Marcus Richards
The use of an integrated holistic Information Technology solution or set up cannot be neglected as it is arguably the best way for small e-commerce businesses and startups to access the global market. With the movement of shoppers and consumers on the whole into the online space, it is only logical that business and service providers needed to go there as well. The metaverse or in-cloud and online have become the monikers for small business success. Those who have made it big, have always had a great internet and web presence.
Growth of E-Commerce
There has been a significant growth in the use of e-commerce for sales and purchases of everything that you can think of across the internet. The initial impetus for a business to join the bandwagon is always the ability to sell to a huge international and even global market, interact with suppliers and your supply chain and suppliers from around the world.
However, one of the biggest realizations about e-commerce startups is that they may have a great Shopify space or sell hard from social media (using social media influencers and short advertorial clips trying hard to ensure that their product moves as it should), but there is not going to be any real growth for small businesses unless the tech and systems used by e-commerce start-ups is integrated and interconnected.
Integrated and Interconnected IT Services for E-Commerce
There will be no point selling a myriad of your products in the online space and then not having the integrated services that are available in the cloud to support this. The idea is to have all your business systems and functions linked and integrated and available to you in the cloud from wherever you or your clients and customers are. There are a number of useful tips to improve your online business, but one of the main ones has to be using the available tech.
Using the cloud will allow your small business to use the self-same software that the bigger players in your industry are using at a fraction of the cost. The cloud also allows for the networking of all your business systems, so choose the software wisely and ensure that it’s all able to work together to provide a seamless set of processes to support the sales you achieve in the online and e-commerce space.
The manner in which devices or departments communicate both through to the point of sale as well as after the sale is critical. The right integrated and interconnected IT system will negate the need for additional checks and balances within the business and be able to start the process of collecting big data from customers. The businesses that are successful in this regard have managed a number of aspects with their cogent IT and marketing planning:
Use the same software throughout the business or enterprise. Sales and marketing divisions should be able to communicate with production teams and vice versa, and all the better if this communication or updates are done on a regular basis. The use of the same software and communication systems is thus a must and again emphasizes the degree to which business functions DNA systems should be integrated.
A clear process of customer data collection: An integrated and holistic online marketing plan must have the means to gather information from your clients and customers. Therefore, your web presence or shopping process needs to have points of contact along the way where you are able to gather the information your business needs. In order to do this, your online presence will have to be easily found and used by your customers. As noted by Click Intelligence, it is your SEO that will get you noticed and as such one of the first places to start when developing your online presence.
Integrated and linked social media: It will be vital for all start ups to have a credible social media presence. A great deal more purchases now take place on social media and as such, not only must you have the right virus protection for online shopping, but the business’ social media should be linked and accessible to the production and sales teams to be able to see the ongoing changes.
Developing a great online presence can be one of the hardest things for a small business to do and maintain. However, the insights that have been discussed in this article should allow you to start this process from an informed position. There is no doubt that all small businesses need to be online, yet there will be no point unless this presence is based on integrated software and a coherent online digital marketing plan.
