Indicators Your E-Commerce Business Needs Technology Consulting Services
- August 21, 2024
- Posted by: tony
- Categories: Blog, E-Commerce Development, Hire a Developer
While many companies start with an in-house approach to building and managing their digital commerce business, there comes a time when you run out of knowledge related to technology, and bringing in external expertise becomes necessary. This is where e-commerce consulting services come into play. But how do you know when it is the right time to hire an e-commerce technology consulting company? Here are some key scenarios that indicate it’s time to seek professional help.
Your Business is Expanding Rapidly
As your business scales, the demands on your technology infrastructure increase. Whether it’s dealing with higher traffic, integrating with multiple third-party systems, or ensuring that your platform can handle a product catalog, these are tasks that require specialized knowledge.
An e-commerce technology consultant can help you navigate this growth by ensuring your technology stack is robust, scalable, and aligned with your business goals. They can assess your current setup, recommend improvements, and implement solutions that are scalable.
Your Current Technology is Outdated
Outdated technology can lead to poor website performance, security vulnerabilities, and a subpar user experience. If you’re noticing slower load times, frequent downtimes, or complaints about the usability of your site, it may be time to hire an e-commerce technology consulting company. These consultants stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies, and ensure that your platform is competitive.
You’re Struggling with Integration
E-commerce businesses rely on various third-party systems for PIM, payments, shipping, CRM, and more. Ensuring these systems work together is critical to maintain operational efficiency and deliver a smooth customer experience.
When integrations become clunky, it’s a clear sign that you need expert help. E-commerce consulting services identify the best integration solutions for your needs, implement them effectively, and troubleshoot issues that arise.
You Lack In-House Expertise
For small and mid-sized businesses, in-house resources can be limited, and hiring full-time experts can be expensive. Hiring an e-commerce technology consultant is a cost-effective way to access top-tier expertise without the overhead of full-time staff. These consultants bring a wealth of experience on platforms, tools, and strategies, allowing you to tap into their knowledge.
Your Conversion Rates Are Stagnant or Declining
A well-designed digital commerce technology stack drives conversions. If you notice that your growth has plateaued or declining, it’s a red flag that something isn’t working as it should. The causes could range from a confusing user interface, lack of mobile optimization, to deeper issues with your underlying technology.
E-Commerce strategy consulting can diagnose the root causes of poor performance and recommend strategic changes to enhance the user experience, optimize the sales funnel, and boost conversions.
You’re Entering a New Market
Expanding into new markets—geographically or by targeting a new customer segment—requires planning and execution. Different markets have unique technical requirements, regulatory considerations, and consumer behaviors.
An e-commerce technology consulting company provides the insights and tools you need to tailor your platform to meet the demands of a new market. They can assist with localization and compliance to developing a market-specific user experience that resonates with new audiences.
You’re Planning a Major Technology Overhaul
Rebuilding or redesigning your e-commerce tech stack is a massive undertaking that needs clear strategy, careful planning, and precise execution. An experienced consultant will guide you through the process, help define your goals, select the right technologies, and implement changes in a way that minimizes risk and ensures your tech stack is future-ready.
You Want to Implement Advanced Features
As your business grows, you may want to add features to your e-commerce platform, such as personalized recommendations, AI-driven search, or advanced analytics. Implementing these features requires a deep understanding of the technology and the business implications.
An e-commerce technology consultant can help you evaluate which advanced features are worth investing in, how they can be implemented, and what impact they will have on your overall strategy. They can ensure that the required features are integrated accurately into your systems.
Attributes of a Good E-commerce Technology Consulting Company
While it is beneficial to leverage the expertise of an external technology consulting service, not all consulting firms are equal. To ensure you’re partnering with the right company, it’s important to know the key attributes that define a good e-commerce technology consulting company. Here are some of the essential qualities to look for:
Deep Industry Knowledge
The company should have a thorough grasp of the latest trends, technologies, and best practices. This knowledge extends beyond technical aspects to include insights into customer behavior, market dynamics, and competitive strategies. An effective e-commerce technology consulting company should tailor their recommendations to your specific market segment.
