OK, so over the last couple of years, I’ve been asked many times what our clients can do to further optimise their ChannelAdvisor Stores, their eBay Stores and listings, and alas their existing ecommerce websites and blogs. Not a bad question, but there was a catch.. they all wanted this for FREE.

I found myself giving out the same websites and useful tools over and over, and realised there wasn’t an up-to-date reasonable list out there to suit this purpose, so decided I’d start one here…

What is it?
“A tool to check at-a-glance the link popularity of any site based on its ranking (Google PageRank, Alexa Rank, Technorati etc.), social bookmarks (del.icio.us, etc), subscribers (Bloglines, etc) and more!”

OK, so why would I use it?
I like this site as it’s very fast at giving you an overall “popularity” view of any site according to a whole host of different sites. This is great to find out how your site performs against your competitors too!

Overall Rating: 9/10

———-

What is it?
“SnapShots are smart profiles of the websites we visit. Simply enter a domain (e.g. amazon.com) and SnapShot will provide traffic history, a trust assessment and a list of all available coupon codes.”

OK, so why would I use it?
A product from Bill Gross (founder of GoTo search engine, which then became Overture, created paid search and was acquired by Yahoo), which allows for an ‘alexa-like’ experience of site ranking and traffic data for both single sites and site comparison (again good for competitor analysis).

They also have a couple other features thrown in which I like:

First, it shows ‘Deals’ that a site may be offering. (Coupon Mountain who specializes in finding and collecting promotion codes and they gather the majority of deals available every day)

Second, it shows a ‘Trust’ element for websites, which is based on community trends and third party secutity services.

Overall Rating: 7/10

———-

What is it?
“Website benchmarking is a score of your website’s performance within a large range of tests. The EC-Plus website benchmarking test is a free online website benchmark utility that allows anyone to quickly assess the performance of their website, without extensive knowledge of website development.”

OK, so why would I use it?

If you’re looking at taking out some form of SEO service, I’d recommend checking this out first to find out; whether you need it; what areas your current site(s) are falling down on.

The report is very detailed and will give you a good indicator of website strengths and weaknesses, and of course again it’s very useful to find out whether a competitors site scores higher than your own (i.e., if a competitor uses the same shopping cart software, and they’ve taken an SEO package to gain traffic, you could test to see whether it has made a difference..)

Overall Rating: 8/10

———-

What is it?
“A sitemap is a data file which references pages of your website, and assists search engines in indexing / storing your pages in their databases faster and more easily. By placing a formatted xml file with site map on your webserver, you enable Search Engine crawlers (like Google) to find out what pages are present and which have recently changed, and to crawl your site accordingly.”

OK, so why would I use it?This is a great site, very fast to use, and of course totally free. I would recommend you invest 3 minutes in getting this done and dusted! Totally automated and makes creating a sitemap almost too easy.

Overall Rating: 10/10

———-

What is it?
“The Keyword Tool generates potential keywords for your ad campaign and reports their Google statistics, including search performance and seasonal trends. Start your search by entering your own keyword phrases or a specific URL”

OK, so why would I use it?
A fantastic tool from Google that allows you to find relevant, high traffic keywords and key phrases for.. well, any form of online advertising, oh and of course maybe your Adwords campaigns?

Overall Rating: 9/10

The online retail world is barely a decade old but has changed drastically in that short time – on the other hand, the High Street, which has evolved slowly over hundreds of years has barely changed, but, has in fact drastically over that same decade ….what is happening?

In my brief lifetime, the face of the High Street has changed drastically; the High Street was where all retail took place, long before out-of-town retail parks and the ubiquitous hypermarket cities sprung up. Each shop “specialised” in its own fare; the baker, the butcher, the hardware store, the post office, the bank and the sweet shop, and the family shopping was conducted in a very traditional way, as it had long before, for generations.

These were the days when motherhood was a full-time occupation and most did the household shopping daily. For the housewife, cars were neither needed nor afforded, heavy items like milk were delivered to the doorstep and bottled water was yet to be thought of. Slates and the “never-never” represented retail credit facilities and loyalty cards took the form of Green Shield stamps. Coupons and commercial advert breaks in the “Soap Operas” were the only real marketing campaigns to direct the shopper. Shopping for the housewife was a social occasion where all the shopkeepers knew everyone, and most likely everyone’s business.

