Setting an Agenda to Your E-commerce Business

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    Setting an agenda to your

    e-commerce businessA primer to help you take your frst stepstowards your online store

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    Table of Content

    E-commerce for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)

    Three initial steps to ride the B2B e-commerce wave

    Making your B2B e-commerce customer feel at home

    E-catalog software Opting for the foremost choice

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    ability to reach new markets, improved after-sales service capabilities,

    reduction in communication costs, and improved lead time and sales,

    have only nurtured this condence.

    A recent research report states that the potential to grow international

    transactions as an additional revenue stream is driving SMEs to extend

    or upgrade their e-commerce services to enable easier cross-border

    transactions. As a note, although e-commerce is turning effective for

    SMEs, it may not be a blanket solution for all SMEs.

    Now, to determine whether or not an SME is ready to initiate e-commerce,

    there are few criteria that need to be considered under strict priority, as

    these may not be applicable to all.

    E-commerce for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are incubators for the growth

    of innovation and of employment. They not only play an important

    role in the United States where they account for 99% of all business

    establishments, and have generated 9.8 Million jobs between 1993 and2009, but also contribute a chunk of prot to the global economy. In spite

    of this, SMEs face umpteen challenges like non-availability of suitable

    technologies, small production capacities, non-availability of skilled

    labour at affordable costs, and inability to compete with the marketing

    muscle of larger organizations.

    On the other hand, SMEs are the biggest beneciaries in the following

    ways:

    They now have opportunities to overcome geographical barriers.

    Wherever they can eliminate middlemen, they can cash in on reduced

    business costs and incremental prot margins.

    They are able to create added value by producing innovative products

    and exibly adapting to new markets and products.

    Businesses are now adopting e-commerce due to citeable reasons such

    as increasing levels of competition, incessant pressure from partners/

    suppliers, etc. There seems to be an observed growth in adopting this

    mode of trade which is reected by an increase in SME condence

    with regards to e-commerce benets. New age adoption drivers such

    as direct/ indirect marketing, strategic relationship building ventures,

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    The next step is to choose the appropriate e-commerce solution.

    Businesses need to look into the following:

    The solution should be sophisticated enough to monitor customer

    activity on the site and take action based on the customer behaviour.

    The solution should be technically and architecturally sound so as to

    provide the business managers with tools such as categorization of

    products, development of promotions and campaigns, targeted email

    campaigns etc.

    The product catalogue should be able to handle different kinds of

    products as well the peaks and troughs in demand.

    The solution should be strong and exible in order to integrate

    seamlessly with other enterprise systems in order to deliver a dynamic

    buying experience.

    The site should not only be able to capture historical and behavioural

    data but also support a compelling and personal search experience.

    Considering that many SMEs will not have an in-house capacity to

    coordinate e-commerce projects, they would do well to look for a trustedpartner who can expertly guide them through key imperatives for the

    organization and external criteria while investing in an e-commerce

    platform.

    Internal Criteria

    Financial resources

    Organizational culture

    Skilled IT personnel

    Appetite for risk

    Management support

    Organization related:

    Business model

    Impact on the operations

    Integration with enterprise systems

    Key performance metrics

    Change management initiatives

    Technology related: Solutions available in the market and their assessment parameters

    Procedure for handling payments

    Privacy and security features

    Legal related:

    Contracts (new or revised) with various parties in the ecosystem

    Rules and regulations applicable

    External Criteria

    Infrastructure for conducting business

    Government policies and incentives

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    So how can your business compete in this space? Here are three ways

    to ensure your B2B e-commerce initiative is on the right path:

    Multichannel and Mobile

    Enable your online content across various devices and platforms.

    Some of the examples are mobile, tablets and computers spread

    across operating platforms like Windows, Apple or Android etc. This

    will improve availability to your customers and they will be more likely

    to spend on your online platform.

