Category: Getting Started

As a consumer, e-commerce is a straight-forward concept.  We see an item we like, add it to the shopping cart, go through checkout, and some time later a package arrives at the destination of our choosing.  The consumer will never see the behind-the-scenes mechanisms that facilitate that delivery of goods to their destination.

Learning the lingo of e-commmerce order fulfillment is mandatory.  Not only can you communicate clearly with others in the field, the major buzz words also help define the various steps in the process.

1.  Sales Channel: The actual sales platform used to present your product to the public.  The sales channel also general handles the shopping cart, collection of payment, and returning tracking information to the customer.  Examples would include Shopify, Big Commerce, Amazon, Overstock, Etsy, Ebay, etc.
2. Order Management System (OMS) : This can be integrated with a sales channel but if you sell on multiple platforms, a good OMS will help collect all orders from all sources for greater control of inventory and visibility of sales.  Examples include ShipStation, Zoho Inventory, TradeGecko, Channel Advisor, Brightpearl, etc.
3. Customer Relationship Manager (CRM): A CRM provides one single location to receive and send all customer communication. If you sell across multiple channels or have multiple people handling customer service, a CRM is almost mandatory to streamline communication to reduce the time and effort required to meet customer expectation.  An online CRM can include forms, email, instant chat, or even text messages.  Examples would include FrontApp, Zoho, HubSpot, ZenDesk, Insightly, and many more.
4. Warehouse Management System (WMS): For many small businesses, an OMS can also serve as a WMS and many are built to do so on a small-scale.  However, if you grow beyond those limited capabilities, the next step is to include a warehouse management system.  A WMS is used to organizing inventory which means any incoming inventory, outgoing inventory, and the quantity and location of any current product on hand.  Particularly if lot or serial numbers are involved, a WMS may be required.
5. Third-Party Logistics (3PL): E-commerce orders are often fulfilled by a third-party logistics company that specializes in picking, packing, and shipping orders for a multitude of clients. Logistics providers can provide a level of flexibility and scalability that many small businesses cannot reach on their own.  They can also offer greatly discounted shipping rates for carriers such as FedEx or UPS.

Together, all of these elements make up the life cycle of an e-commerce order.

 

So you have created this amazing product and now you want to launch it into the vastness of the world wide web.  While most people have a general idea of how e-commerce works, the nitty gritty details of starting and keeping the gears moving smoothly can be daunting.

The most basic starting point is to launch your own online store.  Choosing a shopping cart involves careful considering of technical support, cost, customization available, and the practicality of linking various services together for smooth workflow. After the sales channel is selected you need to design the store, set up product details, arrange shipping information, and setup payment options.

A thorough understanding of the various options and tools offered by the channel is as critical as careful attention to detail when adding products to be sold. Sometimes a little extra effort spent on proper setup can save you a ton of stress and hours of repairs later.

In addition to or instead of an owner-controlled shopping cart, you can also choose to leverage third party sales sites such as Amazon, Etsy, Overstock, or similar.  There are varying degrees of difficulty involved in listing your items on these sites.  Some platforms may be more applicable for certain items than others while occasionally less profitable exposure on a grand scale may eventually be used to funnel customers directly to your store to maximize margins.