All shops closed on Wednesday afternoons, and the only thing you could probably buy on a Sunday was a newspaper. Almost all shops were privately owned and were handed down from family to family across villages up and down the country for generations.

Until ….something changed!

During the great depression, Michael Kullen opened the very first supermarket (King Cullen) in New York in 1930. Self service, mass merchandising, innovation and shopping carts brought cheaper prices to impoverished nations. At the cost of those traditional shops that had been trading for generations, the supermarket phenomenon began and changed the face of the High Street forever.

The supermarket took off and proved the concept profit making on selling volume rather than just price – “stack it high and sell it cheap” worked and the supermarket flourished.

Since those early days, the supermarkets have slowly ebbed away more and more on the High Street and moved out of towns to larger locations where car-parking has become a prerequisite to success. Most mothers now work full-time, and the weekly shopping has become a chore, not the social necessity it once was. Not only has the supermarket stolen business from the High Street, but it is becoming more and more the High Street itself – most of the larger stores now have their own in-house pharmacy, post-office, newsagent, key cutter, cobbler, florist, insurance company, bank even. Some are now even moving into real estate with even the prospect of branded house-building! Where will it end? Perhaps in my lifetime, they will offer a truly cradle-to-grave service for the local community where mothers can attend maternity classes whilst their shopping is bagged and trade loyalty points for off-the-shelf coffins for their own long-term exit planning.

So what has really happened?

Well, big business with their economies of scale and global ambitions versus the local village value-added shopkeeper won the day, and are changing the High Street faster than any other time in our civilisation.

Like it or not, the supermarket has evolved over the last 75 years and learnt fast. They have become the ultimate distributor for the food manufacturer who now presumably deals with far less suppliers than ever before which has resulted in optimal supply chain and efficient pricing, bringing some benefits to the consumer at least. The manufacturers are clearly being squeezed by the sheer buying strength of those fewer (but larger and international) retailers, but the efficiencies to their own commercial operations should not be underestimated. It would be very difficult to imagine companies like Heinz, Kellogs or Unilever deciding to sell off-supermarket and start their own retail shops on the basis they are too dependent on their few sales channels, and can earn higher profits by trading directly. Rather the opposite, supermarket own branding hurts original branded products more so, and would almost certainly replace their sales completely if they withdrew their own branded products from the shelves. Many manufacturers of course now supply own branded products directly to these stores – the emphasis (and the challenge) is on the original brand manufacturers to prove their extra value (and pricing) over those own branded items.

The “traffic” to the supermarkets is also increasing as the range and variety of products now stocked greatly increases now stretching way beyond groceries and hardware to clothing, financial products and services, garden equipment, furniture, holidays and restaurants – these organisations are bringing more and more traffic to these marketplaces.

The supermarket is now the High Street marketplace for 99% of consumers – it doesn’t matter which of the big 4 or 5 we refer to as they all operate in exactly the same way – they open up where the consumers are (delivering traffic to the manufacturers’ products), promote and market their products, process payments, deal with returns, manage the customer, set optimal pricing and manage optimal store product placement for maximum returns.

It would of course be ludicrous for a manufacturer to align themselves with a single supermarket company as no single supermarket chain has (or would realistically have) a monopoly, so manufacturers ensure they have maximum reach by supplying to the major players at the optimum prices.

Over the last 75 years or so, manufacturing and retail have streamlined enormously, changing the High Street landscape, and squeezing out the middlemen and smaller trader probably forever.

As in all human civilisations, things seem reasonably stable and then suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, a seed change happens, and the world changes. At what point did the supermarkets migrate away from their modest High Street locations to the out-of-town settlements they now have? What suddenly caused all these ubiquitous but soulless retail parks to spring up? Did the traditional High Street shopkeepers see all this coming?

What can the online retailer learn from this?

