You’re a pure e‑commerce player and your company’s growth is already well established. To go further, why not diversify your sales channels? To do this, you’ll need to build a solid multi‑channel strategy. Here are some key success factors to help you roll it out effectively.
Redesign your overall strategy
To grow your company’s sales, it’s essential to be properly prepared (physical outlets, marketplaces, distributors, and more).
First, take a step back and review your current strategy. You may not be targeting the same customers or proposing the same offers for each distribution method, so set new objectives for every channel.
Align your internal organisation
Once your strategy is in place, take another look at your internal organisation. Removing silos between your different distribution channels is crucial: your teams must also operate in multi‑channel mode.
To streamline processes, data accessibility needs to be a priority. It’s therefore important to look at the implementation of new management tools. Your e‑commerce site is now just one of several distribution channels, and no longer the sole hub of your company’s information system.
Plan ahead for business growth
By increasing your points of sale and your presence on marketplaces, you will naturally boost your sales. Your company must be ready to handle this future growth, both in terms of production and customer service.
To achieve this, you’ll need flexible tools to manage your operations and connect them across all your distribution channels.
Put customer relationships at the centre of your strategy
It is essential to understand consumer expectations and place them at the heart of your strategy. Create a consistent multi-channel customer experience: customers like to have options, take time to think, and look for information online before finalising their purchase.
The main part of the approach is to create complementarity between the different sales channels. They will not all have the same objective:
- the online shop will remain your preferred sales channel;
- the physical stores will showcase your presence in the local market and help you build a close relationship with end customers;
- the marketplaces will help you expand your customer base and increase your visibility online.
Choose the best tools
You currently use Magento or Prestashop and this is perfectly suited for managing your online store. However, as part of a multi-channel sales strategy, the e-commerce platform will not be able to fulfil the role of an information system and ensure consistency between the various distribution channels, logistics, after-sales service, etc.
The best solution is to set up an ERP software and connect it with your e-commerce platform. The ERP will make it possible to automate logistics, manage stock, update product catalogues....
The information will be updated in real time, while avoiding multiple re-entries and the risk of errors between the e-commerce platform and the ERP.
This will facilitate communication and information sharing between the different teams. To choose your solution, you can refer to our article on this topic (E-commerce players: how to choose your ERP?).
Are you already running an e-commerce platform like Prestashop or Magento? We can connect Prestashop or Magento to your ERP/CRM using an Odoo connector.
Work with the best partners
A project of this scale must be properly supported. To choose the partner who will integrate your ERP software and connect it to your e-commerce platform, ask yourself the following questions:
- the integrator's experience: before you start, review their track record and references;
- the profile of their customers: work with partners who serve companies of a similar size to yours;
- the relationship between your business and the integrator; the relationship between the integrator and the ERP publisher; whether the integrator is a preferred partner of the ERP publisher;
- support: will you be on your own once integration is complete, or will there be a long-term working relationship?
