2. Heya!
I’m a product leader at GoDaddy.
I work on SkyVerge (Woo extensions) and the GoDaddy Commerce
platform + online stores powered by WooCommerce.
GoDaddy.com | SkyVerge.com | @Beka_Rice
slideshare.net/bekarice
3. Let’s do this. Single, multi, and omnichannel sales
The channels you should know
Choosing the right channels
How to get started with a new channel
4. Single vs Multi vs Omnichannel
What do these buzzwords even mean?
5. Channel strategy for retailers
Single channel
Sales through a single surface, such as
a retail location, online store, or
marketplace (e.g., Etsy).
Multichannel
Sales can occur via multiple surfaces,
e.g., in person or online, with limited
connectivity between channels.
Omnichannel
Surfaces are interconnected for a
seamless customer experience and
shared / global data.
Single channel Multichannel Omnichannel
Connectedness
6. Single channel retail
All sales occur via a single sales surface
(e.g., WooCommerce store)
Benefits
● All data & sales in a single place —
you own it
● Single conversion funnel to track +
optimize, w/ clear attribution
● Simplified marketing efforts
● Can be used to create exclusivity or
scarcity (“only sold here”)
Trade-offs
● Missed acquisition & sales
opportunities
● Optimization for customer device &
discovery preferences
7. Multichannel retail
Sales occur via multiple surfaces (e.g.,
online and social)
Benefits
● Increased revenue via greater
discoverability
● Increased conversion by supporting
consumer choice
● Buyer trust via increased presence
Trade-offs
● Increased effort to find & nurture the
right channels
● Maintaining data (e.g., inventory) in
multiple locations
● Share data w/ potential competitors
(private label)
● Channel-specific workflows
8. “[In 2020] multichannel retailers outperformed
their online only counterparts with sales up
+53.1% versus +10.1%.”
IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index
9. Omnichannel retail
Sales are initiated via multiple surfaces and synced
centrally
Benefits
● Same revenue, discovery, trust, and
conversion benefits as multichannel
approach
● All data & sales in a single place — simple
management
● Unified customer experience across surfaces
Trade-offs
● Same effort to find & nurture the right
channels as multichannel
● Same risks of private label competition
● Clarity of sales attribution & marketing ROI
10. “73% [of shoppers] used multiple channels
during their shopping journey… they spent an
average of 4% more on every shopping
occasion in the store and 10% more online than
single-channel customers.”
Harvard Business Review, 2017 survey of 46,000 shoppers
12. Leverage a cart and purchasing
experience on your website to sell directly
to consumers.
Over 3 million sites1
use WooCommerce,
with 26% share of the top 1 million
ecommerce sites.
Best for: Most sellers! Build trust via
presence, even if you sell primarily in-
person.
Online store
1 Source: BuiltWith
13. Retail, brick-and-
mortar
Sell directly to consumers in-person via
a retail location. Leverage a point- of-
sale (POS) system to accept payments
via card, cash, and tap-to- pay (e.g,.
Apple Pay).
Best for: Apparel, home goods, food
services (like bakeries), in-person
services (e.g., salons), and more.
14. Leverage in-context checkout on social
networks like Facebook, Google, or
Instagram. Social networks often allow for
product listing or discovery, as well as
direct purchasing so customers never
leave the context of the social platform to
buy from you.
Best for: Brands with strong social
following or influence connections,
apparel, home goods, etc. Often has
restrictions against digital goods,
subscriptions, etc — check terms.
Social
15. Online marketplaces
Benefit from captive audience to increase
discoverability of your brand. Sell via
Amazon, Etsy, Walmart, eBay, and others to
offer your products where customers are
already shopping.
Best for: Depends on the marketplace —
e.g., Etsy is best for customizable goods,
while Amazon is helpful for physical goods
retailers (apparel, home, food, etc).
16. Other channels
Leverage existing “big box” stores (e.g., Target) to sell
your products to consumers. Typically requires contract
to become a supplier for each brand, and can
dramatically impact scale. May come with risks for
private label competition.
