ShopEddiesBuilding an Online Automotive Business from the Ground Up

Company Overview

ShopEddies, owned by William (Bill) Baiden is one of the largest automotive, recreational vehicle (RV), performance parts and accessories online retailers. ShopEddies offers accessibility to quality and affordable auto parts with quick delivery options locally and internationally. The company aligns itself with top brands and performers, and ensures its customers get the most competitive pricing on the market without compromising service or quality. From trailer hitches to spark plugs, ShopEddies provides thousands of brand new parts for all vehicle types on its website and various online marketplaces.

The Situation

Before he founded ShopEddies, Baiden owned an arts and crafts online retail company that used ChannelAdvisor to enhance its e-commerce business, particularly on marketplaces. “Once my previous company grew to more than 20,000 SKUs, we needed support with managing our marketplaces business and handling inventory,” said Baiden. “Each marketplace was changing its requirements frequently, and ChannelAdvisor helped us easily adjust to those changes.”

Baiden was pleased with the performance of ChannelAdvisor Marketplaces but eventually sold the arts and crafts company to launch a more substantial and lucrative business in ShopEddies. Baiden brought ChannelAdvisor on board once again to help him begin his next successful business venture. For automotive sellers, the e-commerce landscape is extremely extensive, and it’s important to have a fully functional system in place to sell online.

“We selected ChannelAdvisor because they weren’t just a one-time sell,” said Baiden. “Instead, they were a strategic business partner that served as another asset for our company. We knew that marketplaces would play a significant role in driving our online sales, and that we needed a sufficient platform in place to grow our business.”

The Solution

Around the same time that ShopEddies was launched, ChannelAdvisor announced its integration service with OrderPigeon, a fulfillment solution focused on regulating inventory, order and shipping data between retailers and wholesale distributors. ShopEddies began using OrderPigeon to provide a seamless connection between ChannelAdvisor and multiple fulfillment centers. With designated business rules in place, the ChannelAdvisor and OrderPigeon integration allows ShopEddies to fulfill orders using the distributor with the fastest, least expensive shipping method.

“With the volume of business we do and level of customer service we provide, we have to use about five or six suppliers and 20 warehouses,” said Baiden. “Using ChannelAdvisor and OrderPigeon, we know which warehouses have certain products in stock. The technology automatically sends orders to the supplier that will get the product to the consumer in the least amount of time. Our inventory control and order management is tied with ChannelAdvisor, and we upload product orders via API in real time for our suppliers.”

The ChannelAdvisor-OrderPigeon integration makes ongoing updates and enhancements to ShopEddies’ pricing, shipments and other important data points. This information allows the company to track inventory at each distribution center as well as the fulfillment timing for orders.

“We can see where orders are in the shipping process through one view, which is extremely valuable,” said Baiden. “If a customer wants information on an order, we can use the lookup tool on OrderPigeon and see all the tracking information, including which warehouse it’s being pulled from so we know the timeframe for delivery. It also makes us aware of any errors during the fulfillment process so we can be on top of issues sooner rather than later.”

Baiden considers inventory and data control the two greatest challenges when selling online and finds it beneficial to have ChannelAdvisor as a partner. “The automation of our inventory through ChannelAdvisor saves us time and confusion,” said Baiden. “The ease of the platform simplifies our overall e-commerce business. It also prevents us from overselling and eliminates the chance of human error.”

The Results

“We’ve grown by 400 percent within our first year and increased our product quantity from 40,000 items to more than 300,000,” said Baiden. “We went from zero sales to an established automotive and RV performance parts and accessories online retailer with ChannelAdvisor as our partner, and we’re continuing to grow.”

ShopEddies tapped ChannelAdvisor’s cross-border trade expertise to begin selling internationally through the eBay Global Shipping Program (GSP). The company is also working with ChannelAdvisor to find different shipping methods to further expand internationally. “We sell to 60 countries,” said Baiden. “We use the ChannelAdvisor template filters to isolate which products can and cannot be shipped through GSP based on designated business rules so that there’s no confusion.”

ShopEddies is in the process of launching Google Shopping campaigns with ChannelAdvisor Digital Marketing to drive traffic to its website and increase its brand exposure through mobile shopping. “ChannelAdvisor makes it easy to try new things through its feed-management capabilities,” said Baiden. “We’re looking forward to getting started with Google Shopping campaigns and are positive it will be another growth opportunity for ShopEddies.com.”