Taking Collaborative Commerce Worldwide

Our CEO and Co-Founder, David Perry, recently sat down with Startup Savant to talk all things Collaborative Commerce.

Check out this excerpt from the conversation

“If you’re reading this and you own a brand, do your customers ever ask you for advice on anything that you don’t currently sell?” asks Carro CEO David Perry. “Most brands allow their customers to leave their websites and buy ancillary products elsewhere.” However, sending customers to another store is risky; they might appreciate your help and become even more loyal, but they also might disappear forever because they like the other store better.

To solve this problem, Carro invented what Perry calls “virtual inventory,” which “is not some kind of affiliate program, and it’s not drop-shipping from China.” Rather, “It’s stunningly disruptive to the way things are done by most online brands today.” Specifically, Carro helps its customers cross-sell products in each other’s eCommerce stores that they believe would work well with their own products but can’t afford to stock. The supplier makes products available to the retailer, orders are synced automatically in real-time, and the retailer publishes products to their store. After that, orders placed through the retailer’s store automatically appear in the supplier’s orders. Everything is out in the open, and the customer is fully aware that the supplier will be shipping the products.

According to Carro, its platform allows you to:

• Acquire customers at no cost. When a new customer buys a product, both the retailer and the supplier get to keep their fulfillment information so that each can enjoy the lifetime value without any cost for the acquisition.
• Easily expand your product catalogs. Rather than having to send customers somewhere else or try to sell them something they don’t want, Carro lets you sell partners’ products that they do want directly on your own eCommerce site and receive compensation. It’s easy to add to new categories and offer up-sell items. You can also increase your order value with targeted product recommendations.
• Easily partner with other brands you admire. You can choose brands that best align with your own store’s products and values.
• Skip the inventory and fulfillment. When a partner’s product is sold on your site, Carro automatically sends the order to the suppliers so they can fulfill the item. Enjoy a dropshipping partnership with brands you trust so you don’t have to worry about manufacturing, managing inventory, making bulk purchases, or shipping products yourself.
• Increase your online presence. Be seen in more places and gain more exposure when you supply products to other retailers.

Read the full article here.

‍