Have you decided ecommerce is a good logical move for your business? Or are you thinking of launching a brand new enterprise ecommerce project? Whether you are addressing ecommerce as a new route to market for an existing business, or starting a project that is geared towards ecommerce from the outset, it can appear from a lot of the material out there that getting started is easy.
There are countless blogs out there that will tell you that you can get a good ecommerce site set up and live in an afternoon using the right platform, and then it is implied that just because your site exists, you’ll be running an ecommerce business.
In actual fact, while this is not a complete fiction, and the technical side of setting up ecommerce can be quite easy these days, the business and strategy decisions that will determine how competently you run the business and how successful you can make it are often overlooked.
If you are tasked with a new ecommerce project then, take the time to work on these three key questions before you make any moves:
Which Is Really the Right Platform for You?
There is no mistaking that there are a huge range of products you can use to build your ecommerce site, and that all of these have their benefits.
If for example your business runs SAP, then a SAP-centric solution that utilises SAP Master Data, like the SAP ecommerce solutions offered by weaveability.com, would be an attractive option for businesses with existing SAP infrastructure and data who are considering a new ecommerce project, whereas other popular standalone platforms utilized by much smaller companies are also an option for brand new start ups.
There is no one size fits all right answer to this, but you need to be really clear on the merits of the products within your budget and the requirements you have, as well as how using them may shape your business as it grows.
Your Launch and Early Marketing Plan
Marketing is going to be key to getting people on to your site, so you’ll need to have a good idea of the approaches you will take in the lead up to your launch and in the early weeks of your site’s existence – plus how you will analyse the performance of the various marketing you are doing.
If you are doing ecommerce in support of a business with an existing marketing strategy, just how much marketing budget will you funnel towards promoting the new site? Where can other marketing strands help promote the new ecommerce channel?
Logistics
It can be easy to think of ecommerce as purely the stuff that goes on online – drawing people to the site, selling them products and taking the transactions. Unless you are selling digitally delivered products like software, you are going to have to also think about the logistics of getting products from suppliers, managing stock, and fulfilment. Don’t even think about launching until you have a firm plan for logistics, even if that plan is to outsource everything!
By thinking about these things you will probably find yourself asking a lot of other questions which can really help you form a more detailed idea of how you will launch and operate your business, and be in a much better position to start!
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