Being entrepreneurs ourselves, we understand all the challenges of growing a ecommerce business. In the present day and age, amid the rapidly changing landscape of eCommerce and online marketing, it is necessary for entrepreneurs to make the necessary improvements in their processes, internal resources, workforce, and outsourcing strategies to stay at the top of their game.

Driven by our useful knowledge and learning experiences, we are here to help business owners to excel and help grow their businesses.

This blog is the inner insight on how to improve, grow and be successful in the world of eCommerce. In addition, it will help companies and business owners to get great deals from digital eCommerce agencies and make sure they perform well in all aspects.

Identify Your Weak Points

To be at the top of your game, it is necessary that you continuously strive to identify your weak points. By identifying the weak or lacking areas of your processes or whole operations, you can bring the needed improvements to your whole eCommerce infrastructure.

• Accelerated Training Requirements

For all the platforms and channels you use depending upon your industry, the best practices for these platforms keep constantly changing. In addition, they turn complex with time. With changing requirements and algorithms of marketplaces and search engines, it requires more time and effort for your employees to stay updated about it all.

If you think your employees lack awareness about a specific platform, it’s a wise choice to outsource. Because a failure to engage on a certain platform can cause severe damage to your ecommerce business; which you definitely cannot afford.

With ever-growing platforms, there’s a constant need for employee training. The whole session requires a dedicated amount of time and can also be expensive. It is a common practice in big marketing firms that financially support these training sessions. On contrary, smaller businesses don’t have enough budget and time to provide these things. If you have the budget and resources to arrange these training sessions for your employees, then surely go for it! It’ll beneficial to scale your online business and the wholesome operations in a long run.

• The Use Of Specialized Software

An increasing number of platforms and marketing channels are giving rise to many other factors. There’s a constant need to coordinate content, ad buying, monitor brand assets across these channels and there’s more on the list. To remain technologically advanced and stay ahead of your competitors in the crowded landscape of eCommerce, companies need to seamlessly integrate with the new modules. To make processes and core operations simpler, many eminent agencies have designed incredible software for the required convenience.

It is recommended to utilize advanced tools, tracking methods, and software to ensure smooth eCommerce operations without any errors. In addition, many smaller businesses can also use them, as they’re accessible and cost-effective.

• Outsourcing Is the Smart Choice

Working with hundreds of different CEOs, we are aware of the difference in the narrative regarding the benefits of outsourcing versus internal staffing. However, speaking from the perspective of industry knowledge, Current dynamics are driving the surges of outsourcing professional eCommerce services. Outsourcing tasks in which you lack saves you additional costs, time, and all the relevant concerns you’re having.  So when your contracted employee takes over a job, he already knows what to do.

It saves time so you put your focus more on the primary services of the businesses. If you don’t have enough manpower, resources, or time to carry out a certain task regarding all your eCommerce operations, outsourcing is your way to go. If you’re finding that your employees don’t have the ability or falling behind to complete their assigned tasks, looking for the trusted partners to do the job is a wise choice. Outsourcing important or technical tasks, and services – marketing, customer support, social media ads – can help you accomplish more revenue-driven work.

Focus On ROI – Not The Cost

Being a CEO or entrepreneur, you have never-ending responsibilities which include working with many people. It includes meetings with internal staff, service providers, and outsourced employees. They need to analyze the whole budget, their generated revenue, and the return on investment (ROI).

It’s the common mistake from CEOs that they prioritize budgets or costs over the absolute ROI. Many business owners fail to achieve the desired target because they fixate upon the budget rather than planning for the investment that will lead to an incredible ROI for their eCommerce ventures.

Let’s talk about it, your company is competing in the eCommerce landscape where your competitors are offering the same products you provide. It’s a common observation that companies fail because they don’t want to invest much and try to take on major competitors. With a trusted eCommerce agency and partners by your side, you can grow beyond your own expectations with the correct investment in all the right directions.

You need to ask yourself power questions like, why do you need to invest in particular eCommerce services, what amount of ROI you’ll be able to build by the end of it, at what scale it’ll benefit your online stores, and the similar sections that should be considered.

If you’re choosing to contact for your business assistance, you better calculate the estimated cost of the outsourced task.  It’s important to incorporate the additional outsourcing task into your overall budget so you get the complete concepts of the return.

• Search For The highest ROI Use Of Funds

To keep growing in the world of eCommerce, you must keep searching for the highest ROI. You should focus on if this is the highest ROI activity that you’re implementing instead of being concerned that this will bring you a positive ROI.