[To be Continued]

Customer – Hitchens Hot Deals (Self-Service Solution)FROOITION FUELS HITCHENS HOT DEALS eMARKET SUCCESS

How Frooition helped Hitchens Retail build and operate a successful eBay presence
A fairly recent entrant to the eMarketplace, Hitchens Hot Deals is the e-commerce branch of Hitchens Retail, a multi-million pound chain of retail stores based in the Midlands and the North. It was originally acquired from Littlewoods in 2003 selling branded catalogue surplus and other surplus stock lines sourced from major mail order outlets and through an international network of manufacturers, importers and
distributors.

The stock is brand new and surplus to the original seller’s requirements - which is why it is available to customers at a fraction of its original selling price. Hitchens Hot Deals is now a leading premium provider of branded clothing, footwear, household and electrical products on eBay.

Established in November 2005, the company is currently trading at over £40,000 a week with a dedicated team of just six. The founders of the rapidly growing business are using automation software to scale up operations – based on a solid foundation of credible and professional design, professional training and supported self-service provided by Frooition with whom the company has partnered since April 2006. Here, Hot Deals director Malcolm Pearce describes the steps to success and how Frooition played a key role.
Opportunities

“When we looked at the Internet as a way of gearing up and automating our sales we saw both problems and opportunities,” says Pearce. “For customers, the Internet can be awkward and in many ways is still user-unfriendly. It can be expensive and national brands have an immediate advantage”.

“On the other hand, the opportunities were very attractive. Essentially, the Internet is a huge shop window with branded products working extremely well. But the big question was: what was the best way to display our products against competition from High Street big names”?

“Our first move was our own independent site, but eBay also seemed to be an obvious parallel solution. We did our research and this pretty much confirmed what we suspected – that nearly half of all Internet traffic lands on eBay (42.2% - Nielsen/Netratings) and that out of an online population of 25 million, the UK eBay site has around 15 million registered users (Nielsen/Netratings),” says Pearce.

“It was a ready-made customer base with millions of clients out there just waiting for us to open our store! But if it was so obvious and so apparently easy to employ why hadn’t everyone else got on the bandwagon? Why were some big brands not present? Why were many of those who seemed so solidly qualified to exploit the opportunities apparently not doing so? It was clearly quite possible to get it wrong – and examination of the various Internet issues showed why”.

“eBay trading offered the prospect of highly-cost effective operations, with aggressive marketing principles and strong links with shopping comparison sites. It provided excellent feedback mechanisms that helped build trust and indicated the promise of being able to build repeat business and retain customers far more effectively. It was community-based and provided selling advantages that were not merely based on price”.
Issues

“On the downside, however, there were issues that could easily become serious obstacles. For example, standard eBay listing tools are not easy to use, and automating and scaling the business up is not easy without expert help. Looking professional can be difficult. Users are increasingly sophisticated and demanding. A site has to not only look good but be good. At the same time too much eBay ‘look and feel’ can mask essential differentiation”.

“Then there are the issues of dealing with the threat of fraud, customer ordering and cancellation, credit control, performance information and feedback control and management … as well as a host of others. Underlying all this is the need to rise above the stigma perception of selling at a discount where everyone expects a bargain”.

“We also had to address the buyers’-at-home concerns, such as the awkwardness of the medium and its user-unfriendliness. Notwithstanding the fact that the Internet is a fantastic market to search for literally anything, it can be difficult for buyers to distinguish between
new and used articles as well as genuine and fake. There is heavy reliance on actual wording and nomenclature for search optimisation - for example: adidas/addidas – where the lesson for savvy sellers is to accept fuzzy alternative expressions.

“For Internet traders the real choice is between a standalone independent site or eBay where marketing costs are lower and generally proportionate to sales. This means dramatically reduced up-front marketing costs but no less a valid platform to build a brand or business that can mature into a dot.com presence in its own right”.

“For us, the eBay route was the way to go,” says Pearce. “We had a degree of internal Web trading knowledge but wanted to make sure we got our eBay presence right first time. We decided to partner with a professional external resource that could move us in the right direction, position us correctly, implement effective business processes that would address the identified concerns, and get us going”.
Guiding hand

“Key issues were automation and scaling up the business and training. While we wanted to be able to have full day-to-day operational control, we also wanted to have ongoing support and the knowledge that there was a sure hand to guide us through any uncharted waters”.

