EMPIncreased Average Order Value on Marketplaces by 23% with ChannelAdvisor

Company Overview

What started as selling fan to fan in an apartment in Lingen over 30 years ago, is now a leading rock and entertainment merchandise retailer. Today, EMP is part of the Warner Music Group and offers its customers fan articles, clothing, and memorabilia from metal music culture. Over the years, e-commerce introduced new sales channels, but the company’s passion for its products and customers has remained.

The Situation

Across Europe, EMP’s 600 employees are involved in the sale of clothing, accessories, jewellery, video, CDs and DVDs to customers who have over 30,000 items to choose from. The retailer wanted to establish an active brand presence on marketplaces alongside its online shop. EMP was aware that the parallel management of stock inventory, prices and content would become too complex for a large number of products on various platforms, which is why the company says it turned to ChannelAdvisor.

The Solution

EMP decided to implement ChannelAdvisor Marketplaces as a self-service solution to launch its marketplace business. EMP is now actively selling on Amazon, eBay and Cdiscount in six countries and looks to expand to additional marketplaces in future. 

“Our marketplace business would not be possible without ChannelAdvisor,” says Caroline Offergelt, marketplace manager responsible for sales and marketing at EMP.

“We would not have been able to launch on marketplaces with such ease, had it not been for ChannelAdvisor,” explains Offergelt. 

On the ChannelAdvisor platform, EMP particularly values the short transmission times to marketplaces when there are updates to stock and prices. Offergelt says the dashboard is also important for daily operations and provides better control of online activities. She credits the ChannelAdvisor platform for its accuracy and assistance with compiling different reports and analytics.

The Results

Since using ChannelAdvisor Marketplaces, EMP reports that it has achieved a 23% increase in average order value on marketplaces. According to EMP, the ChannelAdvisor platform solves three of their important problem areas.

• Price Adjustments: EMP describes that ChannelAdvisor’s automation and repricing tools provide greater flexibility and agility when adjusting product prices, which help EMP avoid getting caught in price spirals.
• License Requirements: Licensing plays a significant role in merchandising, including directly influencing the presentation of content, based on the requirements of the marketplace. EMP remarks that ChannelAdvisor provides timely updates and supports the implementation of the adjustments. The error messages generated by the platform indicate, for example, items that cannot be sold via the marketplace due to restrictions.
• Data Analytics: EMP needs to streamline its data to help maintain control of its business. ChannelAdvisor offers actionable analytics, such as BuyBox shares, which EMP discloses help them to closely monitor their competition, compare performance  and make informed business decisions.

“Without ChannelAdvisor, we would lack a solution that is easy to use and it would require a lot more manual work,” concludes Caroline Offergelt, adding that ChannelAdvisor is a powerful solution partner that contributes to EMP’s success