Ecommerce management made easy

Luckily, running a successful ecommerce store isn’t rocket science—especially considering we’re living in an age of automation and interconnectivity. In the past, storeowners and managers had to take a hands-on approach to almost all functions. This could get very hectic, especially as websites scaled up over time. While wearing many hats is never a bad thing, there’s a limit to how much one person or team can accomplish in a day.

The modern approach to ecommerce involves a combination of savvy outsourcing, automation and new tech tools on the market. The result? It’s ecommerce management made easy. Stores can keep running smoothly while the humans behind them get to optimize how they use their time.

This is something of which you definitely want to take advantage. Here are a few options for streamlining behind the scenes operations so your store can best serve you and your customers, both in the present and the future.

Drop shipping

One of the most cumbersome aspects of ecommerce can be accommodating a full inventory of goods. When you’re starting out, sometimes a garage or small storage space will do. However, eventually you can find yourself buried under a literal and figurative mountain of stuff. Drop shipping some or all of your products is one way to alleviate this burden because the manufacturer or distributor actually fulfills the orders. Though your website conducts the transactions, you’re not responsible for packaging and shipping your merchandise. The caveat is you have to trust manufacturers and distributors wholeheartedly to let them handle such an important function.

Hiring remote workers

As your store grows, so too will your staff to support its needs. Luckily, geography is no longer a limiting factor in hiring the right mix of employees. Hiring remote workers can be a great way to find candidates who are “more productive, more loyal and more profitable for your business.” Plus, your ecommerce store will be able to function without a large—read: expensive—central headquarters if your staff is scattered about. It may take some getting used to, but it’s entirely possible to coordinate your efforts and keep a remote staff on track.

Building your ecommerce store

Still in the stages of researching how to build an ecommerce website in the simplest, most affordable way possible? Modern builders take the guesswork out of setting up your store, including the need to understand in-depth coding. Themes make it simple to design a unique online store without having to design it from scratch. Importing products, images and descriptions is also simplified, meaning merchants can spend more time actually selling products and less time fussing with the back-end logistics of their stores.

Automating customer service

There’s no true substitute for great customer service from a real, live human. However, artificial intelligence (AI) chat bots can handle many types of basic customer queries, freeing up your support staff to handle more complex tasks. This is especially useful when you’re just starting out, as hiring and supporting a full customer service team may be out of the question budget-wise.

There’s an increasing trend toward “conversational commerce,” or integrating live messaging into existing platforms like social media and messaging apps, as customers seek more responsive relationships with online stores. AI is a great tool to handle front-line questions and funnel customers into further meaningful interactions. These chat bots can also make recommendations and help customers conduct site searches—both actions with the potential to drive revenue.

Making ecommerce management easy is simply a matter of taking advantage of all the great tools available nowadays, from AI-driven chat bots to intuitive website builders and the like. Check it out for yourself today.