Having focused on the highest ROI activity, it will enable you to focus on the set services available to you along with evaluating the potential returns. If you go for specific strategy advice to someone involved in a single side of the marketing, they’ll only tell you what works for them. But it doesn’t mean that it’ll work for you as well.

You need to specify your business needs, what results you’re expecting to receive to finally settle on what highest ROI activity will be the most beneficial for you.

Set Clear Expectations

Over the years, we have found out that there are two major reasons for poor contract or outsourcing relationship; that is lack of particular deliverables and lack of meeting communication expectations.

• Lack Of Particular Deliverables

Deliverables are defined as the set of categorical tasks you’re expecting to receive at the end of a specific job. It could be wide-ranging, a set of content to be created, multiple products to be managed, an estimated increase in your existing ROI, and there are endless options. However, it should be noted that this deliverable must be defined in the written contract apart clearly. It is definitely your responsibility to craft a specific document being a business owner or in case if you’re handling a project.  Your signed contract must reflect exactly what deliverables you’re expecting at the end of the job.

In addition, it should also include what deliverables you’re going to receive on daily basis, monthly basis, and more.

• Lack Of Specific Communication Expectations

Your dedicated eCommerce strategies, best-laid plans won’t work if there’s a lack of effective communication. Without a specific communication schedule, planned deliverables cannot be achieved and analyzed as well. Pick up a communication channel for your meetings and act according to the schedule. With fixed check-in times, scheduled meetings, and thorough communication in operations, your contracted workers will be accountable for important action items.

Before outsourcing a certain service, you should settle upon the important matters such as, how often will you guys communicate, what will be the maximum productivity, what preparations your team or staff should have before a scheduled meeting, and the stuff alike.

Strategy 4: Focus on your eCommerce manager when contracting

During our research, we found out that the execution of your targeted services and the whole eCommerce strategy depends upon your right selection of your eCommerce manager.

• So How To Get a Good eCommerce Manager? It’s Very Simple.

You need to do your research before delivering your eCommerce management to one particular person. Before settling on anything with your potential account manager, you need to look up their professional background. Find out their work values, specific skill set, and expertise. Ask the right questions, like how they plan to improve your eStore and website and there are more alike on the list. If the answers you receive don’t match with your concepts or what you’re looking for in the account manager, then you need to search for a different manager from the scratch.

You shouldn’t be intimidated by their clients’ list, portfolio, or collateral, your only focus should be the people that will do the work for you.

Discuss and find out if they have a relevant set of experiences and knowledge relevant to the specific services you are contracting for. What trainings and certifications they have, Have they got any work experience with similar-sized eCommerce accounts in the past. Get to know their strategy that how they’re going to increase your business revenue. Decide on a communication channel and there’s more you can do.

Focus On Your eCommerce Manager When Contracting

During our research, we found out that the execution of your targeted services and the whole eCommerce strategy depends upon your right selection of your eCommerce manager.

• Your Account Manager Drives Your eCommerce Success

A good eCommerce manager executes effective and frequent communication, updated follow-up, and owns all the happy clients. Their campaign performance is always up to the mark and all assignments including reports are delivered before deadlines. It’s their dedication and love for their job that brings you a flawless job every single time.

• So How To Get a Good eCommerce Manager? It’s very simple

You need to do your research before delivering your eCommerce management to one particular person. Before settling on anything with your potential account manager, you need to look up their professional background. Find out their work values, specific skill set, and expertise. Ask the right questions, like how they plan to improve your eStore and website and there are more alike on the list. If the answers you receive don’t match with your concepts or what you’re looking for in the account manager, then you need to search for a different manager from the scratch.

You shouldn’t be intimidated by their clients’ list, portfolio, or collateral, your only focus should be the people that will do the work for you.

Discuss and find out if they have a relevant set of experiences and knowledge relevant to the specific services you are contracting for. What trainings and certifications they have, Have they got any work experience with similar-sized eCommerce accounts in the past. Get to know their strategy that how they’re going to increase your business revenue. Decide on a communication channel and there’s more you can do.

Learn to identify bad apples fast

But here’s a thing, like any industry, there exist bad apples when it comes to eCommerce agencies as well. Amid the myriad of digital agencies, it is definitely a challenge to have a trusted and promising agency by your side. And we want to make it possible that you do not end up with a bad choice.

• Lack Of Transparency

They’ll remain unclear to explain their operations, and refuse to provide you the website changes they perform. In addition, they may not share the reference sheet of the links shared on the social media platforms. If an agency comes up with excuses to maintain transparency, the chances are their work is below the standard and you should not proceed with them for your own good.

