E¬-commerce mistake: do not take shortcuts

 

As advanced in a previous article, one of the mistakes that e-commerce merchants make is rushing to list their products on marketplaces. For instance, if an item is in high demand, the retailer can be tempted to take shortcuts, without realising that this can be costly.

Let’s consider this case scenario: Someone crafty has been making beautiful and unique masks at home and following demands from others and he decides to sell them. Going with the times, the seller decides to market these online and sell them on Amazon. While preparing the items for sale, he encounters a website that delivers cheap and quick product codes. The entrepreneur decides to take this opportunity. Imagine his disappointment when he receives a message saying that these numbers are already listed to another product.

The lesson that can be learnt from this story is that while Global Trade Item Numbers purchased from a third-party sellers are quick and easy, they are often rejected by Amazon. The codes are not unique to your product and not linked to your brand which is a problem since GTINs must be unique. As such, taking shortcuts can involve unexpected costs as you may have to relabel products and deal with returned shipments and disorganised inventory databases. The worst part is that they can get you rejected from Amazon and it might be hard to bounce back from that. Thus, avoid taking shortcuts!

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