Proven Track Record
A good consulting firm will have a proven track record of successful projects and satisfied clients. This experience should span industries and business sizes, demonstrating their ability to adapt to challenges and requirements. When evaluating a potential partner, look for case studies, testimonials, and references that highlight their successes.
Comprehensive Technical Expertise
E-commerce platforms involve various technologies, including product information management systems (PIM), ERP, MDM, DAM, CRM, payment gateways, and more. An e-commerce tech consulting company should have expertise across these technologies.
They should be well-versed in Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, Odoo, and others. They should have expertise to integrate these platforms with other tools and systems. Their technical knowledge should extend to emerging technologies such as AI and ML.
Strategic Thinking
An e-commerce strategy consulting firm should look at the big picture and identify how technology can drive growth, improve customer engagement, and increase efficiency. They should work with you to develop a long-term strategy that considers future growth and potential challenges, and anticipate market changes and position your business to capitalize on new opportunities.
Strong Communication Skills
Communication is key to a successful partnership. The e-commerce technology consulting company will prioritize clear and consistent communication throughout the project. They should be able to explain complex technical concepts in ways that are easy to understand, and ensure all stakeholders are aligned.
How Should the E-commerce Technology Consulting Company Tailor its Services to Your Business Needs?
Every business is unique, with its challenges, goals, and technological requirements. When hiring an e-commerce technology consulting company, it’s crucial to find a partner who can tailor their services specifically to your business needs. Here’s how an e-commerce technology consulting company should tailor its services to meet your business needs.
Understand Your Business Goals
The first step in tailoring e-commerce consulting services is for the consultant to understand your business goals. Are you looking to expand into new markets? Do you want to improve your website’s user experience? Are you focused on increasing conversion rates or enhancing customer retention?
An e-commerce technology consultant will try to understand your short-term and long-term objectives, ask the right questions, conduct thorough research, and analyze your current performance to gain insights into what drives your business. By understanding your goals, they can develop a strategy that addresses your immediate needs and supports your future growth.
Assess Your Current Technology Stack
Before recommending solutions, the consulting company will assess your existing technology stack, evaluate your e-commerce platform, PIM, MDM, DAM, ERP, CRM, CMS, payment gateways, and any other systems you use to manage your online business.
The assessment will help the consultant identify gaps in your current setup. For example, they may discover that your platform is not scalable enough to support your growth plans, or that your payment gateway is causing friction in the checkout process. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your current technology, the consultant can recommend tailored solutions that enhance your operational efficiency and improve the overall customer experience.
Customize E-Commerce Strategy Consulting
Next, the consultant begins developing a customized e-commerce strategy, by creating a roadmap that outlines the steps needed to achieve your business objectives. This strategy should be tailored to your industry, target audience, and competitive landscape.
For instance, if your business operates in a niche market, the consultant might recommend customizing Odoo ERP modules to streamline specific workflows and enhance the PIM to your unique needs. If your business is expanding globally, they might focus on configuring Odoo to support multiple languages, currencies, and tax regulations, ensuring seamless operations.
Personalize User Experience Solutions
A tailored approach to UX design and optimization impacts conversion rates. The consulting company should analyze your customer journey, identify pain points, and develop solutions that enhance the user experience at every touchpoint.
For instance, if your customers frequently abandon their carts during checkout, the consultant might suggest streamlining the process, offering multiple payment options, or incorporating one-click purchasing. If your website has a high bounce rate, they might recommend improving page load times, enhancing mobile responsiveness, or redesigning the site to be more intuitive.
Adapt to Your Industry and Market Conditions
A good e-commerce technology consulting company should tailor its services to the needs of your industry and market conditions. This involves understanding your unique challenges and opportunities and adapting their approach accordingly.
For example, if you operate in the fashion industry, the consultant might focus on integrating social commerce features, enabling virtual try-ons, or optimizing your site for high-quality visual content. If you’re in the healthcare sector, they might emphasize data security and compliance with industry regulations.
Provide Scalable Solutions
As your business grows, your technology needs will evolve. A good e-commerce technology consultant anticipates this growth and recommends solutions that adapt to your requirements. This might involve choosing a platform that can handle increased traffic, integrating systems that are scalable, or implementing analytics tools that provide insights as data volume increases.
