Before setting up your ecommerce website you should consider who will manage your online store – after all, you wouldn’t leave your bricks and mortar shop without at least an assistant to process the purchases.
Taking care of orders & enquiries
Successful online stores can generate large volumes of traffic and sales, and just the same as your bricks and mortar shop you will need someone to deal with the various stages of the transaction.
Some online stores choose to include a virtual assistant to answer any questions the customer may have before purchasing; if you use virtual assistants it is important that someone is available at the computer at all times in case a chat request comes through to ensure that you deliver a high standard of customer service.
Once the purchase has been made online, someone needs to process the order – to ship the product to the customer, resolve any issues upon receipt, deal with any returns – basically anything you would do for a regular customer entering your shop.
Considering the size of your business and existing client base can give you an idea of who is best to manage your online shop. If you have a small business with a couple of orders a month online, you will easily be able to manage the online shop as well as the running of your bricks and mortar business.
If you have a medium sized business generating regular daily orders, you may need to allocate the management of your ecommerce website to another member of staff.
Large businesses may require several people to concentrate on the management of their online store only.
Keeping your store up to date
Not only do you need to consider who will process your orders, many online stores are CMS based (content management system) which allows you to update the website yourself. Your ecommerce web designers should offer training on the system, meaning that changes such as adding new products, making changes to text and even changing images can all be completed in-house.
Regular website updates are critical, not only do they offer your customers something new and give them a reason to keep returning but also, search engines love to see that you are regularly updating your website so they know the information is current.
Generating the right traffic
It is also important to consider who will work with your search engine optimisation company to ensure your campaign is targeting the areas that are most important to you. As your business progresses and the market changes, your keyword focus may also change. You may choose to expand into new locations or related product markets so your campaign will need to grow with your business to include these changes.
