Couple of questions on logistics for a shopping portal

Hi…I am exploring the feasibility of a niche shopping portal. Am yet to finalize the product but one of the strong potential short-lists is luggage and bags. A couple of areas that I’m hoping for directional inputs are -

1. How do we update the images (pictures with different angles with or without models) /information/specifications of the product, especially if they are drop shipped directly to the consumer from different locations of the brand manufacturers across the country?
2. How to update inventory available with the vendor? (assuming we are not storing inventory initially). As in how does one keep track of the number of pieces of a product available with the supplier/brand in real time so that a consumer does not order anything which has just gone out of stock

cheers,

Sandeep

How do we update the images (pictures
with different angles with or without
models) /information/specifications of
the product, specially if they are
drop shipped directly to the consumer
from different locations of the brand
manufacturers across the country?

Usually the manufacturer or, if you have one, your upstream distributor, will provide you with those images.

How to update inventory available with
the vendor? (assuming we are not
storing inventory initially). As in
how does one keep track of the number
of pieces of a product available with
the supplier/brand in real time so
that a consumer does not order
anything which has just gone out of
stock

Look for suppliers that offer an API to get this information from them in real time, and if there isn't already a tool for your platform that uses it, hire a qualified dev to do the integration.

--Susan