Selling On Tundra: Select the right consumer marketplaces to expand into
Ezrie Myers
COO at Shop Home Med a Division of Click-Industries | Enhancing Health & Wellness Shopping | Simplifying FSA & HSA Utilization
Before we get into why and how to sell on Tundra I would like to discuss what the difference between Faire and Tundra are.?
Both Faire and Tundra offer sellers the opportunity to sell to wholesale buyers online utilizing their network of buyers that most sellers frankly don't have the resources or money to reach on their own.
So let's break the two platforms down.?
Commission for suppliers:?
Returns for buyers:?
Shipping:?
Terms for buyers:
How do the platforms make money:?
?In summary:?
Both platforms have similarities and differences. In the end, Tundra does not charge its sellers commission. With profit margins so small it's nice to keep a bigger cut of your earrings. With 0% commission Tundra makes a lot of sense to venture into.
With 0% commission Tundra makes a lot of sense to venture into.
Now that we’ve got your ears tingling with excitement for 0% commission let's jump right into breaking down the platform.?
How do you sell on Tundra?
Selling on tundra is pretty straightforward and simple. All you need to do is go to Tundra
How do I get onto www.tundra.com/sell once on the website you'll see “Create Storefront”?
Once you've clicked on that you'll be given the opportunity to create a free supplier account.?
All you'll need to provide at this point is a Name, Email and Password.?
Once submitted and you've confirmed your email you'll be taken to the “Create Storefront” page.
You have to pick if you're a single brand or a multiple brand. For the purpose of ease we'll go with a single brand for today.?
What you'll need to provide:
Once submitted you'll be taken to a page that asks for some more information this is where you'll be adding all your brand? and product information.?
What you’ll need to provide:
Storefront branding
Information for buyers
Company information
Bank information
Warehouse location
Shipment details
Packaging
The next step is setting up your store front.?
From here you need to provide all your product information. Have in mind that the best way to get your products viewed is through keywords and tags. So do your homework and create a list of keywords and tags for each product.
Tag Guidelines?
A #tag or “hashtag” is a word or phrase preceded by the pound sign # – for example #homedecor or #madeinusa. #tags are used in the captions for each post to describe the content of the post or the relevant audience that would be interested. Users can then search for #tags and follow #tags so those posts will show up in their feeds.
Use #tags that would make it easier for a buyer to discover your brand(s) and products. Think of search terms they would use if they were looking for your products or for your brand(s). We recommend that you include at least one #tag for the category or subcategory of product as well as any specific attributes you think a buyer would be searching for. For example, if you were posting about an organic baby toy, you could use a category #tag like #baby, a buyer #tag like #babyboutique, and some descriptive #tags like #organic, #babytoys, #babygift.
Make sure your #tags are written as single words (e.g. #crueltyfree rather than #cruelty free). #tags will be shown as lowercase.
In your Supplier Center, click the Products tab and then click the Bulk Change button. Select the product(s) you want to tag and choose “#tags”. You’ll be able to add, remove, or replace #tags here. Use #tags that are relevant to your product and brand(s) and that will help buyers discover your products. Consider adding the following types of #tags:
Last Three tips:
Once your products are listed and you're ready to sell, make sure you're beating the competition making sure your prices are competitive to get the “Gold Badge” brands with the Gold Badge who promote getting the biggest boost to their products.?
Criterias for the Gold Badge:
A core part of Tundra’s mission is to add back value to the wholesale ecosystem. We do that directly by not charging any fees or commissions to suppliers. Because suppliers keep 100% of the product revenue they generate, suppliers are able to offer their best wholesale pricing and minimums to buyers on Tundra, and those brands are highlighted to buyers with the Gold Badge.
At least one of the following must be true of a brand’s Tundra storefront:
If only one of the two criteria above is true, then the other criteria must at least be equal to the offer available elsewhere. For example, if a brand offers 10% better pricing to buyers on Tundra, then their MOV on Tundra must be the same or less than the lowest MOV they offer elsewhere.
A brand is still eligible for the badge if they offer the same pricing and MOV on their own website to wholesale buyers as they do on Tundra.
It is possible for a brand to earn the Gold Badge by offering a combination of A) pricing and B) MOV even if they don’t quite hit the full criteria of either option above. Once your storefront is live, a brand can request a review of their eligibility for the badge by emailing [email protected]. If your storefront is not yet live, please make sure to first complete the Storefront Go Live Checklist and your Gold Badge will be added when you are reviewed to go live.
Storefront Go Live Checklist:
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Pricing & Minimums:
Minimum Order Value: If you have set a minimum order value (MOV) for your storefront, it should be of competitive and reasonable value. It must be lower than or equivalent to any brand MOVs listed in other marketplaces or on your own wholesale site. Tundra’s best selling brands have no or low storefront MOVs.
