Factory & Showroom: 13 Jacoba Str, Alberton North, Johannesburg, 1449 – RSA.
Business Hours (GMT+2) | Mon-Thurs: 8H00-17H00 | Fri: 8H00-15H30 | First & Last Sat: 9H00-12H00 (*Or By Appointment) | *Excluding Public Holidays.
Become a Supplier
Page Reading Time: +-7 minutes
Tags: #Supplier Process #Orders, Deliveries + Warehousing #eCommerce Benefits #Marketplace Features + Benefits #Commissions + Fee Structures #Supplier Profile + Product Information Guide #Marketplace + Outlet Pages #Supplier Details + DM #Payment Gateways #Sub-Orders #Transactions + Withdrawals #Vacations #Feedback, Ratings + Reviews #News/ Blog/ Social Media
Video | Seller’s eCommerce Platform: An overview of our suppliers’ marketplace >> For fast efficient sales!
Why Partner with Us?
We work closely with our manufacturers, suppliers, specialized retailers and unique service providers, offering innovative sales opportunities through our niche market platforms. We bring buyers and sellers together through various product and service options, including: (i) ‘Downloadable’; (ii) ‘Virtual’; (iii) ‘Stock Held Items’ (SHI): (iv) Custom-made items and/or items ‘Manufactured On Order’ (MOO).
Our primary aim is not to provide thousands of products (or services) for various market sectors on a single platform; but rather focus on specific brands, products and services for a selected market sector. Niche market platforms mean a more targeted marketing approach for sellers and a more convenient shopping experience for customers with fewer clicks of the mouse. We strive to provide innovative business solutions, particularly to SMEs. Our goal is to promote greater efficiency and competitiveness for all our suppliers within their industry.
We believe in balanced lifestyle and trust our innovation and automated solutions will assist you to spend more time with loved-ones, doing more of what you truly enjoy!
Supplier Registration Process?
Four easy steps to get selling via our online platforms…
Step #1: Application Form (Once-off)
Complete our online application form, with the required documentation.
Step #2: Approval
On completion of your online application, sit back and await supplier approval. We will process all applications as quickly as possible.
Step #3: Sign Up or Sign In
Simply register or login to your online supplier account, as per the button below:
Step #4: Loading Your Products
Log into your account, as per the login process in step #3. You can then add your company information, product details and other required configurations for your online profile. Products can be uploaded to your online profile manually (one-by-one) using your online user interface (Supplier Dashboard); Or through the use of a .csv (Excel) template for bulk product uploads to our database. Please take careful note of ‘Supplier Profile + Product Information Guide for Quick Approval‘, as below.
*IMPORTANT: For all new accounts, we will assist with the creation of your initial account setup – This may include:
- Account/ outlet name
- Domain specific email address for all your communications (e.g. Location-SupplierID@switchonmymedia.com) – *Only this email is to be used for any orders, communications or the like for any business via our website
- Banner design for your profile page (Optional)
- Other information for account optimization and security
Order Processing
Please review the seller’s order process summary, as below:
- When a customer adds your product(s) to their shopping cart and completes the ‘check out’ process, a quotation or purchase order (PO) notification will be sent to you
- *IMPORTANT: Only when an invoice notification (Email) has been received, is it an official order with payment receipt – Only then should the order be processed for manufacturing or dispatch
- Order notifications will be received via email and you can also review all details on your online account
- Messages can be sent and received from customers using our direct messaging facility. All communications with clients should be done through our platform (only) to ensure efficient record keeping at all times
- Customer’s can also submit ratings and reviews for products supplied by you (i.e. Quality, lead times, customer service etc.)
- Where products may have been added to a customer’s shopping cart from various suppliers (multiple outlets), each supplier will receive the relevant notification pertaining to their particular order (As per their product range) – *See Sub-Orders to Learn More
As per the button below, find further details on our customer service and the order process, as provided to our customers:
*IMPORTANT: For customized orders requiring customer approval prior to production, the respective supplier (design team) should send digital artwork for signed approval via WeTransfer – If required, artwork and other files can be ‘zipped’ prior to sending. Suppliers should only use their dedicated email address, as provided by us, for all communications. Both the customer and our store administration email address should be included in the ‘To:’ (send) field, accompanied by a clear and concise message when sending information to clients.
