Powered by IT, OCD Helps Brands Sell More on Amazon and Gain Instant Access Across Multiple B2B and B2C Channels

The way brands and manufacturers sell through online marketplaces is fundamentally changing. With more channels and marketplaces available than ever before, successfully selling your new or refurbished/end-of-life/excess/b-stock products is now more complicated, more time-consuming, and for a brand without expertise and infrastructure, more expensive than ever before. When a brand is considering selling on Amazon or in other eCommerce marketplaces, they have two primary options; selling first-party (1P), which is a direct marketplace, or selling third-party (3P) to customers through a 3P seller, a broker, or by itself through its own marketplace storefront.

Omni-Channel Distribution (OCD) was born 14 years ago with one mission — to help established brands in technology, electronics, and other product categories win through streamlined sales and distribution as a trusted third-party (3P) seller. OCD uses its multi-channel experience, deeply connected sales infrastructure for manufactuers and distributors, and extensive secondary market supplier network to create profitable outcomes for leading brands from around the world.

As a “one-stop-shop,” OCD handles all the brand protection, product sales, analysis and reporting, customer service, and marketing. OCD manages sales and distribution across multiple channels, so brands are free to focus on the manufacturing processes that they do best. In other words, they simplify eCommerce for brands, leading to increased sales velocity, volume, and higher profitability.

Why Brands Should Partner with a Trusted 3P to Sell Their Products on Amazon

As a highly-rated 3P seller, OCD provides brands a single platform to service eCommerce and broadline distribution. They help them easily gain access across multiple B2B and B2C sales channels while simultaneously enhancing profitability and brand integrity.

Over 60% of sales on Amazon are currently generated through 3P sellers — and the numbers are growing. With that amount, it’s important to understand why brands shouldn’t attempt 3P selling themselves and the common pitfalls that occur when they do.

Successful 3P selling on any channel requires substantial investments in infrastructure, operating expenses, process development, logistics, customer service, returns management, advertising, and more. Unless a brand already has deeply developed assets in these areas, it’s essentially equivalent to opening an entirely new business — and having to become an expert.

How OCD Helps Brands Win on Amazon

The opportunity on Amazon’s $300 billion-plus marketplace has become too big to ignore. But shockingly, some brands do. They either sell products to brokers or directly to Amazon, then walk away — or do nothing. What happens to them next is all-too-predictable. Unauthorized sellers begin selling their brand’s products at a variety of prices, destroying their MAP pricing. Channel conflicts and trust factors can make or break the brand.

To help brands avoid these recurrent issues and grow their brand and profits — OCD offers their Amazon Marketplace Management Program. This turnkey solution simplifies the ever-changing Amazon ecosystem for their manufacturer partners, providing all the services to represent and grow their products on Amazon. It includes creative and advertising, world-class customer service, brand protection, product sales, and detailed analysis.

OCD places purchase orders and takes stocking positions on the products being offered. They manage all aspects of logistics, from forecasting (making sure SKUs are never out of stock) to fast shipping and delivery to customers. This is accomplished while leveraging both FBA and Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP). OCD sells products on their highly-rated Amazon storefront from an OEM’s current catalog or their refurb/end-of-life/excess/b-stock. By taking care of all Amazon Marketplace Management through OCD, the brand is able to sell on Amazon at a lower cost than doing it themselves, and with increased velocity and profits.

How Amazon Marketplace Management Works for Brands

Brands engaged with OCD get the direct benefits of working with a 5-star rated Amazon 3P seller with significant expertise and experience in the marketplace. The program covers five key aspects for brands:

• Brand Protection - includes removal of unauthorized sellers, MAP protection, and brand registry
• Supply Chain & Fulfillment - includes ensuring stock availability, compliant packaging, Prime fulfillment via FBA and SFP
• Customer Experience - includes 24/7 high-quality customer service, 99% 5-star ratings, accounting and reconciliation management
• Marketing - includes Amazon advertising campaigns, content development, reporting, and ROI analysis
• Account Management - includes dedicated brand account, Seller Central management, and IT management

Brands sell products to OCD wholesale at an agreed-upon price. The brand stays closely involved in deciding which SKUs will be sold by OCD, working with OCD to set an appropriate MAP, and maintaining control over advertising content. OCD employs its expertise and proprietary IT platform to operate all the aspects required to sell successfully on Amazon. OCD can sell products in the Amazon US marketplace; and also internationally on Amazon in Canada, Mexico, the UK, and Germany.

