E-commerce SOPs
The growth of e-commerce has been unprecedented, to say the least. The way it has caught on and has found universal acceptance is without any parallel in recent history. That said, for a business to succeed as an e-commerce brand, the customer who is the cornerstone of the business must be offered an unmatched customer experience. Else, they would switch to the next best alternative at the click of a mouse, loyalties change very quickly in the online space.
This makes it rather important that an e-commerce brand remains focused on providing a consistent customer experience. One of the practical ways of doing it is through Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). By implementing SOPs for e-commerce business, a brand can ensure that processes and systems are standardized to offer a consistent experience that not only helps long term sustenance but equally enhances the company’s reputation for being a reliable brand. The write-up seeks to inform readers on areas where SOPs (i.e. e-commerce business blueprint) can be defined and implemented, here it is:
Order Management & Fulfillment:
If it is a growing e-commerce brand, it is not easy to manage the quantum of orders received on a daily basis. It would be extremely prudent on the part of the e-commerce brand to have a standardized set of procedures in the form of SOPs that would make the process of order management & e-commerce order fulfillment a systematic and streamlined process. Else, there is a good chance of getting a lot of complaints from dissatisfied customers during the last-mile delivery and after-sales. These two phases happen to be critical for an e-commerce business where enough standardization would make a great difference.
Inventory Management:
This is one of those things in an e-commerce business ecosystem if not handled properly can have great repercussions. Overstocking and understocking (out-of-stock scenarios) are real possibilities with improper e-commerce inventory management process. By implementing SOPs, the system will have better inventory control and have the right number of SKUs according to the existing demand. The SOPs would establish the necessary processes for inventory monitoring at regular intervals to ensure there is no overstocking nor understocking.
Customer Service:
Today, e-commerce businesses are connected to a lot of communication channels such as social media, online forums, google reviews, marketplace reviews, customer care numbers and so on. This makes it altogether important for brands to have guidelines in place well-before a contingency takes place. With the implementation of well-articulated e-commerce customer service SOP (Standard Operating Procedures), an e-commerce brand stands to gain from seamless communication protocols without any room for lapses or ambiguity. E-commerce customer service agents would accurately know what is to be conveyed to the customers most appropriately. Such a robust system will help the business manage pre-sales and post-sales communication in the most effective manner.
Product Catalogue Management:
In the online business, no one is directly selling 1-2-1 to the customer, hence the product itself has to do all the “talking.” This makes it all the more important to have strict guidelines in place so that the product and the associated product descriptions get displayed error-free. With SOPs, there can be standardized processes that need to be followed when listing the product on-site as it acts as an e-commerce business blueprint. By following through with the established procedures, there is minimal chance of an error occurring during the listing of a product or catalog management on an e-commerce website.
Operations Management:
The success of an e-commerce operation is dependent on internal stakeholders working in alignment with external agencies to achieve a common goal. By having well-articulated and system integrated, e-commerce operations sops, a business will have standardized systems that are less person-dependant and would ensure work flows seamlessly without any chaos.
HR Management:
A company’s culture is what defines and differentiates it from other brands in the same space. Organized working culture is not something developed overnight, but it gets created over a while during the course of the business. An e-commerce brand will be served well if it can have an HR handbook and policies in a standardized format. This will allow existing and new employees to easily align their actions with the company expectations & culture. In the long term, the management would not have to deal with low productivity situations, as the KRA’s, KPI’s, and its implications on the role becomes transparent with HR Standard Operating Procedures.
IT Infrastructure Planning:
The proverbial backbone of an e-commerce business is the technology infrastructure. Without that, it is difficult to get an e-commerce business off the ground. In technical parlance, it is utmost necessary for a digital business to have a robust online infrastructure with state-of-the-art technology supporting it. Moreover, the technology should be able to keep pace with the growth of the business. Meaning, there should be the addition and integration of IT systems to the existing system in a streamlined manner with time. This kind of exercise can be made seamless with an online business blueprint, that will serve as the guiding document to serve as the road map to fulfill a company’s growing IT needs.
Why YRC to develop E-commerce SOPs?
YRC comes with years of experience of having developed and implemented e-commerce SOPs for online business catering to different niches and verticals. YRC is a go-to service provider for businesses when it comes to designing e-commerce SOPs i.e. e-commerce customer journey map, e-commerce order management process flow, e-commerce business process flow, e-commerce process flow chart, e-commerce business process diagram, e-commerce process flow diagram, and so on.
YRC is a business partner for online businesses in implementing e-commerce best practices that are prevalent among established e-commerce companies. Overall, involving YRC in the creation of best-fit processes for an online business can ensure the reduction in error rates and as a result negative reviews pertaining to order processing, return and customer support reduces drastically. We come with a reputation for implementing well-written and IT system-integrated SOPs so that the process blueprints do not just remain on paper. Our efforts drive towards an objective to make the company more system-dependent and less person-dependent and reduce errors in systems that are hampering the growth of the company.
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