One of our merchants, Keetsa, is in the news again! We love to see our merchants being mentioned in the news, especially when it is good news. Kate Milani of the Wall Street Journal posted an article called “Three Best Ways to Export.” Milani says “International customers can be a source of growth that businesses can’t find on U.S. soil when domestic spending slows.” She highlights Keetsa and it’s phenomenal growth to their willingness to listen to their customers and begin exporting. We couldn’t agree more!
Keetsa began doing business in August of 2007, one year later they began exporting, and today they have grown to “six locations, 15 employees and about 40 distributors,” per Milani’s article. What has allowed Keetsa to grow their business so quickly and successfully? Their success is surely due to the talent within the company, but Keetsa also has something powerful behind their business model… the only thing that wasn’t mentioned in Milani’s article… Keetsa uses Shipwire to take care of all of their overseas storage and shipping needs. Joe Alexander, founder of Keetsa, tells us “Exporting might seem daunting at first, but it opens up an entire market… Don’t be intimidated.” He is certainly taking his own advice and smiling all the way to the bank. And we here at Shipwire are smiling with him.
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Nate Gilmore, our VP of Marketing, has attended the Toy Fair in New York held at the Jarvis Center 2 years in a row and now he has twice the information to share with us! While attending the 2009 Toy Fair, Nate made sure to not only play with as many toys as possible, but also to get a feel for how the attending toy retailers were managing their business and what their concerns were when it comes to storage and shipping logistics. Some important concerns to note from 2009 were (1) “Toy retailers buying smaller amounts, requesting more frequent resupply and not wanting to take on the risk of inventory, (2) Toy packaging and its impact on fulfillment, and (3) Manufacturer drop ship fulfillment options for Toy makers.”
We all know 2009 was a rough year for many due to the economy, so naturally toy retailers were focusing on keeping inventory levels in line with sales (rather than overstocking), optimum packaging options to save money, and also exploring different shipping options such as drop shipping. Read more about Nate’s adventures at the 2009 Toy Fair here.
The concerns from 2009 were still prevalent in 2010, especially interest in Drop Shipping, but according to Nate (who apparently did not have as much time to play with as many toys this year for he talked to 100 toy retailers!) we also see a trend to want to automate processes more, make the shipping process easier for both merchant and consumer, and to grow sales by expanding overseas fulfillment. It’s clear that although there are hurdles to be faced, toy retailers want to address them as well as continue to grow their businesses in a more efficient and cost saving manner. The economy has taught all of us to be frugal again, waste less, and save more. Which is great… and will no doubt lead to more play time. To read Nate’s article on the 2010 Toy Fair go here. If you are a toy retailer and are interested in trying Shipwire out, sign up for a Free Trial here.
To read more from the man himself, go to Nate’s blogs on the 2009 Toy Fair and the 2010 Toy Fair.
Interested in meeting Nate next year? Click below to save the date for Toy Fair 2011:
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Shipwire is proud to be an integral part of one of America’s Most Promising Startups, Keetsa. Profitable in just 3 months, Keetsa uses Shipwire for all their fulfillment and warehousing needs, which helps to not only keep their costs low but also reduce their shipping carbon footprint.
With just one Shipwire account you can eliminate the need to have your own delivery trucks or warehouses. I think I just heard a big sigh of relief somewhere. If that sounds too good to be true, then read Keetsa Uses Shipwire – Keeps Both Prices and Carbon Footprint Low. Keetsa calls Shipwire “a perfect fit.” “We chose the Shipwire warehouse and order fulfillment service for its flexibility. It gave us storage and delivery features that we needed at a price we appreciated.”
Being green and making a profit doesn’t have to be hard either. We’ve blogged about how Shipwire and Keetsa make such a fantastic pair in a previous blog – read Keetsa grows green with Shipwire, where we show you how we helped Keetsa grow by a whopping 200%… in a recession no less. Was that a victory cry I just heard?
You can start a free trial immediately and see if your company will be the next we blog about making a 200% profit – simply begin your free trial here.
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Online sellers, what last minute shipping promotions will you use this holiday?
Endless arguments can be made about whether a small retailer should offer shipping promotions or not; suffice it to say, if you think one would help your business you should consider it. Shipping promotions drive conversions as they can address the main differences between online and offline – shipping cost and time to buyer gratification. Buyers want products fast and preferably free, so if you can bring the following marketing text to the front of your website “fast and free shipping” then you can increase conversions.
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Shipwire has long offered fulfillment for the eBay marketplace via our PayPal IPN fulfillment and PayPal Buy-Now cart fulfillment integrations. We are happy to offer as a free public beta an improved eBay auctions fulfillment and shipping connection.
This new eBay integration directly connects Shipwire to your eBay auctions. When your eBay auction closes, Shipwire will receive the transaction information so that we can automatically fulfill your eBay order from our warehouses in the U.S., Canada and the Europe. Once your order has shipped, Shipwire will send back to eBay Selling Manager all shipping tracking information so that buyers can know that their order has shipped and track the shipment with the carrier. End-to-end automated eBay Selling Manager fulfillment.
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According to recent headlines, UPS is going to be phasing in a greenhouse gas emissions offset option for their shipments in order to satiate green customers’ desires. This is because customers are often (rightfully) worried that when they ship items through the mail, they are causing greenhouse gases to be emitted into the atmosphere.
Shipwire merchants, your comments are wanted. Do you want Shipwire to offer you the ability to automatically elect to buy carbon offsets when you ship from Shipwire warehouses?
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Green shipping practices and shipping carbon footprint reduction is a conversation that has been gaining momentum over the past few years. Shipwire initially wrote 5 ways that our unique warehouse model reduces shipping costs and an individual order’s carbon footprint. A leading eco-business blog also picked up on our green shipping practices calling it “smart & green”.
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One of our merchants, Keetsa, is in the news again! We love to see our merchants being mentioned in the news, especially when it is good news. Kate Milani of the Wall Street Journal posted an article called “Three Best Ways to Export.” Milani says “International customers can be a source of growth that businesses can’t find on U.S. soil when domestic spending slows.” She highlights Keetsa and it’s phenomenal growth to their willingness to listen to their customers and begin exporting. We couldn’t agree more!