Minimum Order Quantity and Case Packs: Brands that have the most success with Buyers do not have product minimum order quantities (MOQs) or Case Packs. If you do have them, they must be logical, present a competitive offering and must be lower than or equivalent to any brand MOQs or Case Packs listed in other marketplaces or on your site. This is particularly relevant for storefronts who offer many variants of a single type of product (e.g., soaps, lotions, candles, t-shirts, etc). Often buyers want to purchase a variety of scents/colors/sizes. Tundra’s bestselling brands will set low no MOQ or Case Packs and instead set a MOV for their whole storefront. If you must have an MOQ or Case Packs on your products, we suggest creating a variety pack option that contains one of each of your most popular scents/colors.
Wholesale Pricing: Brands that receive the most orders on Tundra offer their best wholesale pricing which means at least 55% off retail. Tundra charges no fees, commissions, or credit card transaction fees and suppliers keep 100% of the revenue; therefore, suppliers can present their most competitive offering to attract the most orders.
#### Products:
Number of Product Listings: To ensure buyers are confidently purchasing from the entire product range of a brand, all available wholesale products must be listed in your storefront and should be equivalent to the number of products listed in other wholesale marketplaces.
MSRP: Adding MSRPs to your product listings is required in order for a storefront to be set live. The MSRP shown should be the real retail price of your product that it sells for on your website, Amazon, Etsy, etc. If your product is listed by the case, the MSRP should reflect an individual item.
#### Brand:
Logo/Icon/Banner: A brand logo or icon must be uploaded to your storefront, as well as a banner image. For the best display across browser types, no text in banner images is recommended.
Storefront Description: Each Supplier must provide a short description of what makes your brand and products unique.
Links: Any social links added to your storefront should be directed to the correct site. Links directing to another marketplace (ie. Amazon, Etsy) are not permitted.
### Additional Community Recommendations:
Retail Packaging: Pictures of retail packaging are required in order for a storefront to be set live. Pictures of retail packaging allows buyers to get a sense of how the product will look in their store, leading to a significant increase in the number of orders that are placed for a product. Products with retail packaging photos also appear higher in search rankings and will be promoted more on Tundra. Product listings should also have a picture that shows any tags that would be included on the product.
Picture Quality: Because buyers often will not see your products in person before making a purchase, it is required that product pictures are a clear and accurate visual representation of what the product looks like in person. Including multiple pictures for a product gives Buyers a better sense. Product pictures will not be accepted if they are grainy, blurry, or dark. If a product is available in more than one variety (e.g., a hat with multiple colors), those choices must also be pictured in the product listing.
Product Description: Product descriptions should provide all the relevant information that a buyer would need in order to decide to carry your product in their store. Relevant information includes ingredients/materials, certifications, dimensions and/or weight, benefits and uses, and any other information that isn’t readily apparent from the photos displayed for the product.
Marketing Materials: Marketing materials can include cards, pamphlets, and cardboard signs that can be displayed or distributed in a Buyer’s store that provide additional information about your brand or your products to their buyers. Including marketing materials with your order equips the Buyer with talking points to be able to sell your product in their store and increases the likelihood of reorders. Marketing materials should not be selected for your storefront if you only include a single piece of paper or a business card with the order.
Starter Packs: Buyers are much more likely to order from a new brand if the brand creates a starter pack or bundle featuring a variety of best selling products. Brands that receive the most new Buyer orders on Tundra offer these starter packs as a product in their storefront at an accessible price point (approximately $100).
Lead Time: Products with shorter lead times receive many more orders than those with longer lead times. Please list your shortest lead time that you are able to reliably meet.
Importing and updating your product catalog
If you don't want to upload all your products one by one, Tundra offers its sellers an easy way to upload products in bulk.?
To import your catalog, you can either
To update your catalog, you can either
Important notes:
When you update your catalog using a CSV file, make sure the CSV file contains all the products that you want to list on Tundra. If a product is not part of the newly uploaded CSV file, we’ll delete it from your catalog on Tundra. New products in the CSV file will be added and existing products will be updated.
You’ll need to use a unique SKU for each product and variant so that we can match what’s in the CSV with what’s already in your Tundra catalog.
So your products are up and you're ready to go!
You've gotten your first order now what….??
After a buyer checks out and places an order for your product(s), you will receive an email notification with a link to your Supplier Center where you can see all the order details, including the buyer’s name, company, destination country and the products purchased. Click the Accept button or enter amendments if you’re out of stock of any items in the order.
When the order is ready to ship, request the shipping labels on the order page by filling out the packing information (e.g., number of boxes, weight and dimensions) and selecting the day the order will be ready to ship. You can download the shipping label(s) to attach to the shipment. Give the shipment to the appropriate carrier during your daily pickup if you have one or drop it off at a drop location for the carrier.
