But why do retail businesses ignore or are not able to successfully accomplish such an important aspect of the business?
Here are a few perceptions and myths
- Retail eCommerce are expensive
- Retail eCommerce are complex
- Retail eCommerce are not for me
Let’s demystify these myths then. Here are a few pre-requisites that retail businesses need to answer or address before proceeding towards a Retail eCommerce website.
- Be specific of the business problem you are trying to solve
- Define the business and product line with precision
- Define the target group (TG), market segment and demographics well
- Understand the end customer’s expectation and focus on customer experience
- Inventory and supply-chain management
- Payment methods
Let’s touch upon each of these briefly.
Unless you have precision in thoughts about your products, can clearly define your product-line and what are you focussing on, it is a bad idea to go to town with it. Skewed ideas and lack of a definitive product range will not help you hit that home run.
While you are sure of the product range, you will have to define your target group (TG). When you talk about TG, you define their locality, their spend power, their age and their interests. If that clarity is there, you are sure to take your product line to the next level.
While you are at it, how about understanding your customers’ expectations? You need to understand, customer satisfaction isn’t ‘one size, fits all’. Clear definition of customer expectations can help better customer experience as well. Remember, customer experience can make or break a brand.
The most important issues retail businesses encounter are inventory management and supply chain management challenges. A good integration from a proven product that has experience in these fronts, can do a world of good. Automate the process and this could take away a lot of your burden.
Payment methods: Retail billing is critical. And while you double up in the eCommerce space, Integrating with as many gateways/wallets as possible for a seamless customer experience could work in your favour. Flexibility is the name of the game in eCommerce.
With answers to the foundational questions above you would be equipped to take the technology challenge with confidence and certainty.
Do you have the skills to create the solution yourself in a Do It Yourself (DIY) mode using the Off the shelf, Cloud Solutions or want to hire an experienced solution provider?
Our next article will talk about the steps involved in selection of the right eCommerce solution and the optimum implementation approach.
For more on retail billing, eCommerce, supply chain and inventory management, visit us at www.posibolt.com