“Frooition offered a highly flexible solution – from initial consultancy to crystallise objectives, establish business processes, through eBay storefront design, automation, training – to live operation and ongoing support. There was also the option of a fully managed service but we preferred to handle the day-to-day operation and management ourselves. Nevertheless, it was reassuring to know the option existed – and could be exercised in the future if necessary to support changing circumstances”.

Frooition’s Self-Serve option is designed for clients with available, committed and technically adept resource who want to run their own eBay operation. Notwithstanding their operational independence, Frooition supports users via phone or email afterwards to mentor them through the important first few weeks of operation.

Under this service, Frooiton provides a comprehensive solution that involves providing business consultancy on how best to use eBay, training on the usage of the ‘Channeladvisor’ software automation functionality - leading to the creation of web design that can replicate a client’s own branding through Frooition’s CreativeBay design arm.
Control

The self serve solution is ideal for those eTraders offering lower margin products who wish to keep close control of costs and their overall business. Customers get help to set up as an eBay business, use of automation applications, a branded eBay shop, listing template and Channeladvisor storefront (linked ecommerce site), along with training and a full implementation programme. Users who opt for such a solution need to be reasonably software astute, eBay aware and possess, for example, Excel and basic HTML skills.

“Ongoing support is very important,” says Pearce. When your online business is growing so rapidly it is inevitable that you spend some time firefighting – and therefore vital that a guiding hand is just a phone call or email away. If you have the right products at the right price then the main challenge is finding, training and managing the right staff”.

“People with the right experience and attitude are often difficult to find and staff management is very time-intensive, so any help available to make these tasks easier makes a very significant contribution to the success of the business”.

“Other challenges that growth and success bring include managing feedback, storage and management of stock, ensuring on-time fulfilment, budgeting and planning in a rapidly shifting trading environment – and investment and funding”.

“An external resource provider – in our case, Frooition – provides an independent, experienced ally that both supports day-to-day operations and helps us keep an eye on future possibilities and opportunities coming up on the horizon. Because things move so fast in the online trading world, we believe it is essential to always have access to the kind of eMarketplace expertise, knowledge and technical skills that can easily make all the difference between success and failure”.

“Our overall growth plan is simple: to sell more. But to do this we need to make the right decisions – and get them right first time. Sure, all the usual excellent ideas: more listings, parallel sites, acquisitions, improved customer management, improved customer retention/repeat business, leveraging existing databases and upselling/cross selling”.

“In hindsight, those decisions that lead on to success may seem obvious and natural choices. They are not. They are the result of intelligence, technical ability, learning by mistakes, nerve, drive and faith. In all these areas there is always room for a wise friend”.

Visit the Hitchens eBay Shop: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Hitchens-Hot-Deals
Visit the Hitchens Web Store: http://stores.channeladvisor.com/hitchenshotdeals

Customer – Excell Direct (Design Only - CreativeBay)

About Excell Direct
Excell Direct Ltd has been established for 16 years and is one of the longest established companies of its type in the UK. They offer a wide range of mobile phone parts, iPod accessories, and PSP accessories, both on eBay and at their own websiteTheir quality mobile phone parts are available to be shipped worldwide daily and include: Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, Siemens. Inc antenna, battery, bluetooth, charger connectors, housings, fascias, keypads, microphones, on/off switch, repair equipment tools, ringers, speakers, vibrating motors, and more!

» Excell Direct eBay store

Customer – iSOLD It (Self-Service Solution)

About iSOLD It
iSOLD It is an international chain of eBay drop off stores and presents franchisees with a simple way to earn money from their customers’ eBay sales. Customers come in and drop off their items. iSOLD It professionally photographs the items, lists them on eBay and takes care of payment, collection, shipping and customer service. The item’s original owner is sent a cheque and the iSOLD It store retains a percentage. Some facts:

• iSOLD It is the #1 seller on eBay in the USA, with more dollar sales than any other seller.
• iSOLD It is the largest chain of local drop-off stores in America, with more than 800 franchisees
• Because of its size, their customers have the confidence that every item sold is backed with the credibility, experience and reputation of the entire iSOLD It network.

iSOLD It opened their first store in Pasadena in December 2003. Less than three years later they have featured as the lead story on CNN and cover story in USA Today’s Money section. They have not just started a new business. iSOLD It has created a whole new industry.

iSOLD It is now setting up a franchise network in the UK and the Master Franchiser, Philip Molloy, is selling it as possibly the best Franchise Opportunity in 20 years.

