Planning & Managing your Internet Retail Initiative - Internet Retail Expo 2013

• Sujit Panigrahi

• Last Updated: 31 January 2013

KNOW YOUR BUSINESS AND

TARGET SEGMENT

What do you want to achieve through Online Business?

Sell direct to end customers (B2C)

• Sell directly to your retail customers.

Need a tool for professional catalog and

order management and includes all key

B2C processes.

Use partners to market your products

• Sell products and services indirectly via

partners, to manage sales via distribution

partners, national affiliates, and

subsidiaries, and to enable your partners

to sell to their partners and retail or

business customers.

Sell online to business customers (B2B)

• Develop and optimize your online

transactions with business customers.

Implement all B2B processes and create

a professional customer and service

portal.

Integrate suppliers

• Create flexible and efficient supplier

networks. Integrate your suppliers into

your e-commerce environment. Your

suppliers can align their products with

your online offerings and provide all the

information you need for your business.

Steps to Online Business

• Initial Phases

Analyze your ideas and find a suitable solution that meets your specific online business

needs

• Planning phase

Plan your e-commerce initiative in close consultation with experts — from the marketing

plan to designing the online store and selecting the appropriate partners

• Implementation phase

This involves setting up and testing the online platform and processes defined in the plan

• International roll-out

Post-launch, systematically expand your online business, which can be quickly and easily

extended to cover other regions, as required.

Components of E-Commerce Initiative

+ Shop Management

+ Online Marketing

+ Store Front Development and Product Presentation

+ Internationalization

+ Business Processes

+ Customer Service

+ Logistics and Fulfillment

+SHOP MANAGEMENT

+Shop Management

Shop Managers to plan, roll out, and operate your Internet sales channel, taking responsibility

for the success of your online store and the revenue it generates. They handle the

following areas:

1) Defining the product range

2) Optimizing pricing within the online store

3) Ensuring proper delivery

4) Designing the online store

5) Managing employees and partners

6) Advertising activities

7) Monitoring sales processes

8) Customer management

9) Financial management

10) Accounting and Statuatory Requirements

ONLINE MARKETING

Online Marketing

One purpose: acquiring and retaining new customers quickly and cost-effectively.

Reach new markets and capture market share to increase value of your business, boost sales

and profits.

Use experience in sales-oriented online marketing, to devise strategies and activities that are

ready to be implemented as soon as the store goes live:

1.Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

2.Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

3.Social Media Marketing (SMM)

4.E-Mail Marketing

5.Affiliate Marketing

6.Data Feed Marketing (DFM)

7.Landing Page Optimization (LPO)

+ STORE FRONT DEVT. AND

PRODUCT PRESENTATION

Store Front Development and Product Presentation

Here are just a few of the functionalities you must have:

1.Flexible product grouping and presentation

2.Product comparisons

3.Product bundling

4.Cross-selling

5.Up-selling

An attractive, user-friendly online store with the right mix of tools to encourage your

customers to keep shopping. User marketing functionality such as:

1.Campaigns

2.Promotions

3.Discounts

4.Coupons

Offer your customer a choice of payment methods to improve shopping experience:

1.Credit card

2.Payment on receipt of invoice

3.Advance payment

4.Cash on delivery

Quick, reliable, and secure handling of payments prevents lost sales and also contributes to a

positive experience.

+INTERNATIONALIZATION

+Internationalization

In order to sell products worldwide, online shops need to be tailored to the specific needs of

many different locales—domestic, regional, or international.

You need flexibility such as:

1. Multiple languages

2. Ability to handle multiple currencies

3. Localization options

+BUSINESS PROCESSES

+Business Processes

Provide all the necessary business services relating to your online sales channel:

1.Accounts receivable

2.Reminders

3.Collection of receivables / payments

4.Risk management

5.Warranties

6.Pre-booking Policy

+CUSTOMER SERVICE

+Customer Service

• A staffed service center can be provided for your customers, processing inquiries by

telephone, e-mail, SMS, and fax.

• Employees to be given access to all the necessary systems and proper training to ensure

the highest standard of customer care.

• In addition to processing orders and advising on products, the customer service center

can also handle inquiries related to:

1.Order delivery dates

2.Billing issues

3.Returns and exchanges

4.General product complaints

+LOGISTICS & FULFILMENT

+Logistics and Fulfilment

• Have a good logistics and fulfillment team to directly oversee and manage:

1.Inventory

2.Incoming goods

3.Order picking and preparing orders for shipment

4.Returns processing

5.Annual inventory

6.Archiving records

7.Monthly statistics

TECHNOLOGY

CONSIDERATIONS

For B2C Business

1.Choice of E-commerce Plaform: MartJack, Zepo, Magento

2.Catalog and product data management

3.Powerful search capabilities

4.Simplified and personalized ordering process

5.Automated order processing

6.Customer data management

7.System integration capability

8.Performance and growth

For B2B Business

1.B2B e-commerce Models

2.Personalized storefronts for business customers

3.Customer accounts

4.Orders

5.Authorization processes

6.Language

7.Search

8.Exchanging catalog data

9.Merchandising functions

10.E-Procurement

11.Integration

MYTHS

Myth #1: You Need to Have a Website

1.Deals sites (such as Snapdeal, Khojguru, Timesdeal etc.) allow businesses

without a website to offer site members discounted products or services, this

can provide an instant boost to sales and customer acquisition.

2.Use an existing marketplace like ebay which contains “Stores” which are

effectively a website within a website – and you can launch your own branded

store within minutes and probably for a fraction of the cost of creating your

standalone website.

Myth #2: Search Engines will automatically send you Free Traffic

1.For ‘natural search’ or Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), it takes a skillful

web designer to ensure that any website is optimised for search placement at

sites like Google and Bing.

2.For example, it’s suggested that you follow some basic guidelines such as:

1.utilise a website title and Meta tags in your code;

2.use headings;

3.use links within and to and from your website;

4.use structured paragraphs that are rich in keywords and

5.label all images and media clearly

3.Update content regularly

Myth #3: You Don’t Have to be Price Competitive

1. Internet is the world’s fastest and most effective price comparison engine.

2. You’re not only competing with other local businesses, but also with much larger

international businesses whose economies of scale often mean they can sell to your

customer at a much lower price than you can afford.

3. Being the cheapest isn’t key here, it’s providing best-in-class service and add-on benefits

so that the overall experience you offer is competitive. Give benefits such as:

1.free shipping

2.free returns

3.loyalty program

Myth #4: You Can Manage Logistics Easily

1.Invest seriously in your logistics solution.

2.The most successful websites utilise a standalone distribution centre for e-commerce,

meaning they do not pay expensive retail rent and staff overheads for the products they

sell online.

3. Managing the e-commerce component of your business as a separate profit and loss

centre can help ensure you optimise the return on your investment.

4.Having lower overheads may also afford you the ability to discount your online products

or services.

Myth #5: Buyers will Always Find your Website

1.Your website address (URL) should be synonymous with your business name. It

should be an exact replica of your business name.

2.It should also appear in every place your business name does: all stationery, on-

premises, emails, in all advertising, etc.

THANK YOU

Sujit Panigrahi

sujit@convergenttec.com | +91-9810259395

www.convergenttec.com | www.logizmos.com