Development
It’s all about your connections.
APIs
An API is nothing more than programming and procedures, allowing data to be extracted or updated into a system. It’s increasingly common place for any type of online service provider to have an open API. This is to allow platforms to adapt and connect to a range of different systems, without the need to build an in-house integration for each.
API integrations are very important. They can take manual procedures, which are prone to human error and delays, and replace them with an automated connection. This can not only reduce overhead but also speed up operations, increase visibility, and provide some peace of mind on time-sensitive tasks.
If you need two systems to ‘talk’, allowing for data to move between them, and update each other, you need only two things: both systems need to have an open API, and us. We have built many custom integrations, which allow clients to greatly enhance their operations, and reduce workloads and staffing.
Custom Tools
Is there something you would love to have, but isn’t available? An ability to ‘see’ something, or track and edit something, that you presently have to waste time supporting in a manual way?
Maybe it’s an online tool you can load in a web browser from any location. Maybe it’s a tool you have installed on your machine for an action only you do. Maybe it’s a mobile app?
These days it’s possible to make most things. If you are looking for a custom tool you haven’t seen on the market, or maybe a detailed layer of customisation for your personal business needs that almost no-one else would need, it’s safe to bet all or most of it can be made into a tool.
We have seen some very creative ideas come to our table. We will see first if there’s something already on the market that can help you. But if the wheel hasn’t been invented for you yet, we are happy to help invent it.
Scripts
Sometimes you don’t have all the functionality you need in the API, but you can still work around this to achieve a result. This is where custom scripts can come into play.
For example, what if your key supplier has a great website with regular updates to new products, but they’re unable to provide a data file or API? All the data is online for you to see, but you have to manually go through each page and copy the data.
Building a custom script to automate this is very possible. We can take that manual examination of each page you undertake, and turn it into an automated daily script. Each day, rather than check their website for updates and new product, you can have all data turned into an excel file. This makes it far easier to upload the data for new listings, make changes to stock, and numerous other activities.
Scripts can also move data around internally and apply routine edits or updates you otherwise need to handle manually. You might be pleasantly surprised just how many of your manual actions taking up your time might be possible to automate and streamline, so your energy and focus can be on other things.
Websites
Everyone needs a website these days. Different websites should be focused and built to achieve different goals. For any business, having a website is essential. It’s simply too easy and too important to risk skipping it.
If you’re selling on marketplaces, a website can be a useful way to build your own client base. Better margins, controlling the customer journey, and diversifying your revenue streams are all important to growing a stable company. If you risk going out of business due to an eBay or Amazon suspension, you need to consider a website and building your own customer base.
Websites also help centralise data and offer a means of streamlining connections and actions. If you built all your data on your website, and use tools to connect it to eBay, Amazon and other channels, you need only to build and update in one place. The rest get updated via systems and connections.
We challenge you to find a profession or company that would not benefit from a website! And a five figure investment, and weeks of your time, are not needed to get one set up.