Deliveries + Warehousing
Please review the summary of the delivery process from a manufacturer or suppliers perspective, as below:
- Suppliers can provide their own courier rates, making them even more competitive on price
- On the dispatch of goods, supplier(s) can send an email notification directly to the customer via our website with full courier and waybill details for easy tracking and record keeping
- Suppliers have the ability to offer collections from their premises when orders are ready for dispatch. Instead of sending the customer a notification with the courier details, you would simply send confirmation via our website (only) with the collection address, our contact number(s) and the order/ invoice number – To be used as a ‘collection reference’ for your dispatch team’s awareness
As per the button below, find our recommended courier and warehousing solutions:
*IMPORTANT: Delivery setup will either be controlled as per the global configurations on our website; Or for our advanced marketplace setup, suppliers will need to manage the delivery configurations for their outlet and can offered the best delivery rates possible – Support can be provided for the initial configurations on the advanced setup.
eCommerce Benefits
Our eCommerce solutions provide just some of these great features:
- B2B or B2C marketing and sales of your products and services, 24/7
- Comprehensive information portal providing essential information, so that customers rarely need to get in contact for further details
- User-friendly navigation by category and sub-categories
- Integration of video advertising (via YouTube) on product pages, for more interactive online marketing
- Filtered attribute searches by category, sub-category, region, brand house, brand name, age group, gender, colour etc.
- Easy registration for customers and suppliers
- Full order history including: Detailed contact information, order history, invoices, shipments (deliveries), credit memos, wish lists, reordering, communication history and more
- Various product types: Simple Product; Grouped Product; Configurable Product; Virtual Product; Bundle Product; Digital (Download) Products
- Pricing strategies, including: Regular pricing, tiered-pricing (Bulk order discounts), special pricing and more
- Product comparisons: Compare two or more products prior to purchase
- Product sort options: Best value, price, name, ascending, descending etc.
- Grid or list views of products by customer preference
- Recently viewed: Recall products automatically added to a ‘Recently Viewed’ list
- Easy emailing of product information to friends (Social marketing)
- Customer feedback, ratings and reviews
- Related product or service suggestions
- Up-selling of products or services
- Cross-selling of products or services
- Easy checkout of products via smart shopping cart solutions
- Currency preferences and automatic FX conversions
- Numerous gateway solutions for payments
- Language preference selection
- Newsletter subscriptions for customer updates and special promotions
- Custom online polls for customer feedback
- Tag clouds and tagging by popular key words
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM) & Social Media Marketing (SMM)
- Analytics & advanced reporting for website, store and supplier performance
- More
Our Marketplace: Features + Benefits
Take a few minutes to find out just how easy it is to use our marketplace solution; And learn some of the key features and benefits along the way…
Work with a Fast + Intuitive Marketplace
Our beautiful digital marketplace provides for quick and easy setup of supplier profiles. It is fully responsive and mobile optimized to scale and fit perfectly on any device.
Amazing Experience with Seller Dashboard
Our intuitive front-end user interface offers an extremely easy to use ‘Supplier Dashboard’. There is no prior experience required. Any reputable and registered company can sign-up and start selling easily with a few simple steps.
Advanced Reports
You don’t need to a pay additional fees to obtain advanced reports, as with many other solution providers. You get advanced reporting functions from our online marketplace platform, including:
- Sales Report: By day+/ month+/ year: Also shown by line graph/ chart
- Latest Orders: Shown by date, customers, subtotal etc.
- Best Sellers: Shown by name of the product, price and quantity
- Most Viewed Products: Shown by name of the product, price and views
- Top Sellers By Countries: Shown by the name of the countries and their locations on a map
Supplier Dashboard: Registered suppliers can ‘Sign In’ to access their ‘Supplier Dashboard’.
Supplier Dashboard: Use the main menu to navigate through the ‘Supplier Dashboard’ options.
