Always Know Your Best-Selling Items in Each Channel

It is a good idea to always know your best selling items in each channel. A channel is defined as a specific marketplace or site in which you sell your items. These can include eBay, Amazon, your own website or anywhere else your products are listed for sale. While it is important to periodically run reports to determine your best-selling products across your entire business, it is also a good idea to do the same analysis for each channel. The reason for this is because sometimes products sell better in one channel than another. A product that sells very well in eBay may not sell well in Amazon or vice versa. If you only run reports to identify best sellers across your entire business, some high-selling items from specific channels may become tough to identify when studied at an aggregate level. I often refer to these types of products as “diamonds in the rough.” Once you break down best sellers by channel, you begin to identify products that are already selling well or are starting to gain momentum. If you hadn’t studied your sales performance at a more granular level you may have missed some of these potential best sellers.

Once you identify these “diamonds in the rough,” make sure that they are always in stock. Keeping a close eye on your inventory levels for these products is important. You want to avoid having lapses in inventory because by the time you replenish your inventory you may have lost the momentum these products may have garnered. Therefore, make sure to update your inventory levels often to avoid losing out on potential sales.

Another important activity is to optimize these products for each channel. This means that you take a second look at the title, description and all of the attributes associated with these products to see if you need to improve upon them. Try to use titles and descriptions with relevant keywords if they aren’t already there. Make sure you fill out all of the item specifics and other attributes that are relevant for this product so they are more likely to be found in search results in each of the respective channels in which they are listed. Once you begin to optimize these products, you may find that they begin to sell well in other channels as well because many of the optimization techniques are helpful no matter where an item is sold.

You may also consider boosting momentum by participating in some form of promotion or marketing that are available in each channel. The old adage to strike while the iron is hot applies here perfectly. Basically, you want to maximize your momentum so you can elevate these “diamond in the rough” into “best sellers”.

In general, it’s important to have your finger on the pulse of your business. One of the best ways to do this is to have a good sense of your best-selling products. This analysis, whether done at the aggregate level or by each channel, can give you valuable data that you can use to make key merchandising decisions and to improve your business performance. Spending a little time on these types of activities is well worth it considering the potential payoff.