Best for: Brands who can produce inventory at scale
(leverage discounted inventory + lower marketing
expenses)
Distributors Mobile app
Create companion applications for mobile that can
embed sales for your products (e.g., an app for your
website, or a learning app / game that offers your
products). Products like AppPresser can assist in
creating a mobile app from your website.
Best for: Retailers offering non-customizable products,
digital goods sellers, e-learning / online services.
17. Deciding on the right channels
Does multichannel make sense? Which channels?
18. Marketplaces drive eyeballs
Amazon, eBay, and Walmart drive
almost 4 billion visits per month alone.
As marketplaces grow, consumers
expect to find their favorite products in
those channels.
Note: Although Walmart has far lower
traffic than Amazon, fewer sellers
means each seller has 13x the views in
comparison.
19. U.S. Retail sales by channel
U.S. retail alone exceeds $7 trillion
annually. Ecommerce sales are
projected to top $1 trillion in 2022,
while online marketplace and social
channel GMV is growing steadily
year-over-year.
While selling via multiple channels
may not have been important in
2019 or earlier, retail sales are
clearly starting to diversify.
Source: U.S. Census retail reports
20. Retail share by channel
Online channels have steadily
increased share, with further
projected increases through 2025.
For example, ecommerce share was
6.1% of US retail in 2014, and
exceeded 10% for the first time in
2019.
Caveat: A lot of current projections are
heavily based on recent pandemic data,
which favors online sales.
Retail share 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
Ecomm sales 10.69% 13.85% 14.64% 14.41% 15.37% 16.39% 17.49%
Social sales 0.36% 0.49% 0.56% 0.63% 0.74% 0.85% 0.95%
Marketplace
sales 4.45% 6.40% 6.36% 6.80% 7.59% 8.26% 8.84%
In person 84.50% 79.26% 78.44% 78.16% 76.30% 74.50% 72.73%
Source: U.S. Census retail reports
21. Strongest overall:
In person retail
In person retail is the top sales driver,
and average in-person sales exceed
$400k annually among our merchants
(vs ~$120k among online stores).
Despite promising projections for online
channels, don’t discard in-person retail!
Consider its potential impact for your
business.
DO DO NOT
Consider if your site gets regional traffic or
can measure local SEO, which may indicate
promising traffic to a retail location.
Jump in without research — retail rent & regulations
are more expensive + harder to navigate than
ecommerce.
Evaluate pop-up shops or trade shows to
create in-person touch points.
Rely solely on virtual touch points to build LTV;
almost 70% of customers say in-person experiences
drive more loyalty 1
.
Evaluate wins of transferring some revenue
to offline, so long as net revenue is neutral or
increases.
Use ecommerce payment forms in person — card
present (swiped) transactions have lower fraud risks
and therefore lower fees.
1Source: StudioButch
22. Benefits of adding channels
● Industry data shows multichannel
sellers see 40% more revenue
YoY growth.
● Enabling channels results in an
average increase of 12.9% of
monthly revenue for stores.
I analyzed data from 45k sellers who
created websites with us over the past
year, and were eligible for our
Marketplaces product:
● This data shows multichannel
sellers earn 72% more on
average compared to web-only.
● Multichannel sellers drive 60% of
overall revenue from non-
website channels.
Year-over-year growth
Monthly revenue
23. Social presence & sales impact
Comparing merchants who use ecommerce-
only vs Facebook or Instagram shopping:
● The median monthly revenue for
Meta-enabled stores is 102% higher
than website-only.
● Most sellers (95%) use free offerings
or listings (e.g., Facebook Shops).
● Of the 5% of merchants who use
Facebook / Instagram Checkout,
they average 2x more revenue per
month than website sellers (but more
than 5x the median revenue).
Facebook and Instagram are key for
discoverability, and FB / IG Checkout (U.S.
only) can help all eligible sellers.
Meta (Facebook, Instagram)
24. Social presence & sales impact
When merchants enable Google shopping:
● The median non-ecommerce (in
person, via marketplace) sales
increases 52.3%.
● The median ecommerce (online store)
sales increases 24.7%.
Overall revenue is positively impacted, with
180% increase in median revenue, and 10.3%
in average revenue.
Substantial change in median revenue
shows Google shopping has strong benefit
to newer sellers, and overall benefit to
almost all sellers.
