CASE STUDY
be seen.
US Micro: Securing an Established
Presence in a Digital World
COMPANY OVERVIEW
US Micro has been a major innovator and leader in the enterprise IT asset-disposition
industry since 1995. The company disposes over one million IT assets annually and
serves companies of all sizes, including Fortune 500 companies and government
agencies that demand the highest levels of data security and environmental stewardship.
US Micro leases computer equipment and disposes all of a company’s IT data and
information for security purposes once a company’s contract has expired. In 2010, US
Micro began selling its equipment online via its website, as well as on Amazon and eBay.
SITUATION
“We used to manually input all our data for each marketplace using a spreadsheet,”
said Combs. “The biggest challenge was finding a solution that could store all our
data in one place and shoot it out to all of these channels. Fortunately, I built a
relationship with ChannelAdvisor and knew what the solution could offer US Micro.”
SOLUTION
To capture the attention of as many consumers as possible, Combs moved the
ChannelAdvisor account he was using with his previous employer to US Micro. Once
the new account was activated, US Micro immediately started selling on Amazon
and eBay. Additionally, the company used ChannelAdvisor Premium Webstores to list
and sell inventory on its website.
“EBay used to dominate e-commerce, but now there are so many additional
channels that are increasingly important,” said Combs. “Having a one-size-fits-all
data feed is extremely valuable for selling online. We sent our feed, photos and
attributes to the ChannelAdvisor platform and quickly expanded our reach. And we
were able to sell directly from our website. It’s resourceful and efficient to manage
our marketplace and webstore business from one location.”
After establishing itself on Amazon and eBay, US Micro wanted a bigger piece of the
e-commerce pie. The company launched on Rakuten.com Shopping and Sears. US
Micro’s products have sold well on both marketplaces.
Location: Smyrna, GA
URL:
www.usmicrocorpretail.com
Industry:
Consumer Electronics
“ We’re on track to grow
our online sales by more
than $4 million year over
year. And a lot of this
growth is attributed to
marketplaces.
“
US Micro hired Karl Combs as a director in 2010 to launch the company’s
online business. Combs was tasked with expanding US Micro’s e-commerce
footprint to reach as many consumers as possible. At his prior job, Combs used
ChannelAdvisor’s software to sell on marketplaces. When he started working at US
Micro, he knew the company could use the technology as well.
- Karl Combs
Director
US Micro
“The integration with Sears and Rakuten.com Shopping was simple,” said Combs.
“ChannelAdvisor pushed our inventory feed on these marketplaces almost
effortlessly. Both marketplaces have contributed to our revenue growth.”
US Micro used the ChannelAdvisor Inventory Juggler to simultaneously list the
same product quantity on multiple marketplaces without needing to allocate
exclusive quantity for each channel. When an item is ordered, the company’s
inventory is updated on each marketplace to prevent overselling.
“Before, it was very difficult to manage inventory across so many different channels
and keep up with all the moving parts,” said Combs. “With the Inventory Juggler,
our stock is updated on each marketplace in real time as orders are processed. I
don’t have to worry about taking down a listing on Amazon because the same item
was ordered on Sears.”
✓ Marketplaces
Reach ready-made audiences on global
marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Best Buy, La
Redoute, MercadoLivre, Newegg, Rakuten.com
Shopping, Sears, Tesco and more. ChannelAdvisor
Marketplaces enables automated delivery of product
data to every destination, trouble-free management
and the capability to expand internationally.
✓ Webstores Amplifier
RESULTS
Using the ChannelAdvisor platform to sell online has proven to be a lucrative
business decision for US Micro. “We’re on track to grow by more than $4 million in
online sales year over year. And a lot of this growth is attributed to marketplaces,”
said Combs. US Micro has also generated considerable revenue from its webstore.
“We made about $100,000 in sales on our webstore the first year. This year we’re
projecting we’ll reach about $1.2 million.”
Most recently, US Micro launched on Newegg and Best Buy using ChannelAdvisor.
“Each time we add a new marketplace, our performance is stable and we never
see a drop in sales,” said Combs. “It took us two days to get up and running on
Newegg and Best Buy. Because of the type of products we sell, both sites are
performing better for us than any other marketplace and account for about half of
our e-commerce sales.” Copyright 2014 ChannelAdvisor Corporation. All rights reserved.
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Synchronize your product data between your
webstore and all of your marketplace listings,
amplifying your online reach, capabilities and
results. ChannelAdvisor Webstores Amplifier
allows you to launch new products quickly, ship
orders seamlessly, change or update your webstore
platform at any time and expand effortlessly.
Digital Marketing
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