Update 19/06/2019: This post has been updated with additional information about the benefits of eCommerce platform software for businesses.
The eCommerce trends expected for 2019 is – eCommerce platform software, which is going to boom bigger and better. From FMCG products to electronics, consumers are consciously making a shift towards shopping online.
Looking for Ecommerce Platform Software? Check out SoftwareSuggest’s list of the best Ecommerce Platform Software solutions.
Most B2C brands have perfected the art of selling through retail chains. With the help of point-of-sale (POS) machines, they know the exact state of inventory, supplier shipments, sales figures, customer trends, etc. However, when the same brands move towards an online environment and sale through eCommerce platforms, they forget to integrate the POS systems.
An eCommerce system has multiple processes related to storefront, payment gateways, customer accounts, inventory, product reviews, discount codes, product information, performance reports, etc. Achieving high business productivity in an online business environment can be difficult especially when there are multiple processes that have to be taken care of to process a single order.
Thus, instead of dealing with these multiple processes that can cause inconvenience, it is an excellent idea to adopt an integrated eCommerce platform when going for online selling. You can read different Strategies to grow your eCommerce Business.
In simple terms, an integrated eCommerce platform software is one in which back-end applications such as CRM and ERP are integrated with the eCommerce platform. All the management processes and valuable data sets are integrated to provide a one-stop solution to the seller.
Adopting the following integrations in your eCommerce website can help improve your business productivity by many folds:
1. Inventory Integration
The online retail space is highly competitive and dynamic. A number of products and their variations that can be sold through an online store have no limits. But if the products do not reflect consumer trends or prices do not match the competitor’s pricing, it can spell disaster.
For a manager to make product and pricing decisions, he or she needs real-time information on inventories and sales. Unavailability of real-time data can dramatically affect the productivity of decisions. A manager always needs to have a track of the stock count and needs to know when to stop selling products which are not available in the inventory. Thus, an eCommerce system integrated with inventory management software can professionally synthesize real-time information to enable product management, control inventory, and boost higher yield.
Moreover, with an integrated system in place, changing product prices and introducing sales promotions can be managed from just a single location. Thus, it helps the brand to serve the customer better and increase customer satisfaction.
2. Marketing Integration
Marketing activities help to boost sales and promote products which are not popular or are new. An integrated marketing system helps to promote products in multiple ways such as automated email marketing with newsletters, automated social media integration, and more.
Social media activities are an essential part of any marketing mix these days. It allows companies to make the brand or product announcements to their followers, share information about purchases being made, and monitor leads using social media analysis tool. Combining all these activities together, a manager can synergies all viral platforms and embrace the benefits of social media with the least amount of effort.
Similarly, the integration of email marketing software is crucial. Email marketing is one of the most effective marketing channels with the highest ROI. The integration tool ensures that the list of your old and new subscribers stay up to date. Plus, it provides in-depth data about each of your subscribers. It can be used for segmentation and to create a content strategy.
In short, it opens up a new realm of possibilities in terms of reaching out to your prospects, leads, and customers. And this will help in increasing revenue by attracting new customers or increasing sales from your existing customer base.
3. Data Integration
Any retailer has three types of database – product data, consumer data, and financial data. All these databases may have completely separate information. But from the management point of view, it is important to study all of them together before making any business decisions.
If product data, consumer data, and financial data are stored on different systems, it is difficult to leverage the rich real-time data available to the company. Thus, an integrated eCommerce platform helps in maximizing the data resources and allows managers to deliver better productivity.
E-Commerce data integration tools integrate other applications, like CRM and inventory management software so as to gather information. These are cloud-based solutions, which help manage e-commerce, business, and sales data. It provides real-time information of consumers to the companies, which can be quite useful for the sales department in generating leads.
Some of the features of a good eCommerce data integration software:
- Have an enhanced security system to safeguard important companies’ information
- Should be capable enough to sync e-commerce data across applications
- Must be able to connect cloud-based applications with one another
- Provide real-time updates to internal departments or e-commerce platforms
4. Accounts and Finance Integration
Adopting an integrated eCommerce platform means that all your processes will be centralized. That includes all the functions of accounting software and finance related also. Typically any manager requires financial accounting reports such as sales and purchases charts, profit and loss accounts, payroll, budgeting etc.
With an integrated system, all your financial data are at one place and is accurate and timely. Thus, you can eliminate errors and delays of manual exports. Regardless of the scale of your business, your accounting books will be up to date.
Furthermore, if the software is a cloud-based solution, it allows real-time access for multiple users. This is important, especially for e-commerce dealing with bookkeepers in a different part of the country. In fact, one biggest advantage of integrated accounting software is that you can sell your products across the world. Good accounting software has sales tax module included, which is in compliance with the tax rules of various countries or states.
Final Thoughts
An integrated eCommerce platform can improve organizational and management productivity by delivering better output in several aspects. The major reason behind using an eCommerce platform software to build your own online store is you can get readymade integrations provided by the platform provider.
Moreover, if you are still confused about why selecting an e-commerce platform to build an online store you can contact our eCommerce Platform software experts at SoftwareSuggest.com to get unbiased recommendations and better explanation.
Dhruv Patel currently works as a content & adwords manager for SoftwareSuggest. India’s largest business software discovery & recommendation platform. Follow him on Twitter @dhruvp2014.
