1. Who can sell on ShopClues.com? ShopClues is a Business-to-Consumer shopping platform. If you are a manufacturer, a brand owner, a retailer/reseller, a franchise holder, a distributor, a professional artist/artisan or a trader, you can sell on ShopClues. To be a part of the ShopClues Merchant Community, you also need to offer excellent customer support services.
2. How can I register as a Merchant on ShopClues? Please visit shopclues.com/sell and follow the step-by-step process to sign up.
Please note that only after our verification process is complete, you can start selling through your online store at ShopClues.com.
3. What do I need to start selling online? Once you’ve registered as a merchant on ShopClues, you need to showcase your products online by uploading pictures and product descriptions. Setting up an online store gives you a platform to sell your products, but you need to update it regularly to bring buyers’ attention. Please refer to the ‘Merchant Checklist’ to know more.
4. Where can I learn about the policies of ShopClues? Please refer to the‘Terms of Use’ and ‘Policies & Rules’ under the Merchant Central on website homepage. We strongly encourage you to read all the terms and policies of ShopClues to help develop a trusted and safe marketplace.
5. What do you mean by an online store at ShopClues? At ShopClues, you will get a webpage with your store name, logo and products’ listing. You can use your storefront URL in all your marketing initiatives, including advertisements through business cards. The naming convention for your storefront URL is: www.shopclues.com/YourStoreName.
You may also choose to have a personalised storefront URL (e.g. Www.YourStoreName.com) through our Domain Name services.
6. How can I manage my online store at ShopClues? After you’ve successfully registered, you will have complete administrative access to your online store at www.shopclues.com/Storemanager. You can login anytime, anywhere, using an Internet connection to upload new products, change existing quantity or pricing, manage orders & inventory, along with various other benefits.
7. How can I upload my products online? We have 3 simple ways to create your product catalogue at ShopClues. These are:
1) 1-by-1 Upload,
2) Express Upload or
3) Bulk Upload, using a CSV file.
8. How can I change or manage my product listings at ShopClues? You can easily change your product description, price, quantity, discount offered, bundling etc. From anywhere. You can do it by login in your online store using your own username and password, via a desktop, mobile or tablet.
9. What is the cost for selling on ShopClues? At ShopClues, we believe in a healthy marketplace dynamics to create a win-win situation for all the stakeholders. You only pay, when you sell. Currently, we do not charge for the product listings and online store front. We believe in power of combined scale, world-class skills, and economy of scope to significantly lower the cost of selling online, for each individual merchant.
Here are the three components of pricing for our merchants -
- Set-up Fee - Setting up your store on ShopClues is FREE. There is NO set-up fee.
- Listing Fee - We do not charge for the product listings or online storefront. If you want more visibility or run promotions, we offer several marketing programs or preferred placement opportunities at a fee.
- Selling Service Fee - A selling service fee is charged upon a successful execution of a transaction. You pay us a percentage on your final sale value, only when selling is done successfully. Please contact us on merchantsupport@shopclues.com for further details on our ‘Final Value Fee structure’.
We believe that performance based pricing structure for our services is appropriate for our merchants.
10. What payment options do you offer? We offer all the popular online payment options such as credit card, debit card, net banking, cash on delivery (COD), EMI and International credit cards.
11. What is required on the merchants' end to accept payment? We process online payments on merchants’ behalf and send the money to merchant after deducting our selling service fees. Merchants do not have to deal with online payments as we take care of it. Merchants need to provide us their banking details and accounting information, so that we set-up an online bank transfer for them.
12. When should I expect my payments from ShopClues? We have a weekly payment cycle. Every Wednesday, money (order final value minus our service fees) will be electronically transferred, for all completed orders of the week, to your given bank account.
13. Who is responsible for collecting and paying VAT/CST? Merchants are responsible for collecting and paying the accurate VAT/CST. ShopClues only provides online channel and communication platform that connects sellers and buyers but the buying and selling is the contract between buyers and sellers. Merchant should keep the Selling Price inclusive of all taxes.
14. Who manages shipping at ShopClues? ShopClues offers fulfilment services, called ShopClues Velocity, to merchants for pick, pack and ship process.
