Modalyst vs Spocket: Which Should You Go for?

If you’re searching for a Modalyst vs Spocket review, you’re in luck because we’ve written one for you.

There are so many different options out there for someone running an ecommerce store or thinking of starting one up, so much so, that it's really confusing trying to find the best one out there.

It's vital to understand from the get-go that today’s consumers are proudly internet-intelligent. They look up products, their prices, scour both good and bad reviews and are hyper-critical when things go wrong, especially where shipping is concerned.

You can be sure that today’s online shoppers have one eye out for bargain-priced yet excellent quality products and the other on inexpensive (or free shipping).

This is why picking the right dropshipping solution is imperative. So, with that in mind, let's dive into the crux of this review.

So What’s Next?

You need to trust your dropshipping provider implicitly. So, it's vital you use a brand with a good reputation for picking top-notch products and packing and dispatching items quickly and effectively. Fail to do that, you're on a slippery slope to damaging the reputation of your brand.

It goes without saying, customers who receive their items on time, in one piece, and quickly, are more likely to leave glowing reviews than those who have to wait and are disappointed with the quality of the product.

Not to mention, using a decent drop shipping provider gives you the time you need to expand your business, rather than forcing you to concentrate on the more mundane aspects of your ecommerce store. For instance, sourcing high-quality products.

So, with that in mind, let’s look more specifically at Spocket and Modalyst.

Who’s Modalyst?

Modalyst focuses on automating many of your e-commerce related tasks. For your convenience, they highlight what they do in four simple steps :

“Step 1 Source an amazing assortment of products in one click

Step 2 Customer purchases a product through your storefront

Step 3 Shop purchases item directly from supplier on Modalyst

Step 4 Supplier ships the product directly to the customer. Tracking number is automatically communicated.”

Modalyst‘s well-renown for providing a huge selection of products from high-quality and independent brands from all around the world. Typical products include things like clothes, bags, shoes, accessories, etc.

In other words, it’s a B2B marketplace. You don’t buy anything in advance. Instead, you simply choose the items you want to sell on your ecommerce store and then order these goodies when a customer makes a purchase

Its website tells us that “more than 150,000 successful ecommerce businesses have added Modalyst products to their store.”

Founded in 2012, its headquarters are based in San Francisco. Jill Sherman is the CEO and her fellow co-founder is Alain Miguel, who famously made Forbes’ 2015 30 under 30 list for retail. Modalyst mostly concerns itself with fashion brands and connecting them with retailers, designers, agents, and consumers.

Its reviews in the media are overwhelmingly positive. Including flattering mentions in publications like Vogue, TedX, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Fashion Digital Daily.

Who’s Spocket?

On its website, Spocket tells us it;

“allows you to choose the best products to sell from thousands of dropshipping suppliers from all over the world.”

Spocket is basically a Shopify and WooCommerce dropshipping app that allows you to connect with suppliers in both the US and  EU. You just have to install the Spocket app on your Shopify store, choose items to sell from their catalog, and add them to your ecommerce site. It really is that simple.

You can also order sample products to test them out first. Because Spocket suppliers are mainly based in the EU and US, deliveries tend to be far more reliable than the majority of Spocket's competitors.

It's well-reviewed by sites such as GeekWire and Daily Hive. Founded more recently in 2017, this Vancouver based outfit has raised a total of $2.3m in funding over three rounds. Pretty impressive, right?

Modalyst vs Spocket: A Quickfire Price Comparison

Monthly

Modalyst

• $0 for the Hobby Plan, with a product limit of 25
• $35 for the Start-Up Plan with a product limit of 250
• $90 for the Pro Plan, which entitles you to infinite products

All plans charge a 5% transaction fee

Spocket

• $9 for the Starter Plan after a 14-day free trial
• $49 for the Pro Plan after a 14-day free trial
• $99 for the Empire Plan after a 14-day free trial
• $299 for Unicorn Plan after a 14-day free trial

Yearly

• Modalyst offers a 25% discount on the Start Up and Pro Plans if you pay annually.
• Spocket offers up to five months free if you pay annually upfront.

Spocket’s website is more transparent about what you get for each type of plan, so let’s list them here below.

