While Canadian businesses are behind the U.S. in adopting e-commerce, the number and amount of online purchases in this country are steadily rising. In fact, many small and midsize businesses are now rolling out m-commerce strategies to capture the growing market for purchases using mobile devices, like phones, tablets, and even wearables (think tap vs. click).
Online transactions may not completely replace your personal sales relationships or store-front presence but there’s no doubt that it’s a low-cost way to offer customers fast and convenient service. Like any sales strategy though, it requires forethought. Too many businesses, motivated by competitive pressures or lagging revenues, jump into an e-commerce solution before considering the impact it will have on overall operations. To achieve optimal results, your online sales must be fully integrated with your existing sales channels – not a separate silo.
5 key areas to integrate with online sales
- Customer service – offer self-service so online buyers can see available inventory and view / track orders.
- Inventory management – ensure online sales are immediately reflected in your inventory to avoid shortages and purchasing errors.
- Order fulfillment – shorten cycles and increase productivity by using the same systems and processes for all orders.
- Customer relationship management (CRM) – all information, including contact, payment, and shipping details, should be automatically uploaded to a single customer database.
- Reporting – it’s essential that cash flow analysis and financial reports include sales made across all channels.
The bottom line
Seamless integration is the key to tapping into a low-cost sales channel without negatively impacting other areas of your business. If you’re already using ERP software like SAP Business One, you can simply layer on an integrated e-commerce solution and begin to reap the benefits. Running a standalone e-commerce product, however, requires a time-consuming (often error-prone) balancing act that will likely cause bottlenecks in other areas of your operations.