By Courtney Rosenfeld

E-commerce is a great way to make money online, but it’s not going to work if you don’t fully integrate it into your business strategy. The Digital Marketing Institute notes that this means taking time to plan your digital strategy and determining the role that digital technology will play in your overall strategy.

If you decide to start your e-commerce business on a whim, you’re likely to fail as soon as your first customers start placing orders. That’s because you won’t have fully integrated your digital strategy into your business strategy.

Planning for success involves determining what digital strategies you’ll employ in your e-commerce business. Local Marketing Center explores some of the most successful that other businesses have used. We’ll also discuss their place in the hierarchy of your strategy.

Integrate Wholesale and Drop-shipping Platforms

Now that you’ve fully integrated your digital strategy, it’s time to integrate your wholesale and drop-shipping strategies.

Wholesale partners can help your business reduce its operating costs. That’s because they can negotiate lower rates for you, allowing you to pass those savings on to your customers.

In addition, working with a wholesale partner can allow you to diversify your product offering. That’s because you can supplement your inventory with products that you don’t produce yourself.

When you’re partnered with a third-party drop-shipping platform, you can also take advantage of their marketing resources. That can help you promote your business, drive sales, and achieve deeper penetration into your target market.

Batch Processes and Data

One of the most effective ways to integrate your digital strategy is to use batch processes and data. Techopedia explains that batch processes are basically functions that you can run over and over again without human interaction. That way, you don’t waste time, money, or resources on non-essential tasks.

Batch processes can be extremely useful for integrating your digital strategy because they enable you to automate certain processes. That gives you more time to focus on other tasks, like product design or marketing.

Batch processes can also be used to collect data. That’s because every time you run a batch process, you collect data about the process. From there, you can use that data to analyze your business and identify areas that need improvement.

Remote Employees

It is a good idea to allow some members of your staff to work remotely. But in doing so, you must ensure effective communication among your team. A process template map is a great way to achieve this.

This tool will keep your team current with all the expected goals, thereby keeping productivity at its peak.

Be sure to spend your time and effort on big-data analysis in addition to your process mapping template. You will be able to discover, validate, and improve your workflows through process mining.

Process Mining

Process mining can help increase sales, reduce costs, and mitigate risk. You can also look forward to discovering hidden opportunities to expand your e-commerce company. Begin by identifying data sources. Next, identify potential data sources and create a timeline. Then determine your key stakeholders.

Keep in mind that there’s a difference between process mining vs process discovery. The latter is actually one step beyond process mining, as the discovery aspect is used to identify areas in need of improvement in the “white spaces” between data input and gathering that would otherwise go unnoticed. Then, reports are generated to share with all the team members to use for improvement and optimization of those areas. Once implemented, these automated processes allow you to respond faster to customer demands. They also reduce human oversight while allowing you to concentrate on more strategic tasks, like product development.

Mobile Apps

Another important feature you should consider is mobile apps for your business. If you don’t provide your customers with an easy way for them to pay online, you are missing significant revenue.

It is crucial to protect your mobile payment app, which is where authentication API comes into play. Customers can instantly verify routing numbers and bank account details by paying with ACH. All ACH processors are compatible with the app, meaning that customers will find the app easy to use, accessible, and intuitive.

With these digital strategies now in your hands, you’re better able to approach e-commerce in a new, more profitable light. Understanding how to effectively integrate drop-shipping and use the latest tech tools like process mining and mobile apps can springboard you toward long-term growth and sustainability.

Recognizing and Rewarding Employees 

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Paul Edwards of Local Marketing Center with his wife, Sarah Edwards, are award-winning authors of 17 books with over 2,000,000 books in print. Paul provides local marketing consulting through the Small Business Development Center. Read more informative articles today!