5 big issues with Rithum that Multichannel Pro does better

Rithum (formerly ChannelAdvisor) has been around since 2001, serving as a recognizable name in multichannel ecommerce management. But for today’s brands, the platform often feels outdated — slow to implement, heavy on manual work, rigid in customization, and expensive to maintain.

That’s where Multichannel Pro comes in. Built for speed, flexibility, and scale, Multichannel Pro adapts to your business — not the other way around. Here are the five biggest issues Rithum customers face, and how Multichannel Pro solves them.

1. Painfully slow implementation

The problem with Rithum
Rithum’s onboarding is notorious for being slow and resource-draining. Brands often wait months before going live, sometimes longer, while still being billed. For companies planning seasonal launches or entering new marketplaces, this delay is crippling — you’re burning budget without generating sales. On top of that, Rithum frequently promises timelines and features that don’t materialize, leaving teams frustrated and forced to adjust expectations midstream.

The lack of transparency around setup also adds stress. Many clients sign contracts expecting speed, only to discover that the process involves endless back-and-forth, rigid templates, and a one-size-fits-all workflow that doesn’t map to their actual needs. By the time you’re live, you’ve already lost critical time, money, and sometimes market share.

How Multichannel Pro excels
Multichannel Pro flips this process on its head. We:

• Bill only when you’re live — so you’re not paying for downtime.
  
• Commit to realistic timelines — no overpromising, no hidden delays.
  
• Implement fast — onboarding is measured in weeks, not months.
  
• Adapt during setup — if your workflows need customization (say, pulling inventory from a specific warehouse or setting custom rules for returns), we scope and implement it during onboarding instead of pushing it down the road.

This means your team gets a platform that’s operational from day one, delivering ROI immediately instead of draining resources in limbo.

The real impact
For brands, the difference is night and day:

• Seasonal sellers can actually meet peak demand windows.
  
• Enterprise brands can plan launches knowing the system will be ready.
  
• Mid-market companies don’t burn through cash on “dead time” before seeing results.

With Multichannel Pro, implementation isn’t a roadblock — it’s your launchpad.

2. Heavy manual effort to list and expand channels

The problem with Rithum
One of the biggest frustrations with Rithum is the sheer amount of manual work required just to create and manage listings. Even after investing heavily in their technology, brands find themselves spending weeks — sometimes months — building out listings and pushing them live.

Adding new channels is especially painful. Each marketplace has its own requirements, templates, and quirks, and Rithum often provides little more than generic tools and documentation. Teams are left doing the heavy lifting themselves, mapping attributes by hand, reformatting catalogs, and waiting on slow updates that block growth.

The result? Scaling to new channels becomes a months-long project instead of a growth driver. Businesses miss out on revenue opportunities, fall behind competitors, and carry the frustration of expensive software that still demands endless manual effort.

How Multichannel Pro excels
Multichannel Pro makes listing fast, automated, and repeatable:

• Automated listing creation – Instead of weeks of manual work, our system ingests your catalog and maps attributes intelligently across marketplaces.
  
• Rapid channel expansion – Adding a new channel is measured in days, not months.
  
• Centralized control – You manage your listings from one source of truth, without duplicating work across multiple platforms.
  
• Built for scale – Whether you’re launching 50 SKUs or 50,000, Multichannel Pro handles the complexity without slowing down.

Case study: Puma
A global brand like Puma has one of the most complex catalogs in the industry, with over 30,000 SKUs spanning multiple product lines, attributes, and variations. With Rithum, this type of rollout would have taken months of manual work and constant back-and-forth.

With Multichannel Pro, Puma launched its entire 30,000-SKU catalog on TikTok in under a week. That speed wasn’t just a win for efficiency — it meant Puma could capture a fast-growing channel at the perfect time, driving sales and visibility without being bogged down in technical delays.

The real impact
For businesses of all sizes, the implications are huge:

• Mid-market sellers can launch into Walmart, TikTok, or Best Buy in days, unlocking new revenue quickly.
  
• Enterprise brands can roll out global catalogs without months of overhead.
  
• Teams can redirect their time from tedious listing work to actual strategy and growth.

With Multichannel Pro, scaling to new channels becomes a competitive advantage — not a bottleneck.

3. Rigid workflows vs. true customization

The problem with Rithum
Even after brands go through Rithum’s long onboarding process, they discover that the platform doesn’t really mold to their needs. It forces businesses into rigid, one-size-fits-all workflows that rarely match how they actually operate.

Want a custom rule for inventory allocation? Need your listings to follow a specific sequence? Looking for workflows tailored to your business logic? With Rithum, the answer is almost always the same: pay more, wait longer, and hope it gets delivered.

And even then, the results are often partial fixes or compromises that never fully solve the underlying need. For many brands, this becomes a cycle of frustration — constant ticket requests, long delays, and additional costs just to make the software usable for their business.

How Multichannel Pro excels
We take the opposite approach. Multichannel Pro is built to adapt around you:

• Dedicated account managers – Every client is assigned an expert who learns your business and scopes solutions around your unique workflow.
  
