What’s Your Omnichannel Personality?

Small footprint? Sure, but you’re anything but small. You know the hottest products, and your loyal followers know they can count on you to curate, share and sell exactly what they want, where and when they want it. It’s time to use that know-how to your advantage and start expanding into new channels.

Influencer – SLNM

Strengths:

• Strong following and community of loyalist customers
• Tastemaker
• Creator
• Trusted lifestyle advisor

Opportunities:

• Collaborations with brands and retailers that align with values and loyal community
  • Marketing
  • Product development (unique products for your community)
• Affiliate creator revenue models
  • TikTok musician that partners with Shure, Reverb, Guitar Center, etc.
• Co-market with brands and retailers to drive cross-community growth for all

Channel Recommendations:

• Social commerce channels (TikTok, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter, Reddit, Twitch, Discord, Patreon, etc.)

Solution Recommendations:

• Run your ecommerce site on a platform that enables easy publishing of authorized catalog to your key social commerce and community channels (ecommerce and channel integration)
• Create dropshipping relationships with brands that you regularly partner with to make the inventory, orders and returns process easy for your community

Niche Boutique – SLHM

Strengths:

• Experts in multi-brand curation
• Trusted advisors in niche categories
• Tastemakers
• Product experts
• Loyalty and lifetime value (LTV)

Opportunities:

• Online to offline, buy online, pickup in-store (BOPIS), buy online, return in-store (BORIS)
• Use product experts to build curated community of loyalists (social channels)
• How-to content (how to use, how to wear, how to style, etc.)
• Holiday and event curation

Channel Recommendations:

• Online to Offline
• Community creation through a relevant social channel (e.g. Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Pinterest)

Solution Recommendations:

• Direct-to-consumer (DTC) integration with point of sale (POS) for good BOPIS and BORIS
• Catalog integration for shopping via relevant social channels
• Customer relationship management (CRM) and loyalty programs
• Live selling

Dropshipper – SCNM

Strengths:

• Established relationships with dropship supply chain (e.g. manufacturer supplier)

• Marketing team is strong, outsource operations and fulfillment to manufacturer

• Access to unique product assortment via supplier relationships

• Unique community or customer base

• Digital distribution rights to quality product across multiple brands

Opportunities:

• Invest in awareness channels and product distribution across those channels

• Build a community on social commerce channels that engages with your products to drive higher LTV

• Diversify your product assortment with additional dropship vendors

Channel Recommendations:

• Search channels: optimizing products for direct and organic search to drive traffic to DTC ecommerce site

• Social channels: merchandise and list products within relevant discovery and community channels (eg. Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, etc.) to drive traffic to high LTV sites (e.g. owned DTC)

Solution Recommendations:

• Run a DTC site with an integrated dropshipping app or integration that makes sending orders to fulfillment partners seamless

Collective – SCHM

Strengths:

• Small team, good marketers

• Product curation, a small catalog but built with tight knit adjacent brands

• Good at social collaborations and collective marketing

• A few tight wholesale or dropship relationships

Opportunities:

• Joint campaigns and social promotion or community-building with like-minded brands

• Like vertical, lifestyle or need-state-specific marketing

• Collection campaigns (best gifts lists, etc.)

Channel Recommendations:

• Social community building

• Integrated social and ecommerce

• Affiliate sites

Solution Recommendations:

• Cross-channel collaborative marketing

• Creator tools for social

• Integrated social, ecommerce, short message service (SMS), and email tools

• Paid and organic social

Whether you’re crafting a genius marketing campaign or creating an entirely new product category, creativity runs through your blood. You’re agile. You’re versatile. You can move into new categories and adopt new products because you know how to launch, from design to sales and everything in between. The only thing that’s stopping you from growing into new channels is your own ambition — and not knowing the right tools to help get you there.