Fast, Responsive + Mobile Optimized
Thanks to being fully responsive and mobile friendly, our marketplace solution appears perfectly on any kind of device. So your online sales and user experience improves significantly.
Setup Email Notifications Effortlessly
Email addresses can be easily setup for various notifications. This allows you to receive emails for registration and product approvals. Email notifications are also sent to vendors for orders, invoices, shipments, direct messages etc.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Our marketplace supports SEF URLs for vendor profiles. This means every supplier’s profile will have a unique URL, which is very useful for google robots and customers to remember. Suppliers can also add their own SEO information under their particular dashboard for improved SEO.
Product Management
Unlimited products – Suppliers can view and manage their products and inventory with ease. Products can be uploaded through a Graphic User Interface (GUI). Our advanced marketplace setups also allow for bulk product uploads using a .csv file (Information editing using MS Excel) via our online import/ export facilities.
Flexible Commissions
On applying through our application form, suppliers can indicate commissions they are willing to agree to for their online products. Suppliers will need to take into account the costs, work and administration required to assist with all their online sales. Commissions need to assist with covering the following costs for the eCommerce store:
- Design, development and maintenance costs
- Server hosting & security
- All software solutions for online and mobile platforms; Including marketplace solutions with all the associated features & benefits
- Traditional & Online Marketing: Including – Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM) & Social Media Marketing (SMM)
- Analytics & advanced reporting for website, store and supplier performance
- All banking fees & credit card transactions – Credit card transactions through payment gateways may attract a fee of ~3.0-6.5%
- Administration costs, such as ‘Withdrawal’ payouts – As per standard payout periods
- Number of support hours dedicated to their online supplier profile – As per supplier’s specific needs etc.
Commission Fee Structures
Commission fee structures may be tiered depending on the personalized attention required for a specific supplier’s profile. Below is an brief guideline of how tiered commission structures may look.
- Commission Tier #1 (Lowest): No or minimal administration and assistance required – Support only required when supplier does not have access to certain services due to permissions etc. – This will be the lowest commission fee that can be offered to cover costs and services, as above
- Commission Tier #2: Assistance with online updating of product information on an annual basis – i.e. Product changes, image updates, new products etc. Partial content management (Only) – All images, product information and pricing needs to be provided in the correct formats for uploading or online modification; Thus excludes any form of standard content management (i.e. Product & image editing etc. prior to online updates)
- Commission Tier #3: Supplier updates all images, product information, pricing and inventory, as and when required. Support team only assists with basic administration required for the eCommerce store – Such as, order process management (i.e. POs/ Invoices/ Delivery Notes etc.) & customer feedback through the eCommerce store. Excludes booking of courier services etc.
- Commission Tier #4: Service support as per Tier #2 + Tier #3. Limited & partial content management (Only), with general store administration.
- Commission Tier #5 (Highest): Full supplier account management and support – Includes services from Tiers #2 to #4, PLUS full content management prior to online modification. However, all information and decent quality images need to be provided for editing, upload and configuration, within the time frames requested.
*IMPORTANT: All product profiles need to have the essential information available; With at least one correct and decent quality image in order for the product to be enabled (active) on our store. This is essential to eliminate the need for customers to make contact for further information prior to ordering online.
*COMMISSION FEE STRUCTURES: Tiered commission structures, as above, are normally based of a commission percentage (%) on sales – The more support your supplier account requires, the higher the percentage commission charged on sales (based on your relevant tier) – This is a ‘pay-as-you-earn’ approach. We can however offer more flexible commission structures, where a supplier can take a lower commission percentage on sales for their particular tier and pay fixed rates (i.e. hourly or package) for the support aspects on their account.
*SPECIAL RATE COMMISSIONS: We offer reduced commission percentages (%) on bulk order pricing (e.g. Buy 1x unit for X, or 10+ units for Y); As well as on ‘wholesale pricing’ for retailer & reseller accounts.
Supplier Profile + Product Information Guide for Quick Approval
As stipulated above, information can be uploaded through a Graphic User Interface (GUI); Or advanced marketplace setups allow for bulk product uploads using a .csv file via our online import/ export facilities.
