Approaches to Manage E-Commerce Websites

E-commerce websites trade products or services via electronic commerce technologies. The technologies include social

media, e-mail, supply-chain management, internet marketing, electronic data interchange, inventory management

system, electronic funds transfer, mobile commerce etc. Questudio’s e-commerce platform, WebStudio, is feature rich,

customizable and allows to seamlessly publish data from the content database to the web.

Building and managing e-commerce websites involves the following steps.

Organize Products

A major challenge for e-commerce websites is making sense of the huge repository of products. Many times a customer

is lost in the mire of unorganized product dumps. Arranging the products into logical categories and sub-categories is

necessary for lucid product representation. Adding clear and high-quality pictures from different viewpoints, short and

detailed specifications, stock levels information must also be included in the website regularly. Creating collections for

products enriches the customer experience.

Content Management System

Many e-commerce websites lose customers because of outdated and inconsistent data. The website must have

updated information at all times with new pages added from time to time. A related blog on the website is a great

sales and marketing tool. A newsletter revolving around the products, offerings, discounts and market insight can

help sustain the customer’s interest. These functionalities can be achieved through the central repository. Thus

Product Information Management is a precondition for building good e-commerce websites. Questudio’s

CatalogStudio PIM software can be put to use to create a central repository.

Payment Options

Today’s customer needs flexibility in terms of order numbers, shipping locations and payment options. Providing

options of payment through credit card, debit card, snail mail, paper, electronic cheque, fax and telephone can go

a long way in order fulfilment. Customer service on phone along with currency converter facility are also

necessary. The option of tracking order status, checking order details, expected time of delivery, multiple delivery

locations etc. enriches customer delight.

Customer Relationship Management

Customer relationship management is necessary to build brand loyalty. Creating and managing customer groups

depending on their location, spending etc. helps understand and target customers. Generating customer accounts

can help customize the customer offerings to specific customers. Promotion of the website through all possible

channels will also help connect with the customer at different touch-points. It is also important to provide the user a

simple and consistent login and browsing experience.

Outline Policy

Making the privacy policy public helps gain the confidence of the customer. Customer’s consent must sought before

sharing the customer’s private information, failing which customer trust can be lost. Sensitive information from

customers must be accepted over Secure Socket Layer (SSL) so that customers can be assured of the security of their

data. The terms and conditions involved in the business transaction between website and the customer must be

clearly highlighted without any ambiguity. This leaves the customer with no doubts after their shopping experience.

Measure Results

It is important to create check points to evaluate the e-commerce website performance. Time-bound tracking

and measurement of achieved results versus expected results helps one know one’smarket standing.