Distributor – SLNB

Strengths:

• Strong brand team

• Marketing and awareness

• Product focused on delighting customers with details

Opportunities:

• Brand campaigns on new channels with outsized return on investment (ROI)

• Influencer collaborations

Channel Recommendations:

• International expansion and multi-storefront (languages, currencies and regions)

• DTC, wholesale, marketplaces (first- and third-party)

• Social selling

Solution Recommendations:

• Choose platforms that have the social integrations you need

• Invest in paid media on channels that deliver outsized ROI

• Multichannel feed management is critical

• Invest in affiliate, influencer and distribution relationships that deliver the highest margin

Designer – SLHB

Strengths:

• Strong brand, product design and development team

• Large product assortment (single-brand) with capacity to produce at scale

• Tastemaker and problem solver

Opportunities:

• “How it’s made” content can draw a strong community of loyalists

• Establish yourself as authority on the product across channels

• Partner with marketers or influencers that know your audience

Channel Recommendations:

• DTC, wholesale, high-LTV or high-volume distribution relationships

• Social selling

• International expansion and multi-storefront (languages, currencies and regions)

Solution Recommendations:

• Choose platforms that have the social integrations you need

• Invest in paid media on channels that deliver outsized ROI

• Multichannel feed management is critical

• Invest in affiliate, influencer and distribution relationships that deliver the highest margin

Marketing Maven – SCNB

Strengths:

• Small, strong brand and advertising team

• Marketing and awareness is key value prop

• A few star products (fulfilled by others), focused on delighting customers with details

Opportunities:

• Paid digital, brand campaigns on new channels with outsized ROI

• Influencer collaborations

• Optimizing click funnel from discovery (social channels) to conversion (on third-party or owned site) to fulfillment (two-day shipping day via third-party or dropshipper)

Channel Recommendations:

• International expansion and multi-storefront (languages, currencies and regions)

• DTC, wholesale, marketplaces (first- and third-party)

• Social selling

Solution Recommendations:

• Choose platforms that have the social integrations you need

• Invest in paid media on channels that deliver outsized ROI

• Multichannel feed management is critical

• Invest in affiliate, influencer and distribution relationships that deliver the highest margin

Maker – SCHB

Strengths:

• Strong brand team

• Marketing and awareness

• Product focused on delighting customers with details

Opportunities:

• Brand campaigns on new channels with outsized ROI

• Influencer collaborations

Channel Recommendations:

• International expansion and multi-storefront (languages, currencies and regions)

• DTC, wholesale, marketplaces (first- and third-party)

• Social selling

Solution Recommendations:

• Choose platforms that have the social integrations you need

• Invest in paid media on channels that deliver outsized ROI

• Multichannel feed management is critical

• Invest in affiliate, influencer and distribution relationships that deliver the highest margin

If a customer wants it, they know you’ve got it. Whatever products you’re selling, customers know they can count on you for inventory and quality. But how do their offline and online experiences connect? Multiple inventories and warehouses have challenged you in the past, but you know that with the right tools at your disposal, anything is possible — that includes exponential growth.

Third-Party Marketplace – ELNM

Strengths:

• Huge product assortment from many vendors (aggregator)

• Systems and technology deliver automated leverage

• Data and analytics

• Traffic

Opportunities:

• Third-party marketplace offerings with automated fulfillment

• Affiliate marketplace offering

Channel Recommendations:

• Owned third-party or affiliate marketplace

• Paid and organic search (because of huge product assortment and listing leverage)

• Targeting and segmentation offerings

Solution Recommendations:

• Invest in a flexible commerce backend

• On-site search and personalization are key

• Invest in vendor management solutions to automate products, inventory and orders

Big Box – ELHM

Strengths:

• Leaders in product assortment and catalog

• Big basket size

• Strong vendor relationships offer diverse fulfillment options

• Product exclusivity

Opportunities:

• Online to offline experience (BOPIS, BORIS)

• Expand online to include third-party vendors (fulfilled by vendor)

• Ensemble or category campaigns and merchandising

Channel Recommendations:

• Invest in online to offline experience

• Organic and paid search with quality catalog and location-specific inventory data

• Paid social as acquisition

• Invest in owned marketplace

Solution Recommendations:

• Integrations between online and offline (DTC + OMS + POS)

• Evaluate third-party marketplace offerings (vendor management solutions)

• Invest in quality catalog data across paid search channels to drive increased traffic and performance

Publisher – ECNM

Strengths:

