. Here’s How to Get Started:
Like traditional online marketplaces, Store.Shop has a seller portal where you keep all your selling information, including sales data, product listings, keyword analysis, orders, and inventory. If you’re interested in applying to be a seller, it’s easiest to talk directly with one of our team members, but if you’re not ready to speak to someone over the phone or on a video conference, you can apply through the Seller Login portal here.
Once you’ve submitted an online application, Store.Shop will reach out within 24 hours to schedule a phone or video interview. While the majority of marketplaces are focused on the volume of sellers joining their platform, Store.Shop targets a reduced number of highly focused, dedicated sellers who are looking to grow long-term customer relationships. We are choosy, but that benefits the sellers tremendously. Sellers on Store.Shop have a controlled, limited competition and will enver wake up one morning to see Amazon selling their items because they became too profitable. There’s no such thing as a “buy box” to win or advertising fees to get visibility for your product. On Store.Shop, the seller can focus on offering exceptional customer service and adding innovative, value-added products to their catalog. That’s why one of our US-based team members interviews every prospective Store.Shop seller to learn about their products, goals and to make sure they’re a good fit for the Store.Shop community.
Because the seller’s success is Store.Shop’s success, marketplace distractions like listings being taken down without warning, restricted keywords, false patent/trademark infringement claims, and a host of other issues expected and normalized on legacy marketplaces are not an issue on Store.Shop. If you have ever sold products on Amazon, imagine being able to forget all of these hassles and focusing solely on your customers and product lines: that’s Store.Shop.
If you’re interested in knowing some of the questions asked in the interview process, you can check them out here, but becoming a seller on Store.Shop really boils down to focusing on direct customer interactions and adding innovative products to your catalog. In other words, the more you’re willing to talk to customers, resolve their issues and ensure a positive buying experience, the more success you’ll have on our platform (and the more profitable your company will be)..