Sales channels Management to increase business profits

Online businesses are now growing and competing intensely. The business is usually own more than one sales channels, such as a social media channel, a market place or a website. The multiple-channels approach is like a winning card that will help business reach more potential customers.

The E-Commerce Channel becomes a popular market that both SMEs, Enterprises and Startups can't miss to go on competing for market share.It helps increase the efficiency of sales, gaining including more trading value. Various technologies have become part of everyday life. As in 2021, according to a report from Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, Thai shoppers have the highest usage of digital platforms in the region up to 89.99%.

When Startup Thailand there is more than one sales channel in hands, the customer groups and management methods of each platform are different as well. Challenging, how do we make our business go far and make profit like a pro while managing versious sale channels?,

E-Commerce. Which platform is suitable for our business?

Before taking everyone to look at sales management techniques in each channel, we would like to take everyone to see the Pros & Cons of online storefront platforms such as Website, E-Market place and Social Commerce !

• Website
  Pros - Have our own media. Adds to the brand's credibility. Don't have to be afraid of any uncontrolled change from platform provider because we are the ones who control the factors within ourselves. Able to manage sales style or design a website as required.
  Cons - The cost of administration for a website is quite high because there must be someone to take care of the whole system such as ordering system, website development to suit business trends. Suitable for brands with a large customer base.
• E-Marketplace
  Pros - Easy to use. Low cost and reach to customers faster. In addition, the platform also organizes various D-Day promotions, allowing more customers to see our store.
  Cons - It's a very competitive platform. There is a fee for listing to merchandise as well as collecting advertising fees. Also, there are some requirements that must be adhered to.
• Social Commerce
  Pros - Customers shop from brands they love and have store recognition. Take advantage of the features in the platform to boost sales, including being able to build relationships with customers directly.
  Cons - There are a lot of sellers and may cause customers to not see our store or our products, resulting in higher advertising costs and quite difficult to collect customer data.

However, no matter which platform we choose, It seems that there must be a cost of fees/commissions/advertising increasing every year. We have some basic tips that will help maintain profitable sales and not disintegrate according to changes

That is , "Set a marketing budget, then add 30% more"

For example, in 2022 we set a marketing budget of 100% and add an additional 30%, so in 2022 our budget for fees/commissions/advertising will become 130%. Moreover you must always follow, keep and update marketing budgets, by taking into account:

• the actual budget that we use
• the events that affect the marketing budget of our business, such as Facebook, a new algorithm has been adjusted, the reach has been reduced, causing us to pay more for advertising. And then analyze various data so that in 2023 we can predict how much budget to set. This will help us cope with any situation with increased fees/commissions/advertising costs, ready to adapt faster and launch before your competitors.

The more sales channels, The more problems that need to be dealt with.

It’s certain that, for our business can grow, it must be relied on in a variety of channels, so that customers can see the Startup Thailand brand and lead them to make a purchasing decision. But the more channels we have, the cost of management has also increased accordingly, with not just fees/commissions/advertising costs to deal with.

• Higher management cost
• Lack of efficiency in managing incoming orders, causing the order to be missed out
• Always have to adapt to changes.
• The number of stock items does not match.

Based on data from AIS SME dated June 1, 2022 - Transforming business, conquering profits, with professional multi-channel sales management techniques. By Mr. Suebpong Pasavekin, Head of Customer Success (ZORT)