FYI: It’s less user-friendly on Modalyst, so although you get an easy to read price plan, there’s no list or table to see what you get for each program. The information is there, but we’d prefer it if it were categorized per price plan.

So, over to Spocket:

Starter Plan

• Up to 25 unique products
• Currency exchange
• Real-time inventory updates
• 24/7 chat support
• Unlimited orders
• Global pricing rules
• Shipment tracking numbers

Pro Plan

Everything above, plus:

• Up to 250 products
• Up to 25 premium products
• Branded invoicing
• Exclusive deals
• Premium search

Empire Plan

Everything above, plus:

• Unlimited Products
• Unlimited Premium Products

Unicorn Plan

Everything above, plus:

• Bulk checkout
• A dedicated account executive
• 24/7 phone support
• Product requests

Modalyst Features at a Glance

• Millions of dropship products
• You can customize product listings and pricing with just a few clicks
• Order tracking is included. You'll receive instant notifications with this info, as will your customers
• Easy integration with your site, including Shopify and BigCommerce.
• You can import products to other ecommerce sites using CSV files
• Make data-driven decisions when switching between wholesale and virtual inventories
• Standardized contracts including a 14-day return policy
• Direct shipping to the customer from the brand itself
• Inventory management
• Custom data exports and real-time analytics

Modalyst vs Spocket: Their Pros and Cons

Modalyst's Pros

• Access to high-quality brands
• Modalyst handles customer returns
• Access to US and EU suppliers
• Tracking information
• Direct integration with BigCommerce and Shopify
• No inventory costs
• A free plan

Modalyst Cons

• 5% transaction fees across the board
• 60% of suggested retail prices go to the brand regardless of what amount you sell it at
• Shipping times and costs vary
• You can’t see the full supplier network unless you’re on a paid plan
• Placing orders isn’t wholly automated

Spocket Pros

• You can order product samples
• They offer a free plan
• You can automate pricing levels
• Automatic inventory updates
• A reliable Shopify integration
• Simple user interface
• You own branding

Spocket Cons

• Costs are higher when shipping outside of the US and will take longer
• Customs tax and duty aren’t included in the product prices, so you need to factor that into your product prices and profits
• Those on the free plan don’t get chat and call support
• Selling on eBay, Wish, Amazon, and Etsy isn’t possible
• No BigCommerce or Wix integration

Their Websites

We have to say that out of the two websites; we prefer the Spocket site for one big reason; it’s easier to navigate and is written with the customer in mind. Modalyst‘s website assumes a certain level of knowledge, and it doesn’t have as much information about them as a company.

Both sites, however, provide useful resources, mostly in the form of blog posts and articles for wannabe entrepreneurs and ecommerce store owners. Both sites are, in that way, big on empowerment. Spocket is big on stressing how they've helped, to date, around 30,000 entrepreneurs. It also has a neat feature where you can order products yourself to be sure the dropshipping function works the way it’s meant to.

Modalyst vs Spocket: Integrations with Ecommerce Platforms

Modalyst integrates with Shopify, BigCommerce and Wix. Spocket integrates with Shopify and WooCommerce.

Modalyst vs Spocket: Resources

We’re talking about training and help here. Modalyst has a “Dropshipping Insights” section on its home page. Here they have articles on subjects such as “100 Profitable Products to Sell in 2019”, “The 2019 Ultimate Dropshipping Business Guide for Beginners,” and more.

Modalyst also has a Help Center which covers subjects such as setting up your account, handling customer orders, pricing rules, and shipping. There’s a search box where you can type in a question or subject matter and find helpful answers.

However, there doesn’t appear to be a forum or a helpline that we could find, but there's a live chat support option that’s available from 9 am to 5 pm PST. Modalyst also offers something it calls “Showroom and Profile Uploading,” saying that if you’re “too busy to create your profile. Let us know, and we’ll work something out for ya.”

As far as Spocket's concerned, its homepage has a Help Center right at the top. Here, customers can find FAQs, articles on how to contact the Spocket help team, and more. Also, there’s a link to the Spocket Community, which takes you directly to its Facebook page. They're also transparent about its reviews on the Reviews tab at the top of its homepage. Naturally, we saw 5-star ratings a-plenty!