Product Panel: View, add & edit your products from the ‘Products’ menu.
Product Profile: Open product profiles to moderate all required information – Ensure all required details have been included with accuracy & take careful note of pricing calculations prior to saving or activating products for online sales.
Detailed (content rich), accurate information and layout neatness is imperative in ensuring a happy online shopping experience for our customers; As well as the best results for your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Online profiles will not be approved or may be deactivated for further attention, if the information does not meet our required standards ~
Product Profiles & Images
Supplier Profiles: Please ensure all information is accurately added.
Brand Logo: Save as a .jpg or .png – Size >0.5MB; Dimensions @300px (min) to 800px (max) on the smallest side, other side scaled proportionally – Depending on portrait or landscape format. Ideally place your logo on a square canvass, with proportional dimensions; Leave +-50px white space around the perimeter of your logo.
Supplier Banner: Save as a .jpg or .png – Size >0.5MB; Dimensions @675px (W) Min – @1250px (W) Max; – *See product (And other content) image quality requirements below.
Online Product Name (Title): Full descriptive name – e.g. *Std. Naming Convention = [Brand Name] | [Unique Product Description] – [Size/ Colour etc.] >> *Product Title Name Example = Adidas | Confederation Football/ Soccer Ball – Size 5 (Various Colour Options)
*Image File Name (SEO): Rename all image files to a full descriptive name, using dashes [-] between keywords for SEO – e.g. *Std. Naming Convention = [Website Name]-[Brand]-[Unique Product Description]-[Size/ Colour etc.].jpg >> *File Name Example = Sports-Dynamix-Adidas-Confederation-Football-Soccer-Ball-Size-5.jpg
Product Images: Save as a .jpg or .png – Size >0.5MB; Dimensions @600px (min) & 1250px (max) on the smallest side, other side scaled proportionally – Depending on portrait or landscape format. Needs to be decent quality. Should not be stretched or pixelated. Individual product images should be on a white background or professional backdrop. Quality lifestyle images are welcome. Images should not contain contact or supplier information ~
- *Image ‘Alt’ Tag (SEO): Required, as per ‘Online Product Name’ above – When uploading images to the ‘Media Library’, add text to ‘Alt Text’ field provided
- *Image ‘Title’ Tag (SEO): Required, as per ‘Online Product Name’ above – When uploading images to the ‘Media Library’, add text to ‘Title’ field provided
Pricing, Inventory, Attributes & Metadata
Regular Pricing: Standard sales price – Commissions will be added, as tier structure above.
Tiered Pricing: Special pricing on bulk order – e.g. Buy 10+ units @ ‘discount price’ – Commission will be calculated according to % set on your supplier account (profile).
Special Pricing: Special/ discounted pricing on items for a limited period only – Commission will be calculated according to % set on your supplier account (profile).
Short Description: Product or service summary.
Long Description: Detailed product or service information – Needs to be accurate & comprehensive.
Stock Management (SHI: Stock-Held Items): Quantities need to be updated preferably every week or at least once a month. Individual stock management may not be required if suppliers keep large quantities of stock on-hand at all times (i.e. 100+ units on-hand at a time). If inaccurate & a refund is required due to stock mismanagement, the supplier may be changed for transaction and admin fees.
Product Attributes: Details such as SKU number (Stock Keeping Unit/ Product ID), dimensions, weights, parcel details, lead times, colours, materials etc.
Video: Promotional videos can be sent for uploading to our YouTube channel & then embedded into the ‘Multimedia’ section for the relevant product or content page(s) – *Speak to us to find out more.
*Meta Title (SEO): As per the ‘Online Product Name’ above.
*Meta Keywords (SEO): All potential keywords and phrases that may be used for a ‘Google Search’ relevant to the product/ service concerned.
*Meta Description (SEO): As per the ‘Short Description’ above, with relevant keywords included for a ‘Google Search’.
More: Contact us if you need further assistance.
*IMPORTANT: All product profiles need to have the essential information available; With at least one correct and decent quality image in order for the product to be enabled (active) on our store. This is essential to eliminate the need for customers to make contact for further information prior to ordering online.