• Custom rule creation – If you need a special process for inventory, listings, or orders, we design and implement it for you.
  
• Agile development – Instead of waiting months, we deliver workflow adjustments quickly so you can run your business your way.
  
• Continuous optimization – Customization doesn’t stop at onboarding; we evolve the platform as your needs grow.
  

Example: Aging Amazon inventory optimization
Whenever one of our clients sold a unit of inventory on a non-Amazon channel, they didn’t want it pulled from their general warehouse first. Instead, they wanted the system to:

1. Check Amazon FBA inventory
   
2. Prioritize units that had been aging 90+ days
   
3. Only pull from their warehouse stock if no aging FBA inventory was available.

This logic allowed the brand to reduce long-term storage fees, move older inventory first, and keep their FBA accounts healthier.

With Rithum, this level of customization would have been expensive, delayed, and potentially unsupported. With Multichannel Pro, we scoped and delivered it as part of the client’s workflow — no endless waiting, no nickel-and-diming.

The real impact

• Clients get a platform that bends to their needs, instead of bending their operations to fit the software.
  
• Customization helps reduce costs (like Amazon storage fees), improve efficiency, and maximize revenue opportunities.
  
• Brands scale with confidence, knowing their tech partner will adjust with them.

With Multichannel Pro, you’re not locked into a rigid mold — you get a system that evolves around your business.

4. Missing all-in-one functionality

The problem with Rithum
Rithum positions itself as a multichannel tool, but in reality, it only covers a narrow slice of what modern ecommerce businesses need. Most brands discover quickly that they still have to bolt on additional third-party systems — a separate shipping solution, a PIM for catalog data, and a helpdesk for post-purchase support.

This creates:

• High costs – you’re paying multiple vendors on top of Rithum’s already steep fees.
  
• Operational inefficiencies – data is scattered across different systems, making it hard for teams to stay aligned.
  
• Integration headaches – every extra tool adds another point of failure and delays growth.

Instead of being a single source of truth, Rithum becomes just one piece in a messy, fragmented tech stack.

How Multichannel Pro excels
Multichannel Pro is designed to be a true all-in-one platform, covering the entire ecommerce lifecycle under one roof:

• Shipping and fulfillment – Built-in modules handle carrier integrations, labels, and logistics optimization.
  
• PIM (Product Information Management) – There’s a central catalog hub for managing SKUs, attributes, and variations across channels.
  
• Helpdesk and post-purchase support – Integrated customer service tools keep your support, order, and warehouse teams fully synchronized.
  
• Order and inventory management – Real-time inventory syncing, smart rules, and workflow automation practically eliminate errors.

No extra vendors. No patchwork solutions. Everything is consolidated with one trusted provider.

The real impact

• Lower costs – You eliminate the need for multiple outside tools.
  
• Faster workflows – Teams operate from one unified platform instead of juggling multiple logins and exports.
  
• Better customer experience – With support, shipping, and catalog data in the same place, customers get faster answers and smoother service.

With Multichannel Pro, businesses reduce complexity and gain efficiency by running their entire operation from one system — something Rithum simply can’t provide.

5. Rigid, expensive pricing

The problem with Rithum
Rithum’s pricing is one of the biggest pain points for clients. It’s not just the high monthly fees — they also take a percentage of your revenue, cutting into margins as you grow. On top of that:

• Cancelled orders are still billed, even though they don’t generate revenue.
  
• Premium support and integrations cost extra, meaning you pay more just to get the service you need.
  
• Contracts are long and inflexible, with steep penalties for early termination.

This model makes it difficult for businesses to scale profitably. The bigger you get, the more you end up paying — without necessarily getting more value.

How Multichannel Pro excels
Our philosophy is simple: pricing should be predictable, fair, and aligned with your success.

• Per-order pricing – You only pay for what you actually process, keeping costs tied to real business activity.
  
• No charge for cancelled orders – If it doesn’t generate revenue, you don’t pay for it.
  
• Premium support and integrations included – We don’t nickel-and-dime you for the essentials.
  
• Flexible contracts – No long-term lock-ins, no excessive penalties. We grow with you instead of trapping you.

The real impact

• Brands keep more of their margins, fueling reinvestment and growth.
  
• Costs are transparent and easy to forecast, without surprise add-ons.

With Multichannel Pro, pricing is a partnership, not a penalty. You pay for what matters, and we build flexibility around your business — something Rithum’s model simply doesn’t allow.

Start growing with Multichannel Pro

In today’s fast-moving ecommerce landscape, brands can’t afford slow setups, clunky manual processes, rigid workflows, or pricing models that punish growth. They need a better Rithum alternative.

Multichannel Pro delivers for businesses: speed, automation, true customization, an all-in-one toolkit, and client-first pricing. The result is a platform that doesn’t just manage your multichannel operations — it helps you scale them with confidence, efficiency, and profitability. 

Book a demo today and see how Multichannel Pro can help you expand faster, reduce costs, and take control of your multichannel strategy.