Overall, we feel the resources offered by Spocket are far superior to those provided by Modalyst.

To Sum Up: Modalyst vs. Spocket

Of course, we can’t choose for you. But, if you want to be part of a community and get support along the way, then Spocket is the one for you. Spocket’s cheapest offer is reasonable, and a good choice for startups or beginners who are just starting out in ecommerce.

If, however, you don’t want to concern yourself with shipping at all and just want to sell known brands, then Modalyst is the app for you.

Over to you — which will you opt for?

The post Modalyst vs Spocket: Which Should You Go for? appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.

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Three reasons why Asian retailers are upgrading their e-commerce platforms

read the original version on: www.retailnews.asia

There is currently an almost endless array of technologies and innovations that Asian retailers can invest in as they look to future-proof their business and meet the expectations of the next generation of customers. But when Tofugear surveyed retail executives across Asia as part of its 2019 Asia Digital Transformation Report, it was striking to […]

The post Three reasons why Asian retailers are upgrading their e-commerce platforms appeared first on Retail News Asia.

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QuickBooks Connect London cancelled due to health concerns

QuickBooks Connect London, due to take place this week on the 3rd and 4th of March has been cancelled. The organisers say that this is ‘out of an abundance of caution’ due to the size and scale of the event.

It’s easy to point to other larger events that are taking place and point fingers at QuickBooks Connect and wonder why they aren’t going ahead, but each event must take into account the locations both speakers and delegates are travelling to and the other events taking place at the same conference centres. Even at last week’s Retail Without Borders a couple of marketplaces could attend as planned due to the Coronavirus scare and doubtless more events will be impacted before the winter is over. The Digital Health Rewired event (UK health IT conference for the NHS etc) is still going ahead at Olympia on the 3rd and 4th March.

QuickBooks Connect will be refunding all delegates the price of their tickets. If you have other expenses such as pre-booked travel and hotel rooms you will need to check with the supplier if a refund is possible or, if you have travel insurance, check your policy and see if you are covered.

“Every year at QuickBooks Connect London we get to meet and celebrate the small businesses and accounting professionals that help power prosperity around the UK.
 
It’s the true highlight in our calendar, and we hear the same from our customers and partners who often travel from around the world to connect, learn and grow with over 1500 peers.
 
Given the rapidly changing situation with COVID-19 and the size and scale of the QBC London event, we are cancelling out of an abundance of caution. This was a difficult decision, but the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners and communities are our top priorities.
 
We are committed to the mission behind QuickBooks Connect, and will find ways to make available the stories, experiences, and insights soon. In addition, we will be providing full ticket refunds. Please contact our team at UKevents@intuit.com if you have questions.”
– QuickBooks

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London Dynamics AR solution launched at Retail Without Borders

Michael Valdsgaard, former head of digital transformation at IKEA, has used his keynote speech at Retail Without Borders to launch his latest venture: a high-tech immersive commerce solution provider, London Dynamics.

London Dynamics has developed a next-generation augmented reality (AR) platform which enables retail brands to revolutionise the way customers interact and explore their products digitally to increase sales, strengthen brand loyalty and reduce the rate of returns. Valdsgaard is applying over two and a half decades of insight from the forefront of retail technology and customer experience innovation to bring a solid, futuristic and frictionless AR solution to retail businesses.

“We are bringing online shopping back into the physical world by enabling that long awaited augmented reality revolution.
 
Lasting change isn’t coming for retail, it’s already here, and AR has similarly arrived to offer a new and powerful way to respond to changing customer demographics and demands.
 
With London Dynamics, I want retailers and brands to have an accessible, ‘plug and play’ solution for AR; allowing their customers to make better purchase decisions and convert sales by adding a physical experience to online shopping. Without a shadow of a doubt, AR has the potential to entirely overturn the way we look for, buy, and sell things online”
– Michael Valdsgaard in a keynote presentation at Retail Without Borders

In addition to a range of AR integrations for products from wearables to furniture to customisable luxury items, London Dynamics is also showcasing the cutting-edge skillsets required for the development of lightweight, browser-based, app-free solutions. These are capable of rendering true-to-life 3D models, textures and lighting, all on a platform that can scale to the demands of global retailers. Most importantly, London Dynamics is developing solutions which are platform agnostic so immediately available to anyone.

