At this point, it’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has had innumerable effects on eCommerce. The key issue that’s driving concern amongst merchants this holiday season is the supply chain and distribution hang-ups. We’ve gathered a lot of ideas from our team at Carro and from our friends at Klaviyo on how to approach these 2021 holiday challenges through leveraging owned channels.

What Are Owned Channels & Why Do They Matter?

Klaviyo will be the first to tell you how important owned channels are (we’ll be the second). We think their team has created a pretty stellar definition of the term owned marketing. Check it out below  

“Owned Marketing is about taking ownership of your company’s growth by using channels like SMS and Email marketing and targeting the entire customer experience. It’s about leveraging the assets you already possess, such as what you know (and could know) about your customers and prospects, and using this knowledge to both find and grow relationships that last a lifetime. It’s also about the unimpeded use of your creative talents to build experiences worthy of those lifelong relationships right from the start. It’s about building your business on owned revenue, dollars contributed to your business as a result of the relationships you’ve built. It’s the difference between being invited to engage with your customers, versus being dismissed as just another interruption.”

So what are key owned channels?

Website

Email & SMS

Blog

What is NOT an owned channel?

Paid Search

Display Advertising

Third-Party Marketplaces

You may be thinking – how do owned channels help me amidst supply chain issues and distribution problems? Read on

Invest in Your eCommerce Experience

For most brands, third-party marketplaces come with just about as many cons as they come with pros. Oftentimes, your brand can be on the backburner while the marketplace promotes its brand.  Additionally, during the pandemic, essential goods were given prime placement over non-essential goods. This can be devastating for a business that relies on a marketplace to feature and promote its products. On your own eCommerce site, you’re in control of merchandising and on-site search – which truly is everything.

On top of full merchandising control, you also have full control over your fulfillment and who you choose as shipping partners. For many businesses during the pandemic, their tight relationships with shipping partners enabled them to take more control of their supply chain whereas a third-party marketplace often meant (and means) less control.

In short, brands should be looking to capture as much control over their channels and chains as possible. This empowers them to keep selling even when the state of the world is less stable.

Collaborate with Other Brands to Sell More

With Carro Brand Partnerships, you can cross-store sell without the traditional hoops of sourcing, supplying, and retailing products. On top of that, you can do it with Shopify’s best D2C brands. Win, win.

Keep Inventory High Enough For Demand

With Carro Brand Partnerships, you can add new products to your site without ever having to hold the inventory. With thousands of high-quality brands and products in the Carro Network, you can keep up with holiday demand without warehouse space, purchasing inventory, or fulfilling orders. And don’t worry, Carro is not a dropshipping platform, it’s cross-store selling with high-quality brands through top-notch technology! Becoming a retailer on Carro is also a great way to source seasonal products without the commitment of purchasing seasonal inventory.

Move Excess Inventory at Full Price

Wanna move your excess inventory without major discounting? We got you. Become a supplier in the Carro network. There are tons of brands looking for amazing products to meet the demand for the holidays. And the best part? Many of these brands are mission and value-forward brands that are keen to sell products at full price. In the Carro Network, you can find women-owned brands, plant-based products, black-owned brands, AAPI-owned brands, and more.

Brands partnerships is a great way to tap into other top Shopify brands’ audiences as well as elevate your brand’s owned channels. From the on-site experience to SMS and email marketing channels, there’s plenty of room to grow your brand with other top brands. Don’t want to rely on paid media and the whims of social media algorithms? Learn more about cross-store selling with Carro Brand Partnerships!

Learn more about cross-store selling

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