Once your order is in transit, 100% of the product revenue from the sale will be transferred to your bank account in 1-2 business days.
You can track the status of the shipment through delivery on the order page which can be found on the Orders tab in your Supplier Center.
For US shipments:
All US domestic orders are shipped via UPS or FedEx unless they are so large that trucking would be more efficient. For international shipments, orders are shipped via UPS, FedEx or DHL unless they are so large that air or ocean freight would be more efficient. You will receive labels for the appropriate carrier.
Boost your Account:
If your having a hard time getting your first order here's some tips to boost your account:?
Pricing:
The first thing you need to check is your prices. Pricing is everything when it comes to Tundra. Tundra works on a symptom that shows off the best deal if your product is cheaper on a different platform. Tundra will see that and let you know. If someone is selling similar products at a lower rate, you won't be as visible to gain visibility. Make sure all your products are listed at a low price with high margins.?
Remember that customers are buying to resell, so the more hands touch your product, the more it will cost to sell.?
Another thing to remember is that the customer on Tundra that is buying isn't buying at a huge volume so skip volume pricing and just get straight to the price you can offer.?
Upload more products:
A way buyers see you are through "new Products" Tundra likes to show their customers all the new products they have. So break up your uploading process so that you can offer new products every month, keeping you at the top of the list and more visible to buyers.
Promote your page:
Tundra offers its sellers the opportunity to promote their page and products. Just like Amazon and Google have PPC, so does Tundra. Take advantage of Tundras promotions and start with a budget of $5 a day, see what happens and raise it as needed.?
Paying for clicks also allows for seller messaging. Tundra buyers can contact you directly via our premium messenger. Offering messenger support to buyers will increase their trust and satisfaction, which translates into more orders for you.?
Offer samples:
By Enabling Sample Requests, you allow Tundra PRO members to request samples from your storefront. When a Buyer requests a sample, they'll be prompted to send a message to you with the specifications of the sample(s) they're requesting. You'll be able to respond by letting the Buyer know what you're able to provide as a sample. From there, click the 'Send Sample' button to create an order of the requested sample(s). Once the sample order is placed, you'll see the order on your Order page, and you will be able to follow the standard order process.
Post content:
Just like social media has posts, so does Tundra. Post consistent lifestyle and product photo content to your page. This will allow customers to get a better understanding of what you're selling.?
?Again don't forget keywords:
As most sellers would tell you, SEO is everything, and with Tundra, it's no different. Test your Keywords and make sure you have the best-optimized description, title, and tags available.?
"The search functionality allows buyers to discover new products as well as quickly find existing suppliers. A supplier can increase the likelihood that their products will appear in a search by including multiple category keywords and synonyms in their brand and product descriptions. For example, a bike company could include the words outdoor, cycling and bicycle to show up in more buyer searches." -Tundra.
Add your Tundra to your website:?
Offer your customers the ability to shop wholesale by uploading a Tundra widget to your storefront.?
Embed your unique referral widget on your website to send prospective retail buyers directly to your Tundra storefront. Use the HTML editor function of your e-commerce or website building system and paste the exact code into the page on your website where users are looking for your wholesale pricing. The widget will stay up-to-date with your current lead-time and minimum order value without you needing to change it manually. You will receive full promotion credit for every buyer that comes and signs up from the widget.
So you've tried everything else and nothing, not a single sale…. Well, first off, I doubt it'll get to this point if you're on Tundra. You've already gone through monitoring your competition and building sales through other platforms, so there are buyers out there. You've even gone through your photos and made sure they're wholesale ready. You're just not connecting with you on Tundra.?
So what do you do??
Try a promotion or a discount campaign!
?80% of shoppers said they feel encouraged to make a first-time purchase with a new brand if they find an offer or discount. This means if you're trying to attract new customers, you're more likely to be successful with a promotion running.?
So why aren't you running a promotion? In reality, it doesn't need to be a massive promo. A short 5% off promotion can encourage people to buy because they get this feeling of urgency. It's the same as when you're shopping and see a product you may not need, but then you see it's a limited-time offer and 74 percent more likely to buy that product.?
How to create a discount code:
Go to the left side menu bar and find "Discount" this will take you to "Create a discount code." Pick between a set amount or a percentage, then enter the discount value, Start date, end date, and the code you want people to use. Now that your code is ready to share, create a post about it, share it to your email list, and share it on social media.?
How to create a sale:
Creating a sale allows everyone to see it, and you can pick if you want it to run on your whole store, a collection, or just 1 product.??
Go to the left side menu bar and find "Sale," then pick what you want the sale on—once done, add the sale value to the minimum order amount and make it active. Done now you have a sale running.?
Overall, Tundra is a great marketplace to be part of. So start setting up your account today, and if you need help, give me a ring.?
https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/ezrie-myers/