If you want to see how amazing the solution is, open this page on your mobile and click the icon in the bottom right of the AR view below (if you’re on desktop you’ll get a QR code for your mobile) and then you can view the chair in your own space. You can even walk around it to see it from all angles!

 

All sounds great and sounds very expensive, but Michael has the experience of similar projects from his time at IKEA to make this work and after his keynote he explained to Tamebay that he wants London Dynamic’s technology to be accessible. For that reason their services are payment on results, you’ll only be billed based on views of your products and they are so confident that you’ll see an uplift in sales they reckon you’ll want to carry on using augmented reality to engage consumers. They’ll do all the work whether it be for one product or every line that you sell and simply give you the code to add to your website.

Naturally you’ll need a website that attracts traffic to start with, it’s hard to increase sales if you aren’t already selling and this isn’t a panacea for attracting traffic but a tool for conversion. If you already have a viable online ecommerce business Michael reckons that giving consumers a real life view of your products so that they can fully visualise them in your customer’s home or office and how they’ll fit in with their surroundings that your sales will accelerate.

If you’d like to find out more, visit the London Dynamics website.

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Meet the company: PolicyBee

Insurance is one of life’s necessary evils. A bit on the tedious side? Yes. Something you’d rather not spend money on? Certainly. But also vital for protecting your business.

That being the case, we figure buying the right cover at a fair price is something you’d rather get over and done with as quickly and painlessly as possible.

That’s where PolicyBee comes in. They’re business insurance specialists with a customised package for online retailers. What’s more, they’re digital, so you can buy a tailored policy online in a few quick clicks.

We spoke to Kerri-Ann Hockley, Head of Customer Service at PolicyBee, to find out more:

Who is PolicyBee?

We’re an independent online insurance broker specialising in cover for small businesses and sole traders like online retailers.

Our chairman Iain Hatfield founded the company because he knew business insurance should and could be done better. So, out went the complicated forms and confusing jargon that makes buying a policy such an effort. And in came a shiny new online quote process that matches customers with the best cover in a few quick clicks.

We still have friendly humans who answer the phone if you call us though. And these days we have around 27,000 customers, so we must be doing something right.

Why do online retailers need insurance?

Because even though your sales are virtual, real things can still go wrong.

Take your stock. What if it’s stolen in a burglary or gets damaged? No stock means no business.

What if something you sell not only fails to earn a good review but actually harms someone? What if a visitor, a courier say, trips on your garden path and is injured?

Harm of any sort, to people or their property, can mean big claims for compensation. Insurance helps deal with these and other threats to your business by covering costs and providing expert help.

What insurance do online retailers need?

Different professions face different risks, so we have an insurance package specifically for online retailers. It protects you from the most typical things that could go wrong.

From £14 a month, you get £1 million worth of products liability to cover legal costs and compensation if something you sell causes damage to someone or their property. It’s useful if a collapsing chair leaves someone with a back injury or a kitchen gadget bites back.

It covers you for worldwide sales from the UK, although there’s a few products that aren’t eligible, so check what you sell isn’t on the no-go list first. Any new electrical items must be sourced from, manufactured or assembled in the European Union.

Plus, you get £100,000 worth of public liability to cover slips, trips and other mishaps that end in injury or damage to your visitors and their property. You’re also covered if you do occasional selling at shows and events.

What other cover is a good idea for online retailers?

Employers’ liability is a legal requirement if anyone works for you. Without it you can be fined £2,500 a day. It pays legal costs and damages if an employee claims they suffered illness or injury because of what they do for you.

Your equipment and stock is the lifeblood of your business. Stock and property insurance pays to replace your business equipment and the things you sell if they’re lost, damaged or stolen.

Floods, fires and other unexpected events can play havoc. If something stops you trading as normal, business interruption covers your lost revenue and pays to set you up elsewhere temporarily.

What makes PolicyBee the best choice?

We’re experts at what we do, and we’re smart enough to know that just because we love all things insurance, not everyone else does.

So we take the pain out of buying a policy. Our online quote process is fast and jargon-free, and gets you the best cover at the best price, with documents sent straight to your inbox. We don’t charge admin fees either.

