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There are many metrics to track when running an ecommerce store, but at the end of the day, nothing matters more than sales numbers. No amount of traffic, or shares, or recommendations will cut it unless you’re able to sell your products, consistently and exponentially.
The first step towards upping your ecommerce sales is ensuring your product is the best it can possibly be. After that, it’s about managing your store well.
Sadly, this is where a lot of ecommerce businesses fail. They neglect the underlying importance of project management in ecommerce.
Let’s look at seven ways to manage your store and stock better, ultimately ensuring more sales.
1. Set specific goals
Goal-setting is not quite the most interesting aspect of running a business, but it is a crucially important one. Having a general goal in mind like “increase our sales” will lead you nowhere, as it can’t be tracked, and you will never be able to tell whether you’re succeeding.
A well-set goal would sound something like “increase sales by 2% every month”. This is a goal you can measure, and you’ll be able to pinpoint which tactics have helped you achieve it. You can then invest even more of your budget in these successful tactics in the future.
2. Set a scalable budget
Speaking of budget, you ideally want to be able to scale yours. This doesn’t just mean having a certain amount set by for a rainy day, but allowing for the kind of flexibility that allows you to invest in a prudent opportunity when it comes your way.
For example, you may be able to expand your product range with minimal investment. Or, upping your social media marketing budget by a fraction might allow you to reach a significantly larger audience. You may be able to work with an influencer or sponsor an event that will get you some much-needed exposure.
3. Reduce the number of management tools you use
One project management pitfall a lot of ecommerce business owners fall into is using too many tools to keep track of different aspects of their business.
If you have a tool for inventory management, and another one for tracking sales, and then a third one for marketing and advertising, and another one for your finances, you’ll quickly lose track of everything.
Instead, invest in just a couple of tools (or suites) that can help you monitor your store and business from a single dashboard.
4. Keep better track of your inventory
Staying on top of your inventory is key in ecommerce. You want to be able to ship your products out as soon after an order has been placed as possible.
Efficient inventory organization involves segmenting your stock based on popularity. Place popular products in an easily reachable section of your warehouse and less popular ones physically farther.
You should also add in several layers of product tracking, starting with lot and serial number. This will ensure you’re sending out products in the right order and that none of them are sitting in stock for longer than they should.
5. Set deadlines
There is always something to do in ecommerce. Whether you are testing new products, sourcing a new wholesaler, trying to rework the contract you have with your shipping partner, there’s rarely a dull day.
Setting clear deadlines for yourself, your team, and any partners will not only ensure things get done on time but also help you prioritize better. Just because you don’t technically need to write those new product descriptions as urgently as you need to pay your invoices doesn’t mean you can just keep postponing the task.
6. Automate what you can
Automation and project management go hand in hand. In the world of ecommerce, there are plenty of tasks you can automate and not have to think about as regularly.For example, you can automate the following tasks:
- Newsletter
- Social media posts
- Purchase orders
- Reorder reminders
- Abandoned cart emails
- Sales email follow-ups
This list is not definite, and you can explore other automation avenues as well. The key is to identify tasks that are repetitive, often mundane, and don’t require a certain level of creativity and human input.
7. Test your processes
The thing about project management in ecommerce is that there is never an end goal. There is always something you can tweak, something you can improve, and plenty of room for improvement.
Make a list of priorities. Where can you improve your processes the most? Once you have identified the biggest room for improvement, start sounding out different solutions. Go through your list one item at a time, and try out different ways of tackling different tasks.
Make sure you don’t try to change more than one thing at a time, as that will only cause confusion. Move on to the next modification only once you’re certain the one you’ve implemented is working well and everyone involved in the process is used to it.
Final thoughts
Project management in ecommerce is never as glamorous as marketing or sales. However, it does provide that solid foundation that makes every other aspect of your business run more smoothly and efficiently. Invest the time it requires, and you may just be amazed by the results.
