Who's best E-commerce expert in Denver area?

Stephanie Cox Founder & CEO at The Level Market

March 3rd, 2015

I'm looking for some consultation on revenue models and site flow for a global B2B marketplace. I'm going back and forth as to whether I start as just a catalog with subscription rates, while creating some stickiness in the site, and allow the financial transactions to take place off site; or if i should build in the ability to take fees/commission on the financial transactions through the site. I'm not holding any inventory nor shipping product. The supplier would do that. So perhaps it's a matter of forwarding the order to the supplier. I'd love some insight either through this forum or in person with someone locally in Denver. Thanks!

Mike Stemple Founder at Inspirer

March 3rd, 2015

There are a number of us who mentor @ http:fi.co/mentors Denver chapter who have experience with this. My first thought is: AdamSwiecki of Surfboard.com fame and a co-director with me at FI. He sells surfboards from here in Colorado, so he knows a ton about drop-shipping.

Also: Jon Nordmark of eBags fame. Jon is no longer at eBags but his new co Iterate Studio might be valuable.

And myself of Skint, Original Wraps, etc... & inspirer.com fame.

-MS

Anonymous

March 3rd, 2015

In part I agree with Richard - build the audience, make mistakes and learn what they want and how they want it presenting, and then look to invest further with tighter integrations and automated workflow. As long as you are not producing a negative experience with the manual approach, then no harm done. It just sounds like extra work for you.

Where I do not necessarily agree is looking immediately for ad revenues. Richard is absolutely right that if you have a niche audience then there could be value, but ad revenues are very low, and unless you are looking at 100k+ niche visitors, it might not be worth your time, or worth impacting the customer experience.

FYI - I am not a specific ecom expert, but have built many a project, and am based up the road in Stapleton.

Neil Gehani Sr. Product Manager - Building products that people love

March 3rd, 2015

Hi Stephanie, If you want to do this over the phone or via Skype/hangout, let me know and I can help. Cheers! Neil Neil Gehani CEO & Founder 415-509-8284

Richard CSO Sales Process | Operational Optimization

March 3rd, 2015

Not knowing more about your business, but answering your question directly, I would probably take the commission route first to build a following - which provides the least amount of follower resistence until your value is recognized more widely, and based on traffic, look for ad revenue since your site will probably attract a certain identifiable demographic. Later, once your value has captured your audience, you can decide whether to transition out of ad revenue and into subscription revenue.This is a classic entry delimma, one I'm very familiar with through experience. Your decision is also a Capital Structure dependent one. A well funded start-up can approach things differently than a bootstrapped low capital venture. Either way, all the best and much success!!

Stephanie Cox Founder & CEO at The Level Market

March 3rd, 2015

Thanks for the quick and helpful replies.

Neil - I'd be interested in your thoughts as well. I don't have access to your details here, so if you can shoot me an email at stephaniecox@thelevelmarket.com we can connect!

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