We’re human too, and we have friendly experts ready to help if you need it. Even better, there’s no call centre and no phone menu to navigate.

But it’s what our customers think that really counts. We figure our excellent Feefo feedback and our Platinum Trusted Service Award speak volumes.

How do I get a quote?

You can get an online quote in just a couple of minutes by clicking here. Or, if you’d prefer to speak to a member of the team, phone 0345 222 5370.

Case Study

Laura H got a real buzz out of selling homewares online. She used her eye for design to pick out items at trade shows, then put them in her own virtual shop window across multiple platforms.

So far, so successful.

That’s until an official-looking envelope dropped onto Laura’s doormat, with a letter from a solicitor. Through the legal jargon, Laura learned that a customer had found out the hard way that a bath mat he’d bought was anything but non-slip as advertised.

In fact, the moveable mat had caused an accident that left the man who stepped onto its slippy surface flat on his back with a broken pelvis. Now he wanted compensating for his suffering and the fact he couldn’t do his job as a self-employed plasterer.

Bang to rights, then. So it’s just as well Laura had insurance. It paid for an expert legal brain to negotiate on her behalf and also covered the amount of compensation agreed. So nearly £65,000 in all, making her monthly premium cheap at the price.

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What you missed at Retail Without Borders 2020

Where do you get to meet over 20 marketplaces around the world from every corner of the globe at one time? The only place is what’s now the biggest marketplace conference in the world – Retail Without Borders 2020. The stats themselves are staggering:

2 Days
20+ Marketplaces
100s of speakers
2000 Attendees

If you missed Retail Without Borders 2020 then you’ll want to be sure to book for Retail Without Borders 2021 if you are the slightest bit serious about selling on marketplaces as there was something from everyone. Whether you were looking for a general goods marketplace in New Zealand (TheMarket), a Mother and Baby marketplace in the Middle East (Sprii) or simply an alternative marketplace to expand your UK sales (OnBuy), this is the one time you can find everyone under one roof. And it’s not just the conference, you can meet the marketplaces in person at one of the marketplace speed dating sessions and nothing beats having a personal relationship with someone that works for a marketplacee.

Of course the content was also amazing – headlined by none other than Gerald Ratner who made perhaps not the biggest but certainly one of the most notorious errors in business. When he described one of his products as ‘Crap’, seeing the crash to almost worthlessness of his Ratner’s chain of shops, ‘Doing a Ratner’ became part of the English language used to describe anyone who made a monumental error.

Gerald was a breath of fresh air and a joy to listen to, he said he’s made many many mistakes in business but sadly not been credited for any of them because of the big one overshadowing all his other errors. He also had a hot tip for anyone struggling to get an appointment with their bank manager – apparently if your share price collapses to the point where you owe the bank a billion quid then at that point it’s really really easy to see your bank manager!

Other speakers had amazingly practical tips to help you sell more, for instance Mike Adams from Purple spoke about accessibility for websites and one of his simplest tips is to stop putting your auction titles in capitals – many voice readers used by those with sight difficulties interpret all capital letters as acronyms and read them out letter by letter instead of as words. Use upper and lower case and those using readers won’t hit the back key (and that goes for your website as well!).

It would be impossible to give you a full overview of the conference in one post, seriously you need to book yourself for 2021 and see for yourself, so I’ll leave you with a top tip from none other than Gerald Ratner himself who expanded his chain of retail stores into Holland. Doing reasonably well at the start, he was confident as frankly the high street jewellery business model is to lose money for 11 months of the year and make your entire year’s profit at Christmas. So, imagine the horror when there was no increase in this lovely new international expansion at Christmas…. until asking what the heck was going on the Dutch told Gerald “Oh, didn’t you know, people in Holland don’t give each other gifts at Christmas!!!” Top Tip from Gerald… Do your research properly before expanding overseas and go meet the marketplaces and people that work for them and live in the countries you wish to target at Retail Without Borders 2021.

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March: ecommerce events in Europe

March is a very busy month, when it comes to ecommerce events you can visit in Europe. So, as always, we’ve made a handy overview for you, so you know when and where an ecommerce event takes place this month in Europe.

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