Google
25. Industry impacts
● General retailers (including apparel
sellers) benefit from a multichannel
approach.
● Some industries benefit more than
others from moving single channel
=> multichannel.
○ Hobby, art / design, home
decor, automotive all show very
positive changes
○ Business + industrial surprised
me as substantial changes in
revenue when selling in
multiple channels
26. Performance by industry
Social & marketplace sales have
a positive revenue effect on most
industries, but not every channel
is created equal.
Some retailers benefit most from
specific channels that favor their
industry.
Note: General retailers perform
well in most any channel, as do
apparel, hobby, home decor, and
software. B2B goods (business,
construction, industrial) perform
surprisingly well vs website-only.
Industry Social: change
in median sales
Marketplace: change
in median sales
Best channels
Fashion & apparel 1.8x 1.9x Amazon, Walmart
Health & beauty 5x 1.8x Amazon, Walmart
Hobby 7x 7x (any - consider Etsy as start)
Home decor 2.5x 2.5x Etsy, Amazon, Facebook
Health / medical 1.7x 2.5x Amazon (maybe FB but may be
prohibited)
Art / design 1.5x 1.8x Ebay (consider starting on Etsy)
Automotive 4.5x 12x Facebook, Ebay, Amazon
Fitness / wellness Loses 10% 1.5x Amazon
27. Deciding on the right channels
What segment do my best customers fall in?
(Based on location, income, age, marketing
interactions, etc.)
Bonus: Talk to them! Ask where they shop.
Customers are key
Even products in the same industry
from similarly sized sellers may
perform differently.
(Think: art could be totally custom and
do well on Etsy / Ebay, or mass-
printed and do well on Amazon.)
Let customers be your guide.
28. Deciding on the right channels
How do I get most traffic now? (e.g., search
volume, word of mouth, etc)
Can I leverage existing social following or influencer
relationships to drive sales on those channels?
Reduce your work
If you already heavily use specific
channels for marketing or customer
acquisition, strongly consider enabling
retail on those surfaces. You already
know the channel, use that
knowledge.
Use Google without a clear first step.
29. Deciding on the right channels
Is there a standard channel for my industry,
where customers expect me to be?
Can I optimize inventory costs with scale?
Think outside the box
Adding channels is only part of your
overall retail strategy. Even with lower
margins, discoverability, trust, or
operational efficiency can be good
reasons to consider new channels.
Take a holistic business view.
31. Starting from in-
person retail
Tools for in-person sales (e.g., POS
systems) aren’t always ready for
omnichannel.
● Consider multichannel as
stepping stone.
● Consider online store as your
first step — more control over
fulfillment may be an easier
stepping stone.
● Survey customers in-store on
how they find you, and use that
research to choose channels
(e.g., Google, Facebook) to start
selling online.
32. Starting from an
online store
Consider tools geared towards an
omnichannel strategy — you should have
a head start over in-person sellers in
managing data effectively.
Choose your first 1-2 channels based on
your industry and target customer.
If you have a few options, choose the
channel you’ve used the most — you’ll
have a head start in understanding how to
market within that channel.
33. Evaluate channel fees
Protect your profits!
Evaluate the costs and fees associated
with your top channel choices, and
ensure you have margin in your pricing
to accommodate them while remaining
profitable — the expanded audience
from other channels doesn’t come for
free!
34. Create an
audience journey
Map how your customers will use your
targeted channel to learn about your
products or purchase them.
This will inform your marketing strategy,
and you should use it to determine if the
available integration plugins / apps will
do the job you expect them to.
Customer searches for relevant products
and compares them on Google
Customer sees ad on Instagram for your
product / brand
Checks out your Facebook page for details
Visits website to purchase product
Picks up and pays in retail location
35. Get connected
Choose a connector that connects the
data from your online store to the new
channel. Consider:
● Is the data sync bidirectional?
(e.g., pushes updates from
WordPress as well as pulling from
the channel)
● What types of data are synced —
products, orders, inventory?
● Can you fulfill new orders from
one place?
● Is there marketing integration, or
only sales?
● Can I give my staff limited access
to manage orders?
