Reseller Tools of the Trade Series: Track Data with Airtable

These days, e-Commerce is an increasingly competitive space. For resellers selling goods online, any tool that can help you keep track of your store and provide useful insights to help you grow your business is a must. For many sellers, Airtable is the data tracking tool of choice.

Airtable for e-Commerce: Basics

In case you’re not familiar, Airtable is a database tool. While this may not sound all that exciting, think of it as a blank slate for building whatever you need. But more important than what you can build on Airtable is the vast number of integrations it offers.

Once upon a time, databases were very simple. The only input options were text and numbers, and while they were great for storing and accessing vast amounts of data, they were often entirely manual.

Today’s databases, especially using Airtable, couldn’t be more different. Airtable databases can store all sorts of data including images, videos, links, files, and so much more. There are interactive elements and options to automate data with integrations to your favorite online tools and apps. If all of this sounds a little overwhelming, don’t worry! There’s a huge selection of Airtable templates to help you get started.

So what can you do with Airtable? Here are a few common ways online resellers might use Airtable charts and databases:

• Manage inventory
• Build a product catalog
• Keep track of liquidation auctions you’re watching
• Track and monitor customer service interactions
• Track metrics and analytics
• Organize research
• Request and gather customer reviews

For more inspiration, check out this comprehensive guide to Airtable for e-Commerce.

Airtable Pricing

This may be actually one of the best things about the tool – for many small resellers, Airtable is completely free! The free version lets you use unlimited databases with up to 1,200 records per base. You get 2GB of attachment space per base and can run history for up to two weeks in the past.

Of course, there are upgraded plans you may want to access as you grow. If you need more attachment space, more records per base, or a longer history snapshot, you’ll want to upgrade. Fortunately, Plus and Pro plans are incredibly affordable at $10/user/month and $20/user/month, respectively. There are plenty of other extras included with upgraded plans too, so be sure to check them out on the Airtable pricing page.

Pros

Pricing

Since most small reseller businesses can get everything they want out of Airtable for free, pricing is one of the biggest factors in favor of using the platform. And if you should outgrow the free plan, it’s nice to know that upgraded plans are available for a really reasonable price.

Integrations

As we briefly mentioned above, Airtable integrates with an incredible number of web tools and apps. A few of the more popular integrations for e-Commerce include:

• Mailchimp for email marketing
• Stripe for payments
• Zendesk for customer support
• Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tumblr for social media

Don’t see your favorite tool on the list? Airtable’s API means you can connect your favorite programs through tools like Automate.io, Integromat, Workato, or Zapier.

User-Friendly Interface

Even if you’ve never interacted with a database before, learning how to use Airtable is pretty easy. The interface is incredibly simple and intuitive, making it easy to create powerful databases to keep your reseller business running smoothly.

Unique Views for Each User

If you have more than one person on your team, chances are they don’t all need the same sort of data simultaneously. With simple spreadsheets or other more basic tools, if one person adjusts the view, it changes for everyone. Not so in Airtable. Instead, each person gets their own unique view of each database, meaning each team member can customize the data they see at a glance to be exactly what they need, without worrying about impacting others’ views.

Cons

Learning Curve for Advanced Features

For those less familiar with databases and computer language, there is a little bit of a learning curve to using Airtable. Fortunately, templates help you get started and you can find plenty of demos and tutorials online to help you learn the platform’s finer points.

No Desktop Version

For most people, this is not an issue, but it’s worth noting. Airtable does not offer a downloadable desktop application. It does, however, work as a web-based program, on iOS, or on Android.

No Phone Support

Support for Airtable is handled entirely digitally. This means if you want to be able to pick up the phone and talk to someone to help work through an issue, you won’t be able to. Fortunately, their email support is free to all, and they also have a self-serve knowledge base to help you solve your own problems without needing to wait for a response from support.

No matter the size of your reseller business or how long you’ve been in the game, you could probably use another incredibly powerful tool in your pocket, right? For many, Airtable is a perfect fit. Be sure to check out our other great reseller tools for more!