KPIs an E-commerce Consulting Company Should Use to Measure Success
Measuring success is not just about implementing the right technologies or strategies; it’s about achieving tangible results that align with your business goals. Here’s how a consulting company measures success and the KPIs they will use to ensure your e-commerce business thrives.
Revenue Growth
Revenue growth tracks increase in sales over a period and is a direct indicator of how your e-commerce platform is performing. Revenue growth can be influenced by several factors, including increased traffic, improved conversion rates, and higher average order values, all of which can be addressed by a skilled consultant.
A tech consultant will set revenue targets at the beginning of the engagement and track progress against these goals. They may use tools like Google Analytics, sales reports, and CRM data to monitor revenue growth and identify trends that can be capitalized on or issues to be addressed.
Conversion Rate
The conversion rate represents the percentage of visitors to your site who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a contact form. A low conversion rate can indicate issues with your website’s user experience, product offerings, or marketing strategies.
A technology consultant optimizes your conversion rate by identifying and addressing barriers to conversion. This might involve improving site navigation, simplifying the checkout process, or enhancing product pages with better images and descriptions.
Customer Acquisition Cost
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the cost associated with acquiring a new customer, including marketing expenses, promotions, and any other costs involved in attracting visitors to your site. If your CAC is too high, it can erode your margins, even if your revenue is increasing.
A consultant seeks to lower CAC by improving targeting to increase qualified leads, reducing ad spend on underperforming channels, or enhancing the website’s SEO to attract organic traffic.
Average Order Value
The Average Order Value (AOV) is the average amount of money spent each time a customer places an order on your website. Your consultant suggests strategies to boost AOV, such as deeper automation for faster turnaround time, reduction in steps at the checkout counter, or integration with your warehouse module for faster dispatch. By analyzing trends in AOV, they can encourage customers to spend more with each transaction.
Customer Lifetime Value
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) represents the total revenue you can expect to earn from a customer from their relationship with your business. CLV helps you understand the long-term value of acquiring and retaining customers. A high CLV indicates that customers are purchasing repeatedly and are likely to continue doing so.
Customer Retention Rate
Customer Retention Rate measures the percentage of customers who continue to do business with you over a given period. Retaining customers is often more cost-effective than acquiring new ones, making this an important KPI for any e-commerce business.
A consulting company will analyze customer retention rates to identify areas where improvements can be made, such as enhancing the post-purchase experience, offering targeted promotions, or improving customer service. By increasing retention rates, the consultant helps you build a loyal customer base that contributes to sustained revenue growth.
Cart Abandonment Rate
The Cart Abandonment Rate is the percentage of shoppers who add items to their cart but do not complete the purchase. A high cart abandonment rate indicates issues with the checkout process, unexpected costs (such as shipping), or a lack of trust in your site.
An e-commerce consultant implements strategies to reduce cart abandonment. This might involve simplifying the checkout process, offering free shipping, or using retargeting ads to remind customers to complete their purchases.
Website Traffic and User Engagement
Besides website traffic, it is also important to track user engagement, such as time spent on site, pages per session, and bounce rate. High traffic with low engagement might indicate your site isn’t meeting visitor expectations.
A good consulting company helps you monitor both traffic and engagement metrics to ensure that your marketing efforts are driving visitors and meaningful interactions. They might use tools like heatmaps, session recordings, and A/B testing to understand user behavior and make data-driven improvements to your site’s design and content.
Measuring success in e-commerce requires a comprehensive approach beyond just tracking sales. A good e-commerce consulting company will use a range of KPIs, including revenue growth, conversion rates, CAC, AOV, CLV, customer retention, cart abandonment, website traffic, and ROI, to provide a holistic view of your business’s performance. These KPIs allow the consultant to identify areas of strength, pinpoint opportunities for improvement, and make data-driven decisions that drive growth. By understanding and monitoring these key metrics, you can ensure that your investment in e-commerce consulting services and e-commerce strategy consulting yields the results you need to succeed in a competitive online marketplace.
Drop us a note and we will be happy to understand your need for a technology consultant. Email us at sales@navabrindsol.com to have one of our solution experts contact you.
Schedule a conversation with us now!
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