1. Can I display all catalog items on my website for customers to purchase?
Yes, technically, you can display the entire catalog on your website. However, we recommend a more strategic approach for several reasons:
- Website Health and SEO: Vendor catalogs can contain thousands of items, and managing such a large number of pages may negatively impact your website's search engine optimization (SEO). This makes it difficult to maintain healthy site performance and effective product marketing.
- Marketing Effectiveness: It is challenging to effectively market thousands of products. A more focused selection makes it easier for customers to discover and engage with popular products. We suggest starting with a curated range of 20-100 products, periodically adding and evaluating new items while phasing out underperformers.
- Customer Perception: In industries where dropshipping is common, displaying an extensive range of products may lead customers to suspect dropshipping practices and seek lower prices directly from distributors. A selective approach helps maintain the perceived value and uniqueness of your offerings.
- Quality of Product Listings: Not all catalog items come with complete descriptions, high-quality images and other attributes. A smaller, manageable selection allows you to enhance and control the quality of the product content, ensuring each listing is detailed and appealing.
- Inventory Management: Displaying a full catalog increases the risk of selling items that are out of stock with your vendors. By focusing on popular items, you reduce the likelihood of having to manage customer expectations with substitutions or refunds when products are unavailable.
Adopting a strategic approach to product selection not only simplifies management but also enhances marketing efforts and customer experience on your website.
2. How do I determine which product I should add from the catalogs?
To effectively select products from catalogs, we recommend conducting thorough market research to identify which items are currently popular and have shown strong historical performance. Here are the steps to guide you through this process:
- Use NASGW SCOPE CLX: This tool is invaluable for researching firearm retail sales history and is accessible via the "Tools" section in your POS system. NASGW SCOPE CLX provides data on firearm sales over the past two years, helping you identify trends and consumer preferences. For more detailed guidance on using NASGW SCOPE CLX, visit Utilize the Power of NASGW SCOPE CLX Data within Orchid POS.
- Leverage SEO Tools: Research popular firearm-related keywords and specific models to gauge their current and historical popularity. Tools like Google Trends offer free services where you can conduct manual searches by keyword to track how certain terms or products trend over time. For a more comprehensive analysis, consider using SpyFu, a subscription-based tool that provides detailed insights into search terms and competitive data.
- Selection and Implementation: After completing your market research, you’ll have a better understanding of which products are in demand. Select those that align with consumer trends and your business goals, then add these products to your website to optimize your inventory and sales potential.
By integrating data-driven insights from NASGW SCOPE CLX and SEO analysis, you can make informed decisions about which products to introduce to your catalog, ensuring they meet current market demands and enhance your competitive edge.
3. Can I only display products that are currently in stock with vendors?
No, the system does not automatically exclude products that are out of stock with vendors. When a customer places an order on your website, the order will appear in your POS system. As you proceed to fulfill the order with your vendor, you can check the current stock status and associated costs for the product across all connected vendors.
See section 7 of the Live Vendor Guide.
4. Will product listings always include titles, descriptions, images and other product attributes?
Product listings sometimes include titles, descriptions, and images, depending on the data provided by the vendor. Any data that is missing is something that Orchid is working to add and enhance over time. But as of this point, if there are attributes missing from your catalogs you will need to manually add them. Some attributes that have been reported as missing or inaccurate:
- Title (Non-descriptive)
- Description
- Category
- Subcategory
- Image
- MSRP
- Model
- Caliber (specifically for ammunition)
- Cost
- Barrel Length
- Firearm Magazine
- Action
5. Can I set custom retail prices for each product?
Yes, you can set custom retail prices for each product. There are a few different ways you can do this:
- Set Default Pricing Levels
- Use “Copy Formula” to set Price Levels
- Set pricing in excel and update existing products
- Manually set price by selecting a product in managed products
6. Can I set retail prices based on my contracted rates/costs?
No, retail prices cannot be automatically configured based on your specific contracted rates or costs. The standard cost displayed for a catalog product in your POS reflects the general cost listed by your vendor, which may not be tailored to your specific account terms.
7. Can I set retail prices using the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) or Minimum Advertised Price (MAP)?
You can set retail prices based on MSRP or MAP, however this information is not always provided from the vendor. If either of these two prices are not listed for a product, you will have to add them manually.
8. After I set retail pricing, why did my prices revert back to $0?
This is a known issue that can occur if you try to resync your catalogs. This can occur even if you did not select Retail Price as the field that you wanted to resync. If this has happened to you please contact your project manager or
submit a ticket through our support portal.
9. Can products be shipped directly to an FFL, customer address, or be picked up in-store?
Yes, products can be shipped directly to a specified Federal Firearms License (FFL) holder, a customer's non-firearm address, or picked up in-store.
There are built in features that help ensure compliance with shipping. For example, by default the system will not allow the user to checkout with a firearm unless it’s shipped directly to a verified FFL.
The system does not require ammunition to be shipped directly to an FFL. This is a state requirement in both California and New York.
Please remember to review all orders and comply with federal and state regulation.
10. Can shipping be integrated directly with my vendors shipping cost?
No, you cannot directly integrate with your vendors shipping. The website user will be charged for shipping based on how you configure your shipping and then you will be charged a separate shipping cost by your vendor when you fulfill the order.
It’s recommended that you communicate with your vendors to understand exactly how they configure their shipping rates so that you can better determine how to configure your rates. Some vendors offer free shipping depending on where you ship and monthly sales volume.
You can configure your shipping costs based on flat rate, price base, or based on weight and dimensions through integration with
ShipStation.
Not at this time. You can configure a standard flat rate shipping fee that will be applied to all orders.
12. Can I choose which vendor to order from if multiple vendor integrations are set up?
Yes, you can choose which vendor to order from when multiple integrations are setup. you will see in-stock quantities from each and associated costs when you go to fulfill an order.
See section 7 of the Live Vendor Guide.13. Can orders be automatically fulfilled based on preferred vendors or costs?
No, orders cannot be automatically fulfilled based on preset conditions such as preferred vendor or cost.
14. How do I remove the catalogs from my POS?
You can’t remove them but you can archive them. Please note that if you archive them and try to add a product from the catalog back to your POS, you will need to remove that product from your archives.