» isoldit uk eBay store

Why Use Frooition?
iSOLD It are selling the franchises in most instances as complete delivered businesses to their prospective Franchise clients, with investment prices ranging from basic UK licenses provision to a complete ‘Store in a Box’. Since running an eBay business will be new to many of their clients it is essential that the solution they deliver is as simple as possible, yet extremely effective and well supported. One key element of their marketing states that they will provide:

“comprehensive initial training to get you started and ongoing operations support”

Frooition has recently been chosen as iSOLD It UK’s sole eBay Consultancy, Training, Design and Support Partner and will ensure that every UK Franchisee receives the highest quality training, design and support of their eBay / Channel Advisor business solution.

Customer – HaveYouSeenThis? (Self-Service Solution)

About HaveYouSeenThis?
Established in 2004, HaveYouSeenThis? (HYST) are a full time, professional and dedicated eBay and Internet trading company based in the East Midlands. HYST buy and sell high volumes of Great Value, Branded Consumer Products offering massive savings off the RRP found on the High Street.Their aim is to get you your item quickly, efficiently and in perfect condition. They place great emphasis on providing exceptional quality of service whilst delivering products at best value to its customers. HYST take great pride in their fantastic customer service record, selling thousands of items at over 99% positive feedback.

» Haveyouseenthis eBay store

Why create an eBay Business?
HYST were already a successful online business but as an ambitious and innovative company they were constantly looking at ways that they could expand and grow as quickly and cost effectively as possible. Michael Henson, founder of HYST, saw the opportunities that the phenomenon of eBay could bring to his business and identified them as:

• increase customer acquisition (particularly those new to HYST)
• create incremental revenue (eBay provides a new channel to market/revenue stream)
• reduce spend on Search CPC / make cost per customer acquisition more effective

HYST believed that the returns they were achieving from investing heavily in Search CPC (cost per Click) spending were not ideal. HYST saw that rather than spend fortunes on CPC to bring traffic to their website, that by creating an eBay operation they could solve their traffic problems in one swoop by tapping into the readily available huge Global eBay audience and significant eBay search spend.

Why Use Frooition?
HYST are experts in trading online and had already built a very successful leading company doing so. However, they realised that moving the majority of their existing business to an eBay business without any assistance was very risky and may damage the brand, business critical availability and their ability to realise the essential ROI that their company demands. As the only proven and credible solution provider in this space, Frooition were invited to meet with HYST and advise on the best way to set-up their eBay business in the timescales demanded. Subsequently Frooition were chosen as their sole eBay Consultancy, Training, Design and Support Partner.

Results:
HYST encountered a significant upturn in their business as a result of the effective implementation of their eBay business. Frooition have worked very closely with HYST through all stages of the business, from launch through to ongoing support and growth of this very successful eBay business that now holds a 99.9% rating on Customer Feedback of nearly 10,000!

p.s. We also like to think that our Design work through CreativeBay played a part in their success… on launch of their eBay business a Major Sunday Broadsheet ran an article on HYST highlighting the amazing level of eBay design!!

Customer – Dial-a-Phone (Self-Service Solution)

About Dial-a-Phone
Dial-a-Phone is the UK’s No 1 specialist direct supplier of mobile phones. It’s success has come from offering very competitive deals in mobile phones direct to the public over the phone and through their website. Dial-a-Phone is a major UK advertiser, and can be seen every day in many of the national newspapers. Regular advertising slots on TV, as well as in national magazines and across the Internet, has made Dial-a-Phone’s website one of the most visited mobile phone sites in the country. Dial-a-Phone has grown from a handful of people in 1995 to now having over 600 employees. In that time Dial-a-Phone has supplied mobile phones on monthly contract to 2.9 million customers, and since it launched in 2000 over 550,000 customers have connected from the website.