• Content development

• Traffic and eyeballs

• Trusted source (with small catalog that you stand behind)

• Loyalty and LTV return visitors

Opportunities:

• Editorial content that integrates product with seamless path to purchase

• Smart brand partnerships with like-minded brands

Channel Recommendations:

• Social and creator tools

• Owned editorial (Shoppable content)

Solution Recommendations:

• Headless commerce integration to content management system (CMS)

• Social commerce integration that marries editorial and product content in ads and posts

• Creator tools (short form video and integrated commerce experiences)

Vertical – ECHM

Strengths:

• Vertical category coverage

• Multi-brand seller, but niche, product-specific authority

• Deep category SKU coverage

Opportunities:

• Category expert (outdoor, shoes, etc.) and authority

• Deliver unified online to offline experience

• Deep category penetration on owned and third-party retail sites (social channels, marketplaces, DTC)

Channel Recommendations:

• Invest in paid search to drive traffic to high value LTV channels

• Create ownable community or loyalty program

• Optimize one- and two-day shipping, delivery options (owned or third-party) across all sales channels

• Explore regional expansion based on proven demand channels (third-party search and social)

Solution Recommendations:

• Invest in quality catalog data across channels

• Invest in a unified online-to-offline customer experience that drives LTV and repeat purchase

• Invest in first-party data strategy so you can measure SKU performance across channels

Business is big — real big. That’s because you stick to what you know: large-order B2B. But new trends in ecommerce are emerging, and as times change, you will too. By venturing into the DTC space, you’re taking on big challenges that could reap big rewards. Using your size to your advantage could help you quickly grow your omnichannel capabilities, as long as you have the right tools for the job.

Wholesaler – ELNB

Strengths:

• Has larger profit margins which allows for more marketing budget

• Can add additional products and expand product line based on customer feedback

Opportunities:

• Sell products on marketplaces

• Develop dropshipping networks that can carry and sell your products

• Brand campaigns on new channels with outsized ROI

• Ability to create cohesive online branding through owned marketing assets

Channel Recommendations:

• DTC

• Marketplace expansion (first- and third-party)

Solution Recommendations:

• Invest in quality catalog data across paid search channels to drive increased traffic and performance

• Multichannel feed management is critical

Big-Ass Brand – ELHB

Strengths:

• Strong brand team

• Marketing and awareness

• Product focused on delighting customers with details

Opportunities:

• Brand campaigns on new channels with outsized ROI

• Influencer collaborations

Channel Recommendations:

• International expansion and multi-storefront (languages, currencies and regions)

• DTC, wholesale, marketplaces (first- and third-party)

• Selling on social channels

Solution Recommendations:

• Choose platforms that have the social integrations you need

• Invest in paid media on channels that deliver outsized ROI

• Multichannel feed management is critical

• Invest in affiliate, influencer and distribution relationships that deliver the highest margin

Celebs – ECNB

Strengths:

• Has clout and fame around the name

• Typically has a large social following to leverage

• Fanboy culture allows for quicker market penetration

• Trusted lifestyle advisor

Opportunities:

• Ability to show the product in use while giving a behind the scenes look into the celebrity’s life

• Capitalize on targeting followings of celebrity movies, shows and various past projects

Channel Recommendations:

• Selling on social channels

• DTC and marketplaces

• CRM and loyalty

• Live selling

Solution Recommendations:

• Choose platforms that have the social integrations you need

• Multichannel feed management is critical

• Invest in paid media on channels that deliver outsized ROI

Cool Kid/CPG – ECHB

Strengths:

• Strong brand team

• Marketing and awareness

• Product focused on delighting customers with details

Opportunities:

• Brand campaigns on new channels with outsized ROI

• Influencer collaborations

Channel Recommendations:

• DTC, wholesale, marketplaces (first- and third-party)

• Expansion across ads and social selling

• International expansion and multi-storefront (languages, currencies and regions)

Solution Recommendations:

• Choose platforms that have the ads and social integrations you need

• Invest in paid media on channels that deliver outsized ROI

• Multichannel feed management is critical

• Invest in affiliate, influencer and distribution relationships that deliver the highest margin