Beautiful Marketplace Page
Our beautiful marketplace page (*See ‘Shop by Outlet‘ page in header) helps showcase supplier profiles with your very own vendor profile page. This page allows customers to learn more about each supplier – It allows customers to quickly view brands, products and services from one place for the optimum shopping experience… Saving them time and offering them convenience. Customers can also easily see where products are dispatched from, by country/ province/ city, in order to ‘shop by brand’ and ‘shop by region’. Offering our customers the ability to shop geographically gives them the best opportunity to reduce their global footprint, along with reduced delivery or collection costs.
Header Menu: Find the ‘Shop by Outlet’ menu link. Then browse & open relevant dispatch outlet profiles.
Dedicated Supplier (Outlet) Page
Suppliers can create these vendor pages for a brand and supplier overview, along with their product collection, company and contact information. Please note, email addresses will be provided by us for profile management, with the relevant forwarding onto you. If required, customers can also send you a message using our online direct messaging facility, from which you can reply using your allocated email address (ONLY). For WhatsApp or telephone communications – Business WhatsApp profiles or virtual numbers can be provided, with record keeping facilities. This may be at an additional cost. ‘Service only’ providers can also create profiles for online service quotes and purchases; Or can register a single directory profile at an annual fee (T&Cs apply) – *Speak to us to find out more.
Supplier Details on Product Page
This feature allows suppliers to present ‘seller information’ on product pages. When shopping online, customers can view these details and make contact with the seller concerned via our direct messaging facility for any further queries they may have.
Product Pages: Customers can view supplier details within the product profile page(s) under the ‘Dispatch Outlet’ tab; And click the ‘Outlet Profile Link’ to view the relevant supplier’s profile page .
Direct Messaging
Our vendor messaging system helps build conversation among vendors, site admins and customers. Suppliers can manage their own direct messaging facility by replying to customer messages and viewing message history for their supplier account.
Outlet Contact Forms: Customers can send direct messages to a particular supply outlet where contact forms are available.
Multiple Payment Gateways
With our multiple payment gateway options, you can approach any of your targeted markets and increase your conversion rates. This includes popular gateways around the world, so no worries about payment methods or unsupported currencies.
Payment options may include: Credit card, debit card, instant EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer via payment gateway), manual EFT (via Internet Banking), bank deposit, other finance options, supported loyalty cards and more.
The 10+ most popular gateways supported, including:
- PayPal
- Authorize.Net
- Braintree
- Sage Pay
- Google Checkout
- Amazon Payment
- WePay
- 2CheckOut
- Dwolla
- Skrill (Moneybookers)
- PayFast
- PayGate
- PayU
- More
Multiple Supplier Product(s) Checkout: Sub-Orders (Split Orders)
Customers can purchase products (or services) from various suppliers at once, within a single checkout process. Our marketplace software seamlessly creates sub-orders (split orders) from the original parent order, auto-generating the relevant information – This is sent to the supplier(s) responsible for order processing. The information may include products, coupons, delivery charges etc. that are associated to the sub-order concerned. Each seller can only view their own sub-order(s), as available in their ‘Supplier Dashboard’ (account); So that they can focus on the details relevant to their business.
Sub-Orders: Example of sub-orders (split orders) from the site administrator’s perspective.
The customer receives purchase order details and pays against the parent order only (total order amount). When payment is received on the parent order, each of the child order (sub-order) statuses get updated automatically – An invoice is then issued to the customer for the parent order and to the sub-orders relevant to the suppliers concerned. Every supplier then manages the process for their orders (sub-order) individually. Once all sub-orders have been completed, only then is the parent order marked as ‘complete’.
If the parent order is duplicated in future, all sub-orders are filtered from the parent order report and we will only see the original transactions, without duplication.