» Dial-a-Phone eBay store

Why create an eBay Business?
Whilst Dial-a-phone already have a very successful online operation they realised that they were not accessing the vast opportunity and audience that eBay could provide to their business. Namely a chance to:

• increase customer acquisition (particularly those new to Dial-a-Phone)
• create incremental revenue (eBay provides a new channel to market/revenue stream)

Why Use Frooition?
Dial-a-Phone are experts in trading online and have built a very successful and Sector leading company doing so. However, they realised that creating and managing an eBay business without any assistance was risky and may damage both the brand and their ability to realise the ROI that their company demands. Hence Frooition were invited to meet with Dial-a-Phone to discuss the best way to set-up their eBay business in the timescales demanded and were chosen as their sole eBay Consultancy, Training, Design and Support Partner.

Results:
Dial-a-Phone are now a significant Powerseller on eBay with a 100% customer Feedback record. They are well on their way to their stated revenue goals and ambition to be eBay ‘King of Category’.

We believe that their success is testament both to the professionalism and dedication of both Dial-a-Phone and their eBay Partner, Frooition!

Customer – Butlins (Managed Service)

About Butlins

Butlins are part of the Bourne Leisure Group of Companies.  In 1936 Billy Butlin created the most recognised holiday company in the UK - Butlins.  The first Resort opened in Skegness introducing the famous Redcoats. With Butlins, a new holiday concept was created for the British holidaymaker.  Through the years Butlins has evolved into the great brand that it is today. Butlins offers guests entertainment, great facilities and an atmosphere to have fun and relax with family and friends

Why create an eBay Business?

Within the Bourne Leisure Group, Butlins are the first Company to start looking at how they can use online marketplaces to address the following objectives:

* increase asset realisation (i.e. sell last minute ‘unsold’ holidays)

* increase customer acquisition (particularly those that are new to Butlins)

* create incremental revenue (eBay provides a new channel to market/revenue stream)

Why Use Frooition?

Butlins recognised that they did not have the skills, experience and available resource in-house to effectively and efficiently manage the sale of their products and services across the eBay marketplace.  Delivering holidays is what they do…. Not run eBay businesses!  They also viewed it essential that the sale of their products should reflect the quality branding and professionalism of the group.  Finally, they had a desire to initiate and scale their eBay operation in very tight timelines.

Given these stated customer requirements Butlins decided that they should use the Managed Service offered by Frooition and within 2 weeks were up and running.  Butlins provided Frooition with Inventory data and product information and agreed pricing strategies to proceed.  Frooition then created their eBay design to reflect and maintain the Butlins brand and managed all of the process thereafter, using their internal fulfilment account managers (all of whom have run their own eBay businesses).

Results:

To-date the launch has been a great success and Frooition will work closely with Butlins on an ongoing basis to ensure the eBay business continues to grow and succeed, as well as advise across the Bourne Leisure Group on future e-Marketplace developments that they should take advantage of.

(A) Managed Service

The Managed Service has been developed for those clients that do not have the skills, experience and available resource in-house to effectively and efficiently manage the sale of their products and services across the eBay marketplace. Running an eBay business is not core! However, they still would like to access this new, vast and untapped channel to market

It is essential however, that the sale of their products should reflect the quality branding and professionalism of the group. Using CreativeBay the Brand of the business can be directly reflected, or alternatively completely changed for those organisations that do not wish their existing channels to market to be aware of their direct eBay presence.

Typically this service is acquired by organisations that also have a desire to initiate and scale their eBay operation in very tight timelines. Without the time delays (and risks) inherent in sourcing, training and managing effectively an in-house eBay trading team, they outsource the eBay Channel Management to Frooition, who’s core competence and many years experience is in very successfully running and scaling eBay businesses.

» Butlins Case Study

(B) Self-Service Solution

For the clients with available, committed and technically adept resource the option of running their own eBay operation has been in many instances a natural choice. Here we work with them to get their eBay business up and running as quickly and successfully as possible. We also support them via phone or email afterwards to ‘hand-hold’ through the important first few weeks of operation.

Under this offering we provide a fully comprehensive solution that involves providing business consultancy on how best we believe you can use eBay; then training you on the usage of the Channel Advisor software; subsequently creating leading eBay design that can replicate your own Branding; finally supporting you through and beyond the launch process.

