4 reasons why you should integrate your webshop with Amazon

Are you running RetailVista or OpSuite and is your webshop integrated with Garden Connect? In that case, you can start selling on Amazon within days. The Garden Connect platform is fully integrated with both EPoS systems and will save you a lot of time.

Do you want to know more about the benefits of integrating your webshop with Amazon? Keep reading this blog as we will dive deeper into them!

 

Integrations 101

Before we explain the benefits, let’s go through the basics of how we integrate EPoS systems with the Garden Connect platform. Depending on the EPoS you use, we will make three, near real-time, synchronisations between the EPoS and your webshop:

Products:

• Prices
• Promotions
• Stock
• SKU/EAN
• Any additional information you want to sync

Customers:

• Personal data
• Shipping information
• Loyalty information (if applicable)

Orders:

• All order information

By integrating your webshop with the RetailVista or OpSuite EPoS, you don’t need to enter all this information manually anymore. Our team of developers at Garden Connect can develop any integration so you’re not tied to a fixed plugin or piece of software from third parties.

Now you understand what it means to integrate webshops with EPoS software: time to look at the benefits of the Amazon integration!

 

1. A wider audience

Having your own webshop is always the first step. For us, purely using Amazon is liking opening a garden centre within a B&Q. It doesn’t make sense to fully rely on a company who is very welcoming to your competitors and is selling part of your product range as well.

Instead, you should consider Amazon as a nice add-on to tap into a new marketplace.

Via Amazon, you can reach customers who have never heard of your garden centre. Far away from your location yet very interested in buying your products.

Yes, you have to pay a commission to Amazon but this commission covers all marketing involved in generating the sale. The Amazon commission is more or less equal to the costs per sale via Google Ads or affiliate marketing. It’s high but it’s reasonable.

 

2. Quick and easy

Once your Garden Connect webshop launched, it’s easy to integrate with Amazon.

Just go to Amazon to open your Sellercentral account.

Once sorted, the Garden Connect support team will finalise the integration. After that, all you need to do is to link products from your webshop to Amazon.

To make this process as easy as possible, we have made it so that adding items to Amazon is literally only 1 checkbox away.

Based on the SKU/EAN, we match the product with Amazon. If you want, you can enter an Amazon-only price which can be higher or lower than your current price. If you don’t enter this field, the regular price will be used.

Since we are using the prices from your EPoS, all price changes are almost instantly visible on your website and on your Amazon account.

Are you running low on stock? We check the stock of your products every few minutes on your EPoS. Products will be removed from your webshop and/or Amazon if they fall below a threshold you can set.

In other words: it’s impossible to sell products you don’t have in stock.

And that’s about it: just tick the box and you’re good to go!

 

3. Your orders are synced automatically

As explained earlier, all webshop orders are pushed back to your RetailVista or OpSuite EPoS automatically. This assures your stock and accounts on your EPoS are always up to date.

Your team can also work from within your EPoS so they don’t need to learn different systems to manage orders.

But what about orders from Amazon?

We automatically process all orders from Amazon and they will be available as webshop orders: on the Garden Connect platform and on your EPoS. So for you, it doesn’t matter where the orders are coming from, you can just process them as usual.

All customer data and order data will be available straight after receiving the order from Amazon.

In other words: you don’t need to set up different processes to handle Amazon orders.

 

4. Increased brand awareness

Having your own Amazon store will increase your visibility and brand awareness. It’s not unusual for online shoppers to lookup the webshop of a company once they’ve seen the name on Amazon.

In fact, a lot of people do that to check if they can get better prices.

Amazon is a trustworthy party. Being a partner of them helps you to build your own brand. It might not be best to hang poster in-store since it will scare away customers from your centre to Amazon, but it is worth mentioning smartly on your webshop.

 

The Cons?

Are there are reasons not to sell on Amazon? Well, there are a few objections you should consider.

First of all, Amazon focusses on low prices and quick deliveries. If you’re unable to accommodate that, opening an account on Amazon won’t bring you much.

Secondly, selling your self-imported products is a bit more complicated than described above. If you don’t have official barcodes, you need to follow a different process which can be a hassle. Once you’ve done it, however, you’re the only one selling those products which will result in a higher margin.

And last but not least, your competition is watching you. Amazon and other competitors are constantly monitoring sales and will try to compete on price or delivery options. Some might call it a race to the bottom if you like.

It’s up to you to weigh the pros and cons of selling on Amazon. At least you don’t have to worry about the technical aspect of selling on Amazon. That’s all in place and fully integrated with your EPoS.

 

Do you want to learn more about the options to integrate your webshop with Amazon? Contact us via info@gardenconnect.com or call +44 203 475 5541.