Rapid business growth usually means scaling operations, and for a growth business’s ecommerce system, this requires more than a shopping cart. Massive increases in sales without the ability to expand operations quickly can be a stressful mistake to make, so small business ecommerce solutions should be adaptable enough to evolve as well. It is important to choose scalable ecommerce packages that can accommodate all business needs, large or small.
Order Management and Ecommerce
Order management for small ecommerce sites or businesses is usually not much of a challenge, but a larger throughput requires more resources and a robust order management system. Larger companies with, for example, warehouses and multiple departments need a system that can handle large numbers of orders and integrate with all the departments.
Many of the largest companies spend a lot of money maintaining their own ecommerce infrastructure, but that is not always an option for smaller companies who still want to hold their own against the giants. And even after a smaller company begins to grow, a self-built ecommerce solution is not always the right choice.
In fact, it may rarely be the right solution for all but the largest corporations. Creating and maintaining a complete ecommerce solution can be a waste of resources when it is possible to use flexible, pre-built order management software packages.
Choosing the Right Order Management Solution
Preparing for growth means having an adaptable solution available or already in place, and
a shopping cart plugin won’t cut it. If sales explode, and a small company needs to grow with it, the right order management systems will need to be able to integrate with entirely new business functions that may come into existence, such as customer service/call center functionality or administrative functions These business functions will need to be able to communicate with each other in the system as well.
What qualities should be included in a scalable ecommerce package? An appropriate order management solution should meet all the business needs on a small scale as well as a large scale. Investment cost also plays a part in this consideration. The proper solution must be scalable, it must perform well, be built with cutting edge technology, and be configurable by the end user. The most complete solution would include inventory systems, integration with online stores, marketing features, merchandise return, and a whole host of other functions that may otherwise bottleneck during a growth phase.
The growing business will want a system that provides an infrastructure for all the mentioned areas of the order management process, as well as others that may be business-specific. Scalability of the solution is the first priority for a growing ecommerce business, but it is also critical for a business to anticipate future functionality requirements. Integration of all present and potential future business functions into a single order management package is what to look for when shopping around for the right solution.
If your ecommerce business is ready to scale up, eMerchant is ready to help you. Be sure to visit our partner and affiliate sections on our website. We have partners and affiliates who are ready to help you grow your business with the best order management solutions..