The following are examples of leading organisations (identified by Business sector) that have all opted for the Self-Service offering and built very successful eBay operations with very ambitious goals for the future:

» Hitchens Case Study

» Dial-a-phone Case Study

» Haveyouseenthis? Case Study

» iSOLDit Case Study

(C) eBay ‘Design Only’ Solution

For the ambitious client that already has an effective, scalable and resilient eBay listing management tool in place they recognise that they still have the ability to make changes to their business that can drive incremental sales and competitive edge. Keeping ahead of your competition and striving to scale and be ‘King of Category’ on eBay is a key goal of many eBay businesses.

One major enhancement available that has been borne out by empirical evidence is that the look and feel of your online presence can affect the closure/conversion rate of your business. Whilst eBay has many strengths and offers fantastic opportunities to Internet entrepreneurs, one of its recognised shortcomings is in the level and look of Design that is offered as standard for eBay shop and listing templates.

Frooition identified this market opportunity and has invested as ‘CreativeBay’ over 5 man years R&D time in developing world-leading coding IP, resulting in the delivery of the most eye-catching and professional eBay Shop and Template design available globally.

Significantly, for the first time, eBay businesses can now look as good as their ‘off-eBay’ businesses ensuring essential Brand protection. This service alone is being credited with eliminating the last major barrier to many household Brands now joining the eBay revolution…. Watch this space!

» Excell Direct Case Study

Company History - Milestones

Early 2004:    Company Founded as Empty Your Loft

* Powerseller Business selling end of line electrical goods

* achieved Titanium Powerseller status within 3 months of start

Sept 2004: Started eBay Training Business.. under “Improving Futures Ltd.“(aka IF)

* spotted opportunity for UK to address  £1Trillion debt by realising average £3k per household assets saleable on eBay.

* training initially for SOHO market

Oct 2004: Paul Daniels (International Magician/Personality) became shareholder

* fronted media campaign that led to Central News, BBC Radio coverage etc..

Nov 2004: 500th Trainee completes eBay course

* Increasingly SME businesses attending courses

* eBay UK attended the course

Nov 2004: eBay introduce MarketWorks Relationship

* IF become Marketworks UK Partner

* Marketworks a leading US, eBay listing Management tools software provider

Dec 2004:    IF starting bringing on 10 new SME businesses per month to the Marketworks platform

May 2005:    Presented at US Small eBusiness World – Chicago

* on “how UK SMEs are starting to exploit global marketplaces”

May 2005:    Presented with Paul Daniels at National Space Centre

* audience consisted of 500 local businesses interested in ecommerce

June 2005:    CNN World Business Today presents an article on Improving Futures

* eBay UK arranged media coverage and CNN day at IF

July 2005:    Improving Futures presents at IT Works & Big Day Event Exhibitions

Sept 2005:    Channel Advisor Relationship starts

* Approached by Global leader in Listing Management Software provider with a view to IF becoming their sole UK partner

* IF attend US Channel Advisor Summit in North Carolina

Nov 2005:    Improving Futures chosen as UK Sole Distributor of Global Leader in Marketplace and Shopping Comparison Management software, Channel Advisor.

Dec 2005:    One of our clients “TJ Hughes” were approached by the BBC to feature them in an article entitled “First UK retailer opens eBay shop”.

View Article

Dec 2005:    CreativeBay is launched as a World-Leading eBay Design business.

* 10 customers sign within the first month

* enquiries rush in from as far a field as the US and Hong Kong.

* See www.creativebay.co.uk

Jan 2006:    Channel Advisor Press release officially announces our relationship.

* View Press release

Feb-Jun ‘06:    IF continues to win new business at an astonishing rate, major brands inc.:

* WHSmith, Dialaphone, Butlins, Express Gifts… to name a few

* Fulfilment Service offering grows and expands due to customer demand

* Customer base exceeds 200.

July 2006: New Investor Managing Director joins the Board, Grenville Whelan.

* Internet Entrepreneur with many successful years growing, developing and exiting-on IT and Internet based businesses.

Sep 2006: Frooition announced as new company name, replacing Improving Futures.

* Better reflecting the ‘new media’ direction of this ambitious business moving to it’s next stage of growth.