Preparing the ground for optimised sales

If you optimise your ecommerce site to sky-rocket sales, don’t get caught out by ignoring your behind-the-scenes processes.

By Suzie Larcombe

What if sales really do go through the roof?  How will you deal with the orders?  Will you have enough product?  What about returns? These are all questions you need to ask before optimising your ecommerce website.

Optimising your ecommerce site is a great way to increase sales, but you need to make sure you have your logistical ducks in a row so you can deliver to the increased demand.  In this article, we’ll share with you the behind the scenes groundwork you need to do to make sure you can deal with a hike in orders and sales.

Make sure you have adequate and timely supply

In the same way that you wouldn’t go out and bang the promotional drum in a crowded street to entice people into a ‘once in a lifetime offer’ if you only had a handful to sell, you need to be equally wary online.  If you’re optimising your site to increase sales, the optimisation process will cost you time, and, or money, depending on how you do it.

There’s little point investing either if you’re not sure to be able to secure supply if demand skyrockets the way you hope it will.

Double checking with your supplier that they can meet demand, as well as their timescales and terms for doing so is an essential part of your behind the scenes preparation for optimisation.  If you’re not confident that your supplier will deliver, it’ll be up to you to make the tough call as to whether you risk buying ahead or not.

Check your stock levels

If you’re going out with a really strong promotional message, either for one or a range of products, you need to know that you have sufficient stock to satisfy immediate demand.  Effort to secure sales is effort wasted if you run out of stock.  We’ve already spoken about making sure you can get supplies quickly if you need them, but being realistic about your stock level is equally important.

Staff up so you can process the orders and keep service levels high

In the same way that you may need to stock up for your optimisation process, you may also need to staff up for the outcome.  If you truly believe that your optimisation efforts will give rise to a significant hike in sales, you’ll need to make sure that you have sufficient hands on deck to maintain your service levels.

You’ll need to consider telephone support staff, picking and packing staff, as well as people to deal with the increase in administration caused by the increased sales.  Making sure you have sufficient people can be done cleverly using temporary staff or staff on zero hour contracts, so that if you need them they’re there for you, and if you don’t, the staffing up exercise has cost you nothing.

Double-check that your distributor can deal with your projected orders

If you use a courier service to deliver your products, depending on the increase in volume you’re anticipating, it might be worth checking that they can deal with the rise.  This might also be the perfect opportunity to renegotiate your terms, on the basis that higher volume should equal lower price.

Set up your returns to work like clockwork

Unfortunately, with the best will in the world, more sales typically gives rise to more returns.  This isn’t necessarily because people aren’t happy with the product, but more than likely because it turns out to be the wrong size, the wrong colour, or is simply an unwanted gift.

How you deal with returns will affect your customer loyalty and your long-term business success.  Scaling up for increased returns means that you need staff to do the job, and you need to make sure refunds and replacements are dealt with timeously and professionally to safeguard long-term loyalty.