How OCD Helps Brands Win Selling Refurb, End-of-life, Excess, and B-stock

Selling brands’ refurbished, end-of-life, excess, and b-stock products on Amazon via the Renew medallion is just a small part of the story of this side of OCD’s business. The usual problem brands have is a warehouse full of certain aging, slow-moving products that are eating up cash and need to be sold, yesterday — and without channel conflict. But they’re having trouble selling it. Through its network of B2B and B2C channels, OCD can help a brand sell its refurb, end-of-life, excess, and b-stock products.

OCD sells to the largest broadline technology distributors in the US. They are an authorized and integrated sourcing partner for Ingram Micro and Tech Data. From these broadline technology distributors’ catalogs, products are available to the largest resellers and to the smallest value-added resellers; to the Mom & Pop stores, retail stores, and even overseas channels. Additionally, OCD has a dedicated sales force that sells direct to resellers. It also has an eCommerce store selling refurb, end-of-life, excess, and b-stock products directly to consumers.

More Channels, More Sales, More Profit

Similar to how OCD deals with Amazon sales, the process for selling refurbished, end-of-life, excess, and b-stock are also streamlined and straightforward. OCD simplifies the array of available sales channels for a brand. They purchase the products from them wholesale at an agreed-upon price, then act as a “one-stop-shop” handling sales, brand protection and pricing integrity, analysis and reporting, customer service, and marketing. Products are sold through OCD’s established network of channels — from broadline distribution to VARs and resellers to multiple marketplaces. OCD places PO’s and stocks the products. They handle all the logistics, ensure speedy fulfillment, and keep SKUs in stock until they’re all sold. Transparency is another big advantage for brands. Knowing where all the products are being sold and in what channels is invaluable information they wouldn’t get from a broker.

Powered by IT — the Optix Platform

Every brand working with OCD, regardless of what or where they are selling, benefits from Optix’s insights and analysis. Integrated with Amazon and supplier systems, OCD’s proprietary IT platform automates and streamlines multi, vendor, OEM, and channel management.

Optix and a dedicated brand manager optimize pricing, marketing, logistics, and strategy for brands across multiple channels. This revolutionary tool gathers marketing reporting data in one place — enabling tracking the user journey, targeting KPIs, ROI, and creating customized reports. The combination of the OCD team’s 30 years of experience as a tech product reseller, extensive Amazon selling experience, and the powerful Optix platform gives the edge to brands wishing to grow their sales in either new or refurb/end-of-life/excess/b-stock products.

The OCD Difference

Rather than operating as purely a broker or generic 3P seller, OCD works directly with manufacturers and leverages its experience, expertise, and IT power to create long-term relationships with them. The ongoing goals in these relationships are to be easy to work with and to grow and protect their brands in a mutually beneficial way as a partner.

Unlike many other firms, OCD guarantees increased profitability and offers a risk-free trial to prove it. For established brands in technology, electronics, and other product categories looking to penetrate multiple eCommerce sales channels, OmniChannel Distribution offers a unique — and profitable — opportunity for growth in both B2B and B2C markets around the world.

About the General Manager

Adam Shaffer is the EVP and General Manager at Omni-Channel Distribution(OCD). He is a pioneer in the technology industry, with over 30 years of experience. Adam has joined OCD in late 2019 after PCM, a $2.3B Technology Solutions Provider was acquired. At PCM, he served as its CMO and EVP of Product Management. Adam was also Director of Brand Extensions at Maxim Magazine and President of TigerDirect where he was integral to its sale to PCM. He brings a wealth of expertise to the organization.

“We make it easy for technology brands to extend their reach and accelerate their growth by providing access to and managing multiple channels simultaneously through our proprietary platform while protecting brand integrity and enhancing profitability.”

“We take everything into consideration including everything we know, everything we do not know, and also everything we get to know along the way.”