Meet the Partner: BaseLinker

This month we spoke to Kevin Steward, UK Country Head at BaseLinker, an "All-In-One Multi Channel eCommerce Management System". 

Who is BaseLinker?

BaseLinker is an "All-In-One Multi Channel Ecommerce Management System", already trusted by over 23,000 sellers globally to process over 300 million orders a year. On top of our own modules for Order Management, Product Warehousing, Managing Marketplace Listings, Pricing Automation, and Automating Workflows, we also offer 1000+ integrations. This includes not only the most popular local marketplaces such as Amazon, Etsy, eBay, ManoMano, B&Q, and OnBuy. But also top European marketplaces, including Allegro, Zalando, CDiscount, Otto, eMag, and more.

How did the BaseLinker journey begin?
It all started 17 years ago in Wroclaw, Poland. Sever (our founder – at that time a high-school kid with a flair for programming) wanted to help his friend manage his retail sales on Allegro, the largest online marketplace in Poland.

Sever wrote a software solution to make managing his online sales easier. It turned out to be a very helpful tool, with the result being his friend recommended it to his colleagues. Then, awareness of this very handy software started to spread and the rest is history.

Today BaseLinker has a team of over 200 employees globally with a vast majority being in tech and tech related roles. The company is still run by Sever, who places especially strong emphasis on the product itself – to make sure it continues to help sellers run their businesses the same way it helped his friend all those years ago.

Who is in the BaseLinker team?
Our global team has grown to over 200 employees across multiple countries, including the UK, Germany, Spain, Poland, Brazil and the U.S. Our team continues to grow as we further expand into even more locations to support our customer base.

With our total commitment to providing exceptional customer service and support, we have grown our team in areas which will have the greatest impact on our customers' success. We have dedicated sales and support teams helping our customers with everything from basic onboarding to the deployment of complex enterprise implementations.

Which key challenges do your customers face, and how does BaseLinker help solve them?
Customers use BaseLinker to address a variety of different challenges. Generally, these involve using the platform to improve, scale or optimise their eCommerce activity. For example, a customer may use BaseLinker to integrate their product range into new marketplace channels like eBay, Amazon or Onbuy. Or they may want to consolidate and simplify the multiple accounts / services they use to sell online to one system. We help customers in many different ways to find the best solution for their business needs.

With the rise in new marketplaces and selling channels we see more and more customers looking for ways to manage multi-channel selling and the tasks of synchronising and managing their inventory across various platforms seamlessly. BaseLinker steps in as the ideal solution by offering a centralised platform that effortlessly integrates with numerous sales channels, streamlining inventory control and minimising the risk of ever overselling or stockouts.

Customers also look for ways to improve the time-consuming and complex nature of processing orders, pricing management, paperwork and fulfilment. Using BaseLinker, customers can automate many of these processes, generate shipping labels, and track shipments, all within one unified interface. This not only saves valuable time for our customers but also allows them to redirect their focus towards other business initiatives and customer engagement. 

We also see many customers who want to scale their eCommerce business but have the challenge of limited resources. By using BaseLinker they have the ability to automate many day-to-day processes across different departments like warehouse management, order processing and fulfilment. This efficiency improvement helps control the costs when scaling the business. 

Who are your ideal future customers?
BaseLinker will continue to provide the most comprehensive software solution for eCommerce businesses. Our focus is on the SMB and Enterprise segments, ensuring customers within both areas have software and support suited to their needs.

What makes BaseLinker unique?
Quite simply, the amount of integrations we offer globally as well as the quality of the integrations is a key USP. Many companies can state they are integrated with eBay, Amazon etc. But what matters is how good those integrations actually are - this is where our customers see the difference. For example, we have worked to ensure our integrations allow the most up-to-date functionality, including options like strikethrough pricing and supporting video format on eBay, having a dynamic repricer for Amazon and working with Amazon MCF, Amazon Shipping as well as Amazon Vendor.

Other areas where our customers say we stand apart from other solutions is the flexibility of our system and the value it provides. Our customers have full access to a range of in-built functionality like order management, inventory management, warehouse management, pick 'n' pack and fulfilment. The uniqueness is provided by the flexibility a customer has to select and build a complete system which matches their needs now and in the future.

What is new at BaseLinker?
We've recently made some big and exciting changes to support continued growth and maintain the highest levels of customer service in the UK. A new, dedicated team has been established, led by our Country Head, Kevin Steward.

Additionally, we continue to improve our proposition to ensure we have the most comprehensive solution in the market. Most recently we have added a number of functionalities, including the use of AI to support creating product listings and improving product data. Other releases include a new advanced return module for customers to manage the full returns process and the launch of a new repricer tool for Amazon.

Who else do you partner with? Any emerging marketplaces and technologies retailers should look out for?
We continue to see the growth of eCommerce marketplaces both in the UK and internationally. Our customers expect to have the choice to integrate with a variety of marketplace channels to grow their business and reach more customers. We continue to add new marketplaces all the time and our total portfolio has grown to over 1000+ integrations within the UK and worldwide.

We also see more and more customers looking for solutions to manage price competitiveness on multiple channels and marketplaces. To address this demand we have developed repricer tools (most recently for Amazon and plan to add eBay soon) to allow businesses to monitor the pricing of products within their portfolio and make automated adjustments which control the margin and profitability required.

Why did you decide to partner with the Whistl Group?
Whistl was a natural choice as a partner for BaseLinker. We recognise the exceptional expertise and comprehensive solution Whistl provides to its customers and we wanted to ensure our customers have access to this market-leading solution when considering a delivery management partner for their business.

As experienced by our existing customers, we also believe that Whistl customers will benefit from the option to use BaseLinker as a software solution to manage their eCommerce businesses. Every BaseLinker customer has access to a comprehensive range of services including order management, fulfilment, product management, listing management, delivery solutions whether they are a small business or a large multinational retailer or brand. 

How important is a multi-carrier delivery approach to your clients?
Having the flexibility to choose the best carrier for a specific shipment is crucial for many of our customers. Businesses need to evaluate and select the appropriate carriers based on a number of factors, which normally includes criteria such as product type, size, weight and delivery location, including cross border shipments. Having a multi-carrier strategy and the option to integrate with experienced partners such as Whistl allows our customers more choice when looking to select the best carrier for a specific shipment.

Where do you see BaseLinker in the next five years?
BaseLinker is on an exciting trajectory. Our international expansion will continue into many more regions to ensure we can offer the most comprehensive solution to our customers. We will continue to develop our software to meet the ever changing demands of our customers and in doing so establish BaseLinker as the most popular multi-channel eCommerce solution in the world. 

How do you see your partnership with Whistl evolving?
Whistl is a market leader within its industry and a natural partner for BaseLinker. We will continue to work closely with Whistl, developing the relationship to ensure that customers who choose to combine our services will experience a market-leading solution for their business.