19 Nov 2021
The COVID pandemic uncovered numerous supply chain issues as well as shortcomings in business procedures. Thankfully, online selling has been the silver lining that brightens up such a gloomy market. While moving your entire organization online may seem daunting, those who do so get a lot of benefits. These may include improved customer service, streamlined ordering, new revenue streams, and so on. In this article, we will discuss the 5 latest, actionable tips on how to start an eCommerce business for newcomers.
Choose Your Goals Wisely
For business growth, selecting the appropriate eCommerce objectives is critical. C-league members should not spend hours and hours searching for ways to start an eCommerce business. Instead, they should devote time and effort to determining the most appropriate goals. Your organization can only have the vision to work toward and build proper strategies for the future only with the carefully selected goals.
However, if you shoot for the wrong goals or goals that haven’t been thought through properly, then this can be even worse than having no goal at all. The right goal should have the following qualities: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-related (SMART).
Save Your Money
Online selling makes it possible for almost every business to become a worldwide seller. While potential profits are higher than ever, competition is also at an all-time high. However, at the end of the day, the most important thing is how much profit your store generates.
Here are a few tips for newcomers who’re searching for budget-friendly ways to start an eCommerce business. First, you can save a lot by choosing the most suitable credit card processors for your business. Some types are cheaper for low-volume and some are more beneficial for low-volume.
Second, business owners should create a clear & transparent return policy. This can help you prevent being overcharged by shipping costs and goods being damaged after customers return their parcels.
Last but not least, adopting an ERP system may help eCommerce businesses reduce a fairly high amount of unnecessary costs. ERP solutions will provide businesses with insights about stock turnover, revenue, profits, loss prevention, customer satisfaction, and so on. From this data, eCommerce companies can have a helicopter view of whether they’re losing money on redundant steps and draw a more budget-friendly strategy for the future.
Raise Employee Productivity
Productivity is critical regardless of how large or small your workforce is. You can’t add more hours to the day, but you can get more done in the same amount of time. If you manage a growing e-commerce business, it’s inevitable not to think about numerous things at once. From developing a strategy, maintaining your website, excellent customer service, managing inventories, logistics, and so on.
Thankfully, your organization can accomplish all these tasks with the right tools in hand. Modern software which aids organizations in resolving problems includes management solutions, marketing tools, logistics software, etc.
The software can help automate mundane tasks and processes between firms, suppliers, and distributors. Ecommerce automation can give your employees and yourself the most valuable resource: time.
However, sometimes using too many applications can be ineffective. The challenge arises because these standalone tools/software are being constructed as an ‘add-on’. These tools work separately and are not cohesively structured within the company. So, in order to fully boost productivity, you should consider a customised, fully-integrated ERP system to replace all the small disjointed ones.
Build Better Relationships with Stakeholders
Any eCommerce business should always aim to maintain long-lasting and reliable supplier relationships which, in fact, bring many opportunities. These opportunities may include discounted prices, better stock availability, and sometimes even buybacks.
In this case, keeping on-time payments can help. By automatically selecting and generating invoices when they are due, the Finance Management module in Synergix’s ERP system can facilitate your organization in paying on time. As such, you can avoid disruption in your supply chain in the future, which results in a shortage of products and low credibility.
Additionally, your company should also build good relationships with your customers by keeping every information recorded, so that you can view critical customer data for current and future opportunities. This can be done perfectly with the help of Synergix’s Customer Relationship Management module.
Conclusion
The eCommerce market is still growing and showing no signs of slowing down. It presents a unique chance for wholesalers and distributors to capitalize on a new, successful sales channel. This channel will attract customers and deliver value-added service to their existing customer base. An ERP system could be the answer for any company searching on how to start an eCommerce business. A modern, cloud-based ERP solution can seamlessly integrate with your system to connect your processes, procedures, and data, resulting in a more efficient and lucrative firm.
Grants
The Singapore Government has introduced the Productivity Solution Grant (PSG) and Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) to assist service organizations in their digital transformation efforts, with maximum support of up to 80% of the qualifying costs. Don’t miss out on this opportunity because the maximum grant support will expire in March 2022.
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