ECOMMERCE / MULTICHANNEL OPERATIONS

Selling on several channels works when stock, prices and reporting follow one set of rules.

Channel conflict starts when a discount, a stock shortage or a price gap in one channel hurts another. Running your own shop, Amazon and distributors as one business means deciding those moves on purpose, not channel by channel.

WHAT THIS TOPIC COVERS

One catalogue, sold through channels that work differently.

The topic covers businesses that sell the same products through channels with different fees, buyers and expectations. Tactics for a single channel belong to the Amazon and web topics; this page stays at the level of the whole business.

  • Distributors and an Amazon offer selling the same product
  • An online shop running next to one or more marketplaces
  • Pallets for wholesale buyers and single units for consumers, from one stock
  • A new channel added under the rules the others already follow

QUESTIONS THIS PAGE ANSWERS

Questions about selling on several channels.

How should stock be split between channels?

By the economics of each channel: its fees, fulfilment cost, margin per unit and demand pattern. The rule is set once and applied to every order, because deciding by hand, order by order, gets slower and less reliable as volume grows.

Should prices be the same on every channel?

Not necessarily. Fees, fulfilment and buyer expectations differ, so different prices can be justified as long as each keeps a minimum margin and none undercuts the distributors who carry the product.

Who should own the price list across channels?

One person, usually from sales or commercial management, who keeps a single price list with a floor for each channel and signs off every change to it. Whoever runs each channel can then plan promotions inside those floors without asking each time.

How do you keep promotions from colliding across channels?

Plan them on one calendar every channel can see, and keep each discount above that channel's price floor. A promotion in your own shop can make a distributor or your Amazon offer look expensive, so it is checked against the other channels before it runs.

FURTHER READING

Further reading on multichannel ecommerce.

The Amazon channel on its own terms

Amazon as a single channel, from listings to advertising, has its own section, linked below with the neighbouring topics.

RELATED TOPICS

Topics next to multichannel operations.

Amazon

The Amazon channel itself: listings, advertising, stock and new marketplaces.

See the guides →

Business automation

Order, stock and marketplace updates that no longer need doing by hand.

Read the topic →

Multi-brand operations

When several brands share the same stock and sales channels.

Read the topic →

NEXT STEP

Tell us which channels you sell on.

Channel and price rules are settled in consulting sessions by the hour, Amazon work has a closed price per product and marketplace, and automation between channels is quoted on the hours it saves.

Tell us about your channels