MonopriceManages Extensive Marketplace Growth With Ease

Company Overview

Name a high-end electronic product, and Monoprice probably sells it: power banks, cords, cables, wires, mounting systems, smart sensors…the list goes on. After becoming the go-to resource for discerning buyers in need of HDMI cables, the brand has expanded to offer a diverse range of more than 7,000 items. Monoprice says thousands of consumers count on the company for high-quality home audio, gaming, outdoor electronics and STEM learning, as well as home appliances, office furniture and even 3D printers — which, it’s worth noting, has made the brand a world leader in sales, according to company officials.

It’s not just tech-savvy buyers who put their trust in Monoprice, either. The brand says it is frequently a top choice for installers, tech giants, value-added resellers (VARs) and hospitality chains. In other words…

The online seller manages a lot of inventory and orders. Which is a great position to be in, of course. Still, it doesn’t come without complications.

The Situation

As an e-commerce leader in the electronics category, Monoprice says it is highly committed to creating an outstanding customer experience. The brand’s website tells visitors “we exist to bring simplicity, fairness, and confidence to technology choices,” and assures shoppers they can expect “fast shipping,” “easy returns” and “incomparable speed and service.” For each of those promises, a lot has to happen behind the scenes to make sure every transaction goes smoothly. And since Monoprice makes its products available on a variety of marketplaces, from Amazon and eBay to Newegg, operations needed to be streamlined across a wide array of platforms — each with its own set of requirements.

It was complicated,  to say the least.

“We were looking at a complex marketplace management structure that couldn’t be implemented in house, with automated listings, pricing, content and order fulfillment,” explains Director of Marketplace Veronica Chen.

The Solution

If Monoprice was going to maintain its stellar reputation for product excellence and customer service, Chen says, the team would need to find a way to streamline operations as the company continued to scale. 

“ChannelAdvisor allows us to manage all marketplaces from one centralized tool,” Chen says. “With the number of SKUs we have, and the number of channels we have a presence in, it offered all of the services we needed — including full automation.”

She says the team leans heavily on ChannelAdvisor Managed Services for Marketplaces to help guide the brand’s overall marketplace management needs.

“The integrated solution allows us to manage everything in one place without having to use multiple portals or tools,” says Chen. “If we did not have ChannelAdvisor, we’d have to integrate with other similar tools, develop them internally, or manage all listings, content and orders from each marketplace portal directly. That amount of effort would require additional human manpower and increase the risk of human error.”

Chen says the partnership has led to other opportunities as well. Namely, Chen reports that ChannelAdvisor’s integration with Wish made it remarkably easy for Monoprice to launch on what the company says proved to be a profitable channel.

“Wish presented itself as an emerging marketplace a couple of years back, with a different concept than traditional marketplaces,” says Chen. “The target audience Wish had in mind coincided with the target of some of our products so we found it to be a good channel to push those listings.”

The Results

Since partnering with ChannelAdvisor, Chen says her team has seen gains across the full array of metrics Monoprice uses to gauge marketplace performance, including revenue and catalog growth, customer satisfaction, order fulfillment rates, Buy Box percentages and more. She says her team has been especially pleased with what Monoprice is achieving on Wish, which has required minimal time and effort thanks to ChannelAdvisor’s integration.

“Wish is easy to manage,” she says. “We have been successful in opening Wish and generating additional revenue through the channel. There are not a lot of additional resources needed if you are already deployed on ChannelAdvisor.” 

Monoprice reports that moving forward, its plan is straightforward and simple — and powerful: The team will continue to focus on creating an exceptional customer experience while relying on a central e-commerce platform to ensure operations stay seamless.

“We find ChannelAdvisor to be one of the most comprehensive tools if you have a big catalog and are looking to have an omnipresence across multiple channels,” Chen says. “The level of automation is best in class.”