Ecommerce Platform: When a business sets foot into ecommerce, the sales generally see a steep rising curve. With the increase in sales, increases a lot of backend operational work as well. The business will have to ensure that all transactions are recorded properly, all stocks maintained and the inventory requirements are met continuously and many more. But it so happens that most of the businesses get tangled in all these operational functions that they can’t move ahead with their business as a ecommerce platform. In this article we shall learn as to how one can scale up their ecommerce platform once they have a rise in their business.
But before we dive into the “how” part of the discussion, let us first understand why it is required to integrate systems for scaling up an ecommerce platform:
- Manual entry will always carry the risk of errors along with it. Hence automating the process is a great way to maintain accurate data
- Keeping the clients informed about their products once they order, is a crucial part of customer relations. This also becomes very easy once the systems are integrated.
- Everything can be done through a single system. i.e. to update the stock list, enter the transaction details, keep a track of returned products,etc.
Some of the most frequently integrated systems from the top eCommerce players would be:
Ecommerce Platform – The CRM systems
The CRM systems usually help to understand the thoughts of the client. Integrating the CRM means that you can easily have a look at the data collected about the customer preferences, customer profiles,etc. A good CRM always strengthens the relationship between the client and the seller and the buyer.
Logistics
When you integrate the logistics of the business, it helps one track the movement of products across various stakeholders, right from manufacturer to the final delivery of the product to the client.
Payments
Having an integrated payment gateway for eCommerce platforms is an essential feature. You cannot expect clients to go away from your app or website just for the payment. This at times makes the clients just abandon the cart and go elsewhere for shopping. Hence one should ensure that a good payment gateway is integrated to the ecommerce platform.
ERP
Basically ERP controls all other aspects of an organization. Hence when this is directly integrated with the ecommerce platform one can be assured about the best of the resources.
Marketing
It’s not just the day to day backend activities of the firm that must be integrated. When a firm integrates its marketing strategy to the e-commerce platform, it enables it to record the searches from the target audience and suggest the seller what to sell more and when to sell what and many such important details .
Even Though integrating all these systems might look a little expensive and confuse at the beginning, it is one of the most essential requirements for a budding eCommerce platform to ensure that it doesn’t get choked before it realizes its full potential.
