3 Tools Ecommerce Retailers Can Use to Boost Efficiency Online sellers, particularly those on eBay, can benefit from the convenience of tapping a mobile device.
By Marsha Collier Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
As creatures of a mobile world, people today rely on the smartphones plastered to their sides and use tablets at work as well as at home. Computers are more often used for more complex tasks but people are no longer tethered to a desktop.
Data from eMarketer indicates that mobile ecommerce sales should reach $57.79 billion this year, representing a major shift toward mobile usage. Indeed shoppers often browse online via their mobile devices.
Should not online sellers on sites such as eBay benefit as well from the convenience of using a mobile device? It's easier to bring a smartphone or tablet right to the product's location start capturing images and other data, rather than having to transport the item to a fixed staging area.
To list items via a mobile device, use these tips to speed up the game:
Related: 5 Tips to Stand Out When Selling on an Online Marketplace
1. Take better pictures.
Modern smartphones and tablets are capable of taking pictures of decent quality. When taking pictures of clothing, place the item on a mannequin or at least a hanging body form.
When it comes to photographing objects that require a macro setting on the mobile device's camera, it's possible to use a stand and light diffuser like the mini Nimbus Cloud Dome. The Cloud Dome was invented to overcome issues when photographing gems, metals, coins and jewelry. The Nimbus is 5 inches high and 7 inches in diameter.
To keep the camera steady for extreme closeups taken with the macro mode, place it under the Nimbus' built-in elastic band. This eliminates harsh shadows, diffuses the lighting and creates evenly lighted product shots of shiny objects and metals.
Related: Sotheby's Joins Up With eBay to Bring Rarefied Fine Art to Digital Masses
2. Create descriptions more quickly.
Take advantage of universal product codes (often referred to as UPCs). When possible, scan a product's UPC with a mobile device. Most ecommerce sites can generate stock information and descriptions from a product's bar code. This will save considerable time in not having to type up a description.
3. Devop a listing with a mobile app.
Before using any of these time-saving apps, know how to take a clear picture, write a title and full description. Too many mobile listings appear with insufficient titles and sloppy, one-line descriptions. Learn how to list an item on the eBay form when using a computer. Then after mastering the process on a desktop, using a mobile app to create a listing will be quicker and seem almost intuitive.
The eBay mobile app is available for mobile devices running the Android, Apple iOS or Windows operating systems. Each version is slightly different, with a different user experience. The benefit of using this eBay app is that product changes are revised immediately when they happen and pushed through as updates. Here's how to use it:
Scan a product's UPC to receive a short title and description for a product listing.
Type in a few keywords that describe the item to receive a suggested eBay product category for its listing. For example, the category "Fiesta" will be suggested for that Fiesta teapot rather than the general category of china and dinnerware.
Take pictures directly from a tablet or smartphone or upload existing ones from the mobile device's image gallery.
Fill in, by speaking or typing, a description of the product in the text box that appears on the app. Those who can write a little code have the option of dressing up the text by using HTML5. It's possible to edit the listing before it's published.
World Lister is a free, cloud-based application that is compatible with eBay's site. It is a web app, meaning that the seller has to type its URL into the mobile device's web browser. The app is the same on any operating system or device. Start creating a listing on a smartphone, perhaps by scanning a bar code and continue drafting it on a tablet or reopen it in a computer's web browser.
The web app will connect to the seller's eBay account for making listing changes on the fly. It's also possible to sync existing eBay items for relisting an item if it doesn't sell.
World Lister has several modes that can be used, depending on the type of item for sale (clothing, say, or cars). It's also possible to list new items by scanning the object's bar codes to retrieve product information.
When creating a listing, entering text is not needed. Just click from web page to web page, tapping to select descriptive product keywords from the app's suggestions. From these selections, World Lister will compose a custom description and title for the item concerned. A seller who is not happy with the text generated can edit the listing at the review stage prior to its posting.
Add videos to the descriptions by inserting a YouTube link.
After uploading a listing of an item for sale via any mobile application, go online to the eBay site on a computer and recheck the details. A listing should look good on a mobile interface and a website to be competitive online. Even considering the moments spent on this last spot check, the time required to create a listing is greatly reduced by going mobile.