36. Channel setup
● Determine if you’ll sync all or some
inventory
● Set pricing or create adjustments
per channel to cover fees
- some channels prohibit listing at a
lower price elsewhere, be aware of
terms!
● Create listings for desired products
on your channels
37. Finish the journey
● Make sure you meet the mapped
audience journey — update
existing channels as needed!
● Don’t forget fulfillment: be sure
you’re clear on how the package
will get to the customer.
● Test purchases as a customer.
You may find gaps in testing:
● Evaluate other tools now that you
have a clear view of customer
experience (e.g., consider new
point of sale terminals if you want
to support synced in-store + online
experiences)
● Re-evaluate connectors or
multichannel apps as needed.
38. Update your marketing plan
Decide on your multichannel marketing
plan that reflects the customer journey
and how your audience expects to find,
learn about, and buy your products.
Make every touchpoint shoppable!
Customers spend more time on devices
and in channels every day.
39. Measure your success
Make sure you have the analytics to help
you evaluate how successful new channels
are!
Sales by channel, first touch attribution,
conversion rates, and other standard
online metrics are a great way to see how
your expansion is going.
41. The multichannel journey
Adding new channels is not
without risk.
● Can you manage data
across channels or lean
into full omnichannel?
● Do you have a clear
customer journey +
marketing plan?
● What is risk of private label
competition?
Decide if it’s the right time to
add channels.
Evaluate tradeoffs Identify your top channels Plan your integration Evaluate your success
Know your existing and target
customers.
● Do they have clear
browsing and shopping
preferences you can use?
● How adaptable are my
tools to the channel?
● Are there other benefits to
some channels like
inventory cost efficiency?
Use industry data, but
ultimately find the right
channel for your customers
and products.
Find the right channel
connector or app.
● Learn what data is synced,
when, and how.
● Make sure your can
protect margins after
paying channel fees.
● Map the customer journey,
inc fulfillment.
● Update your marketing
plan for the new channel.
Take the time to do your
research and get the right data
sharing and workflows.
Measure your sales across
channels.
● Attribution and marketing
ROI are now harder.
Determine how you’ll
evaluate “success”.
● Get a unified view of
revenue across channels.
● Keep talking to your
customers!
Learn from the first channel as
a model for others.
44. Google
enablement
We analyzed over 700 merchants who sold online, then
subsequently enabled Google Shopping as a sales channel. All
merchants enabled the channel within the past year.
We measured the monthly revenue 3 months prior to connection +
post-connection to determine the effect of Google Shopping on the
business’s revenue.
Median Average
Non-website revenue +52% +2%
Website revenue +25% -17%
Overall revenue +180% +10%
45. Ecommerce vs multichannel
Over 40,000 merchants who created their store in the past year (2021-2022) were analyzed. The
merchants were compared based on whether they had ever enabled a non-website channel, as well as
how different channels affected monthly average and median revenue compared to the online-only
cohort (used as a baseline).
General retail (e.g., apparel sales) unsurprisingly does well in a multichannel approach, with higher
average and median revenue for multichannel sellers. There are a few industries, however, in which we
see a more surprising increase in average monthly revenue with multichannel selling:
● Merchants in art and design, as well as home goods + hobbies who sell in multiple channels drive 2-3x the monthly
revenue when compared to merchants who sell only on their websites.
● Surprisingly, business purchasing sees significant differences in average monthly revenue for multichannel sellers,
with the following industries seeing 3-16x the monthly revenue compared to ecommerce-only counterparts: business
goods, software/IT, construction, and industrial needs.
46. Ecommerce vs
multichannel
Multichannel sellers are significantly more successful than
single-channel sellers, with higher average and median
monthly revenue.
• On average, merchants who sell via multiple channels
average 72% higher monthly revenue compared to those
who sell website-only.
• Multichannel sellers have a median monthly revenue
149% higher than ecommerce-only sellers.
Channel adoption
vs ecomm-only
avg revenue
vs ecomm-only
med revenue
Website + at least one
channel
+72% +149%
Facebook-enabled -8% +102%
Amazon-enabled +346% +478%
Walmart-enabled +183% +763%
Etsy-enabled -13% +144%
Ebay-enabled +84% +211%