    This multichannel enablement must not just stop with your customers

    and your e-commerce platform, but should be extended to your eld

    personnel as well, so that their mobility is ensured and the data

    available to them at real-time.

    Self care

    Reduce the phone calls by providing online self-help for your

    customers. You should also enable chat, email or call back options so

    that they can communicate with your sales and service teams in case

    of difculties while ordering.

    This over time will improve your customers experience and will also

    enable them to be familiar with your online portal.

    Three initial steps to ride the B2B e-commerce waveWith much of the action in the e-commerce space happening in the B2C

    area, little attention is paid to how B2B e-commerce has fared and what

    is the next big thing in this segment?

    In the past couple of years, analysts have predicted tremendous growth

    in B2B e-commerce and the sector did perform well. A survey last year

    revealed about 57% of the business buyers purchased goods online

    and about half of them spent over $5000 for their purchase. According

    to Forrester, the B2B market size is estimated to be $599 billion in 2013.

    And with more business buyers willing to spend more for their online

    purchases, it is poised to grow in line with expectations. In fact, if the

    strategies of B2B vendors are aligned with the trend, it may even exceed

    the estimate.

    Though the market size of B2B is almost double that of the B2C

    space, it is not mature. There are a few big name entrants in the B2B

    e-commerce space such as Amazon with their Amazon Supply and

    Google with their Shopping for Suppliers who draw their expertise from

    their successful B2C e-commerce implementations.

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    B2B Merchandising tactics:

    The B2C segment is more mature in providing personalization and

    offers to attract customers. Provide product recommendations based

    on customers buying patterns, search and viewing history. Keep

    your content clean and categorized so that products can be grouped.

    Sometimes, even unrelated products can be grouped based on the

    order trends you notice on your system.

    Providing bundled deals to your customer will also improve your

    engagement with them as well as revenues through cross and up-

    selling.

    While all these may entail technology and data driven initiatives in

    your business which can sometimes be off-putting, the rewards are

    enticing enough to invest time and money in these initiatives.

    Some of the other steps you can take for your e-commerce store front

    are explained in our whitepapers ZMOT and Omni channel.

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    Personalized

    B2B e-commerce stores need to be highly personalized for each

    customer. Here are some ways personalization can be brought in:

    Pricing and contracts

    Make your online pricing and contract customizable, just as you would

    when dealing with physical B2B customers.

    User groups

    Let organization create user groups so that their entire purchases

    department can have access to their specic needs.

    Engage

    Interact with the customers through social media or your own forum.

    Make it simple for them to reach you.

    Purchase support

    Let customers interact with your sales staff, just as they would at your

    physical location. Make your sales representatives available through

    live chat.

    Payment options

    Your customers can come in any size, a small run-from-a-garage start-

    up or a global conglomerate, make sure you have payment options

    that suit all of them.

    Making your B2B e-commerce customer feel at homeB2B E-commerce Must-haves: Improve the Customer Experience

    B2B e-commerce is the buzz today, but not every vendor knows what

    hes doing. While some vendors have adapted their stores to the modernB2B customer, however, there are others who remain woefully behind.

    The following are some of the key pointers to make sure that your store

    is all that it can and should be:

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    Intuitive

    In making an e-commerce site intuitive, a vendor makes it simple for a

    customer do what they need to. Heres what should be done:

    Call-to-actionWhen the customers are on the website, the call to action buttons

    should catch their action. They should know they can nd similar

    products, compare, add-to-cart, and purchase at the click of a button.

    Interaction

    Interaction buttons are those that either help the customer contact

    you or the supplier of the product (if youre the distributor), and get

    their queries answered. There should be a contact supplier button for

    every product, and a button to contact you, the vendor on every page.

    Easy

    B2B customers are people in organizations doing their jobs, and as the

    person who wants to do business with them, it becomes your job to

    make it easy for them to work with you. The easier you make it for them

    to do their job, the more theyll love working with you:

    Search

    When a customer starts searching for a product, your auto-complete

    feature should save them the effort of typing things out. When they

    type in the name of a product, you need to start selling with the search

    results provide images/listing of variations, types, same-brand

    products, similar products, and related products. Of course dont ood

    their search results either, strike a balance between at least three of

    these elements.

