Simply displaying a product online – however visually appealing it may be – is no longer enough to get a customer interested in it. Guiding the customer through the purchasing process, quickly and painless, and offering a frustration-free after-sales service has become the determinant of competitiveness in modern trade.
The customer has to be able to go through the order process – from the time of clicking the buy button to holding the package in their hand – virtually unnoticeably, imperceptibly, effortlessly.
To ensure this effect in the eCommerce transaction, the customer must have access to a quick and intuitive purchase, by being able to complete the entire transaction with one click. The obstacle here is usually an insufficiently efficient database in relation to the number of transactions that need to be carried out, and the use of low-scalable IT solutions, which makes it impossible to adjust the number of positions/people handling orders to actual needs.
The use of ERP (enterprise resource planning) system solves this problem primarily by guaranteeing a database fully ready for big data and scalability up to thousands of positions. Such a database is guaranteed by the Streamsoft Verto ERP system, whose architecture and modern WMS (warehouse management system) solution were created with online sales in mind.
The biggest question for e-tailers
Why do customers leave the basket when ordering? What are the reasons why they sometimes give up buying in the last step, so close to completing the transaction? Of course, the reasons can be as prosaic as a dog waiting to go for a walk… However, the most common reason here is some IT efficiency issue.
No one likes it when – as they are adding items or filling in an address form – the website suddenly refuses to work. Nothing unusual! Any reasonable consumer this will view this as a cause for concern, generating many additional questions, which usually result in giving up the purchase.
Integration will help
The reason for this is often an overloaded front system (e-shop). Its failure is the direct reason for the decrease in conversion rate and increase in the number of abandoned baskets, which must be carefully subjected to remarketing afterwards.
How do you free a potential customer from a doubtful UX (user experience) on your website?
Streamsoft Verto guarantees the continuity of implemented business processes, shortening the time of order processing and trouble-free handling of potential returns/complaints without overloading the front-end system. This is achieved, of course, thanks to the ability to transfer key integrations (with banks, quick payment systems, logistics, couriers etc.) to the ERP website.
Finally, automation…
The implementation of each order is based on a strong, stable background as well as from a good UX from the front end. It also means ongoing handling of incoming orders, including the tedious processing of not only every ordered item from the list, but also the financial and accounting documents. Whatever happens, every item must be packed and every invoice settled…
…and digitisation
Although it’s increasingly hard to believe, this area of work is still done manually in many companies! Updating statuses, reserving goods for order, or matching accounting documents and then printing them shouldn’t involve human intervention – yet all too often it does.
Full digitisation of these processes, enabled and facilitated by the use of the ERP system, should be a priority for any business wanting to succeed in eCommerce. It means more convenient and faster work on order picking and processing, as well as better data security and easier processing of financial and accounting documents.
Maybe offline? Sure!
Streamsoft Verto, from the Polish manufacturer Streamsoft, has one more competitive advantage on the demanding eCommerce market. It offers full service of the increasingly popular trend, which is omnichannel.
If you haven’t thought about putting ‘buy & return anywhere’ into practice, it is time to do so! Consistent customer experience with a brand, regardless of the chosen sales channel, is currently one of the prevailing factors about choosing a given brand and then maintaining shopping loyalty to it in the long term.
Fast delivery to the customer, regardless of the mix of available channels chosen during purchase, is possible. However, it requires the introduction of sensible product reservation strategies for immediate order processing.
When doesn’t this work? Typically in situations where there’s a central office doing e-commerce and branches (bricks-and-mortar outlets) on separate installations. Effect? Constant errors in inventory, discount policy, time-consuming synchronisation…
Only one system, working for the benefit of the entire organisation, will solve this problem, guaranteeing full online service with an additional offline E-POS (electronic point-of-sale) options.