15. How will I know that the product is delivered to the buyer? You can check the delivery status of all orders through Login to your Online Store. The information is provided under the 'Orders' tab.
16. What is merchant rating? Every time a customer buys an item at ShopClues, he/she is invited to rate the seller on a five star rating system.
17. How does my merchant rating impact me? Higher merchant ratings or more positive feedbacks from buyers will help you track your customers’ responses. If you consistently get positive feedback, other potential buyers will be more likely to buy from you.
18. How do I avoid getting lower merchant rating from buyers? Assure that you always provide top quality products to your customers. You should meet all your promises to customers and create an open communication channel with them. At ShopClues, a merchant can exchange mails and discuss the problems with a customer before the customer finalizes his rating. You should use this facility to the fullest. Talk to your customer as soon as you receive a complaint from him/her.
19. What is top rated merchant seal? As a merchant at ShopClues, top rated merchants mean higher sales volume and better product placements for you. We believe that merchants who offer - excellent customer services, fast/free shipping, most competitive prices, and receive top feedback from the buyers, should get an extra reward.
20. How does top rated merchant seal help me? ShopClues assigns top rated merchant seal to only a few merchants. That is our way of conveying to our customers that these merchants exhibit higher standards for customer services, return, pricing, brands/selection etc. Top Rated Merchant seal means that online shoppers at ShopClues will prefer buying from you, which will boost your visibility and hence your business.
21. When does an order become eligible for a payment to merchant? Under Buyer Protection Policy, our customers can claim return of an order within 10 days of the delivery. On completion of the buyer protection period, if the customer has not registered a return complaint, the order will be considered complete and payment will be made to the merchant on the following Friday.
22. What is the return policy at ShopClues? ShopClues’ return policy builds trust and ensures safety of its customers. When a delivered product is wrong in color, size, and quantity or not genuine, not new or significantly different than the listed description or has manufacturing defect, a customer can return it to the seller for a full refund including shipping charges. Refer to our Return Policy Guidelines document for more details.
23. Can I have my own return policy? All merchants are required to abide by the return policy, instituted by ShopClues. However, merchants can also develop their own return policy, which covers low quality products or manufacturing defects related issues.
24. How are the returns managed? ShopClues ensures pick up of the returns.
25. Who provides the customer service? ShopClues provides all the technology, payments, returns and pre-sales/ point of sale services. The entire post-sale services are to be provided by the merchants.
26. Who does the customer contact for post-sales services?The product related issues are to be handled directly by merchants. ShopClues is not equipped to handle any product or manufacturer related issues, repairs, maintenance and/or services.
27. What are the best practices to sell online? Please refer to Listing & Best Practices Guidelines to learn how you can grow your online store at ShopClues.
28. What are different merchant tools available for me? The merchant tools are available to manage an online store at ShopClues. Refer to Merchant Tools for more details.
29. Can I manage my online store through a mobile phone? You can perform many functions using a mobile device with internet connectivity. You can see the online sales report, upload products, change quantity, change price, run promotions, replenish inventory etc. Using a mobile device.
30. Can you offer marketing solutions to promote my online store and products at ShopClues? Yes. We offer full suite of digital marketing services and preferred placements for you to grow business at ShopClues. Please contact us at merchantsupport@ShopClues.com or ask your account manager for these services.
31. Is there an opportunity for preferred placements? Yes. In addition to your online store front and searchable product listings, a merchant can also opt for pushing his products in preferred placement sections such as Hot Deals, Our Picks and Featured Products. Please contact us to learn more about these preferred placements.
32. How do I price my items? At ShopClues, you decide the price of a product/service for sale. Please price the products competitively to create greater demand. Online shoppers do online and offline research and then compare prices before making a purchase decision. The lower the price of an item is, the higher is its possibility to get noticed and sold. If you are the cost leader for an item online, you are likely to see good customer response. We can also give you our opinion and recommendations on how to price products.
33. What kind of deals and promotions can I run or should offer at ShopClues? Online shoppers always welcome deals and promotions. Please think about offering value pricing for most products/services you are selling at ShopClues and consider discounts, deals, bundling, quantity discounts etc. For off-season or excess inventory, you can offer deeper discounts. You can learn more and submit a deal from our Store Manager or at www.shopclues.com/deal-submission.html.