    Tools

    Provide the customer with tools to make their product searches easy.

    Tools include comparison features and lters. Remember that yourcustomers have almostas much technical knowledge of the product

    as the manufacturer, so give them many more lters to work with.

    Navigation

    Your customer wants to search, nd, evaluate and order as soon

    as possible, so make it easy for them to move around. Make your

    websites user interface simple and clean, and let customers move

    from category to information to comparisons seamlessly. Try to follow

    the three-level site architecture rule, i.e., no more than three clicks to

    reach anywhere on the site.

    Product visualizations

    With organizations wishing to look up to date with the latest trends in

    both technology and design, there will be customers who will value

    the aesthetic appeal of a product on par with its functionality. Give the

    customers plenty of product pictures to work with, and have at least

    one video for each product.

    Innovation is still the name of the game, at least partly, so think like

    your customer would and you could come up with your own ideas to

    improve your customers experience. Make your B2B store as easy to

    love as a B2C store.

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    But again, with a heap of options available on the e-catalog software

    front, companies must be able to pick and choose the most optimal

    t. How does one do that? Here are some points to ponder when

    contemplating an e-catalog solution:

    Of course, it must be easy to implement and easy to use and supple

    and resourceful enough to help customers nd products quicker and

    in real-time and able to channelize customers to marketers, adding

    value to both sects in doing so.

    Shoppers must be able to download product brochures and specication

    sheets from web links and have access to detailed information pages

    on items. They must be able to control the number of items that they

    see in one view to avoid clutter and segregate products by best match

    and price differentiators.

    Options must be there to put items in a shopping cart for future

    references, have access to a recently viewed toolbar, make ltered

    searches with product drill downs and access to the closest marketer

    in the vicinity.

    Sales and marketing should be supported with website branding with

    images, colors and descriptions, incorporated price descriptions,

    detailed information pages on items and product brochures and

    specication sheets.

    E-catalog software Opting for the foremost choiceAs a shopper, turning over printed catalogs is tiring and cumbersome,

    isnt it? But then, technology ensures that we dont have to anymore with

    online catalogs. E-cataloging is revolutionizing the e-commerce sphere;

    with organizations universally incorporating e-catalogs as part of theirselling and marketing strategies.

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    There must be seamless integration with ERP, MRP, CRM and SCM

    applications, security from encroachment and theft, data enrichment

    and cleansing options to erase obsolete data, and a supplier portal to

    have a real-time picture on the suppliers.

    Ultimately, it must embrace web-enabled and cost-effectivedeployment technologies like the Cloud for ubiquitous presence due

    to the increasing mobility of customers.

    If this checklist has all ticks marked in the right hand column, do not

    hesitate, buy immediately!

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    About Unilog

    Unilog is a global technology and services company that specializes in Big Data Analytics and Product Data Management for e-commerce.Headquartered in Bangalore, Unilog is an ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 8000 certied company that employs over 300 people in its local ofces atMysore and Philadelphia. Unilogs comprehensive, end-to-end data management services cater to the requirements of leading brands acrossindustry verticals including Retail, Telecom, IT, Manufacturing, MRO and Electrical & Electronics among others.

    For more information, visit us atwww.unilogcorp.com

    Contact UsCorporate Ofce:

    Unilog Content Solutions Pvt. Ltd.,#11, 15th Cross, 20th Main, OuterRing Road, J.P. Nagar, 5th Phase,Bangalore 560078.Tel: +91-80-26590721.Fax: +91-80-26710590

    Content Development and R&D Center:#579/2, 1st, 2nd & 3rd Floor, Gunamba Towers,D.Subbaiah Road, Lakshmipuram,Mysore 570 004.Tel: +91-821-3092500

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