Suppliers Can:
- Send emails and print invoices
- Create and send invoice with just one click
- Creation of credit memo: Refunds with the correct amount(s), adding any adjustment fees, as required
- Manage deliveries by adding courier name, courier contact info. and waybill (tracking) number to be sent to customer via email – *All transaction information and communication is only to be sent from our website (your supplier profile) to close-off orders and ensure sufficient record keeping
Customers Can:
- Receive one order ID when purchasing products from multiple suppliers at once – Sub-orders will be linked to the parent order ID
- View all order IDs from their order history sector on their online account; Or as per the email received on order
- Auto-receive email notifications for all order related updates
Smart Transactions & Withdrawals
Transaction amounts for all orders will be allocated to the respective vendor. In your ‘Supplier Dashboard’, you can track and manage all transactions with ease. Detailed transaction information is provided and you can specify when you want to withdraw certain amounts for payout (T&Cs Apply).
Withdraw Panel: Suppliers can view transactions & request payouts on their account.
*IMPORTANT:
- Withdrawals can only be processed for orders that have been completed, delivered and fulfill as per our Trade Protection
- Payouts may have minimum withdrawal amount set to reduce administration and banking costs
- Payouts are normally processed in batches twice monthly (*Normally fortnightly intervals)
- On successful processing of a withdrawal, a notification will be sent to you; Or status updates can be viewed on your supplier account
- All policies, terms & conditions apply
Display Vacation Settings Professionally
*This option is only available on our advanced Marketplace setup.
Suppliers can set vacation dates and an alert message for their profile and product pages. This will be visible to customers when shopping online and allow for extended lead times to be taken into account, as per the vacation period. Products (or services) can also be ‘deactivated’ during a vacation to prevent certain products or services being ordered during that particular time period.
Effective Feedback, Ratings + Reviews
The reputation of your brand, products and service will ultimately be decided by customer feedback. It can increase your sales and bring you even more positive ratings and reviews, further benefiting you. Customers can give online feedback, ratings and reviews for products (or services) they have purchased. They are also able to provide a rating of the vendor (brand) who sold them the product(s) or service(s). Feedback, ratings and reviews will be made available to the respective vendor for their awareness. This information can be published online by the site administrator for other prospective customers to view.
Share Your Stories: News/ Blog/ Social Media
Share your stories on our blog page or via our social media outlets. Please take careful note of the requirements below:
- News articles (blogs) can be written from your online account (Supplier Dashboard), as per your menu options. Once approved by one of our website administrators, your article will appear on our blog page – It can then be shared to the relevant social media pages. We encourage blog posts on a regular basis, particularly those of interest, which add value to a customer over and above sales, promotions, product features and benefits (for sales purposes)
- Banner images need to be good quality. Save as a .jpg or .png – Size >0.5MB; Dimensions @1500px (W) x 500px (H) – *Image file names require ‘descriptive names’, as per naming convention above
- Images used within an article/ blog need to be good quality. Save as a .jpg or .png – Size >0.5MB; Dimensions @600px (min) to 1200px (max) on the smallest side, other side scaled proportionally – Depending on portrait or landscape format – *Image file names require ‘descriptive names’, as per naming convention above
- Multimedia such as video or audio clips can be ‘zipped’ and sent via WeTransfer using the email address: mystory@switchonmymedia.com.com
- Social Media: Where possible, suppliers can be added to our social media platforms for sharing (posting) information such as blogs, promotions, multimedia and more – Where access is unavailable to one of our social media platforms, share information by ‘zipping’ and sending via WeTransfer using the email address: mystory@switchonmymedia.com
- All content management best practices, including SEO, need to be followed for our blog posts as per the ‘Supplier Profile + Product Information Guide for Quick Approval‘, above
- Fair Practice: Use of our website(s), social media platforms or any of our business resources are to serve the best interests of ALL parties concerned for a mutually beneficial relationship – Any misuse may be reviewed and the necessary action taken at management’s discretion (only)
- All terms & conditions apply
*IMPORTANT: Business-to-business partners (suppliers) may not supply, sell, communicate with any party or utilize any resource in their sole capacity, as per information gained through our business solutions. We reserve the right to investigate any suspected misconduct through whichever means necessary. If any misconduct is evident, legal action may be pursued as per our contractual agreement, penalties may be incurred and/or immediate account deactivation at our sole discretion.