• Denying Access To Accounts

Outsourcing certain account management services is a smart choice to save your time. But if an agency or a representative expert denies you access to a particular account, then you must not proceed to partner with them. Many agencies come up with the absurd excuses that they manage these accounts in their internal systems or under their own master account. They’re just baseless excuses and not justified in any context.

• Falsified Reporting

A true reporting system is necessary to track the success of any marketing campaign.  If your service provider fails to provide you the exact reporting, it’s a major warning you should look out for. It is the due responsibility of your account manager to break down the explanations and details of every report to you. All reports must be clear and easy for you to understand.

Be Careful Who You Take Advice From

For the growth of your business, you have to be vigilant of who you take advice from. If you’re outsourcing service from a social media marketing company, there are high chances that they’ll persuade you for spending more money on social marketing for your business. A very similar situation applies to an SEO company, PPC, an affiliate marketing company, and alike.  Therefore, it is crucial for you to don’t seek advice from people who have a vested interest in one particular region or a marketing platform.

Having an eCommerce business under your name, you should remain aware of the ever-evolving marketplaces and the relevant paradigms. As we fixated previously in this blog that how your ROI is the standard to drive your success. As time goes by, you’ll find a different set of applications and activities that drive higher ROI than your usual ones. When you come across a novel ROI progress driven by an entirely different activity or trend, it is better for you to shift your eCommerce investment to that favorable trend. Doesn’t matter if you terminate a contract doing it, as most of your service providers won’t highlight the shift or change of trends to you in any way. That’s because they don’t want to lose a business with you and their revenue.

Learn To Manage Integrations

As a business owner or an entrepreneur, the responsibility lies in you to create the integrated system that brings your internal resources, staff, and outsourced employees on the same page. There are four best practices when it comes to creating an effective integration system.

• Establish Communication Loops

There are two major communication loops that are needed to be established with your online service providers.

1. Daily online meeting to review reports and plan your future eCommerce strategies. You and internal staff should come prepared to ensure everything’s on track and all the priorities are in sync.
2. Consistent communication through email, chat, and phone when new products are being launched or when the website is being upgraded.

Through persistent communication, your internal staff and outsourced employees will remain aware of all the progress, updates, and strategy development. In addition, chances for the errors to occur would lessen.

With constant communication, you can have creative discussions questioning your eCommerce manager about the trends he’s seen emerge recently, and you can know about the progress and the updates more comprehensively. In addition, you can also take suggestions on what strategy improvements that we should go for to increase the numbers.

• Leveraging Your Resources With Your Vendor’s Expertise

It is a fact that outsourcing reduces your responsibilities to some extent, however you’re still responsible to assign your available resources to your service providers. Think it this way, outsourcing services should become a learning experience for your company. Understanding the best practices and the industry knowledge from your contracted eCommerce agency ensures that your company knows what to do when your contract comes to an end.

You should keep making efforts to improve your team. What implementations your team should carry on a weekly and monthly basis.

• Creating a Team Mentality

Once you finalize your agreement, your outsourced staff, and the personalized eCommerce manager become the member of your team. It’s your responsibility to incorporate them as proficient team members as best as you can. You must include your eCommerce manager in the internal meeting and planning, and encourage their maximum cooperation for your long-term success.

• Share Vital Information

Your outsourcing companies and the eCommerce account manager will need accurate data. Sharing the information and important records will establish trust between you and them along with helping them to plan out a bespoke eCommerce strategy for you. In addition, it also protects against your outsourced employees hiding mistakes or shielding data.

Practical Tips For You & Your Staff

Start learning and understanding analytic data yourself. You and your internal staff must understand the intricate details regarding data points and reports. To enhance the skill set of your team, you should provide Google Certifications to some of your team members; as these certifications are not expensive and will help you in the long run. You should set up biweekly or monthly meetings to analyze all the progress achieved so far.

Inform your team to come to these meetings with a summary of all their executed tasks in a time period and questions about how to proceed further.

Stay Connected At The Top

For our final recommendation, we’d like to stay that talk to the CEO of your outsourcing company or the contracted services. In this way, you’ll be able to share your overall experience with them and how the whole experience is driving your revenue goals. A meeting with the company CEO will trigger an internal review of your campaigns, all accounts, a status report from your team and it will keep things on track for the future as well.

Reaching out to the CEO will give you the needed visibility at the upper level and can enlighten you with recommendations or insider introductions that could benefit your eCommerce venture in the long term.

eCommerce is at an all-time high and the shift is here to stay. To make your mark, you need the right strategy, constant improvements, and power moves to grow and scale your business. Keep believing in your visions, good luck!