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Major eCommerce Pain Points and How Outsourcing Can Help SMBs Scale
Theo Alexandar | September 24, 2024
While eCommerce businesses, particularly small to medium-sized enterprises (SMBs), are thriving, they still face numerous operational challenges that can impede growth and efficiency. These major pain points of eCommerce operations include manual product listings, inventory management errors, inefficient order processing, complex returns, and refunds, overwhelmed customer support, and data entry overload. Each of these challenges can disrupt the customer experience, reduce profitability, and limit scalability. Addressing these pain points through automation, outsourcing, and advanced technological solutions is crucial for maintaining a competitive edge in the rapidly evolving eCommerce landscape.
By utilizing eCommerce outsourcing services, you can offload these time-consuming tasks to expert teams, allowing you to focus on growing your business.
Key Operational Pain Points for eCommerce Store Owners
Manual Product Listings
As eCommerce businesses scale, manually managing product listings becomes overwhelming. Tasks like updating descriptions, adding images, and adjusting pricing across platforms are prone to human error, leading to inconsistencies and inefficiencies. These mistakes result in lost sales and frustrated customers. Errors in product listings can create a poor customer experience, resulting in abandoned carts and negative reviews. Implementing AI-driven product information management (PIM) systems can automate this process, ensuring product details remain accurate across all platforms. According to McKinsey, using advanced automation tools improves efficiency and enables companies to scale operations while maintaining consistency and accuracy. This reduces errors and frees up resources for more strategic tasks like marketing and customer engagement, helping businesses meet the growing demands of eCommerce.
Also read:Major Pain Points for US eCommerce Businesses with Limited Fundings
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Inventory Management Errors
Inventory mismanagement is a critical issue for eCommerce businesses, especially those operating across multiple sales channels. Without automated, real-time inventory tracking, businesses face the risk of overselling or stockouts, both of which harm profitability and customer satisfaction. Customers expect transparency in stock levels, and any mismatch between what’s shown online and actual availability can lead to trust issues and lost sales. McKinsey highlights the value of integrating advanced analytics into inventory management, which can predict stock levels based on demand forecasting and sales trends. Predictive analytics ensures businesses maintain optimal stock levels and reduce operational disruptions. Additionally, Accenture suggests that automation in supply chain management can help balance stock levels across multiple locations, further improving efficiency and reducing 8logistical bottlenecks.
Inefficient Order Processing
Manual order processing can severely hinder fulfillment efficiency, especially during peak seasons when demand surges. The process often involves multiple steps, from order confirmation to packaging and shipment, which increases the risk of human error. Shipping delays and errors lead to dissatisfied customers, increased return rates, and negative reviews. Automating the order fulfillment process significantly enhances speed and accuracy. By integrating AI and machine learning technologies, businesses can automate order picking, packing, and shipping, reducing manual intervention and minimizing errors. Accenture emphasizes that efficient supply chains, powered by automation, can also reduce costs while meeting customer expectations for fast delivery. Streamlined processes not only improve customer satisfaction but also build operational resilience, enabling businesses to scale without compromising on service quality. Also read.
Also read: Top Affordable eCommerce Outsourcing Companies for Scaling SMBs in the US
Complex Returns and Refunds
Handling returns and refunds can be a logistical challenge for eCommerce businesses. Customers expect a fast, hassle-free returns process, and delays or complications can erode trust in the brand. Slow refunds and inefficient returns management frustrate customers and result in negative experiences. McKinsey points out that businesses can streamline returns through automation, allowing for quicker inspections and restocking. Outsourcing the returns process to third-party logistics (3PL) providers can further reduce the operational burden on internal teams. By automating the tracking and processing of returns, businesses can ensure faster refunds and better inventory control. This improves the customer experience and minimizes the financial impact of returned items, ultimately boosting customer retention.
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Overwhelmed Customer Support
As businesses grow, the volume of customer support inquiries—related to orders, returns, and product issues—can quickly overwhelm internal teams. Slow response times negatively impact customer experience, leading to dissatisfaction and lost loyalty. Implementing AI-powered customer support systems, such as chatbots, can help manage routine queries, allowing human agents to focus on more complex issues. Additionally, outsourcing customer support can provide 24/7 assistance, ensuring timely responses and maintaining customer satisfaction. Accenture emphasizes that delivering a seamless customer experience is critical for retaining customers and driving growth. Streamlined customer support systems, powered by automation, can resolve issues more efficiently, enhancing the overall experience and contributing to long-term brand loyalty.
Data Entry and Transaction Overload
Manually entering transaction details and managing data is time-consuming and prone to errors, slowing down operations and leading to financial discrepancies. Automating data entry can greatly enhance accuracy and speed. AI-powered systems can process large volumes of data quickly and with minimal errors, allowing businesses to focus on more strategic activities such as scaling operations. Accenture points out that automating back-end processes, like data entry, can free up valuable resources and reduce operational costs, contributing to a more efficient business.
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How eCommerce Outsourcing Solves These Pain Points
Outsourcing various eCommerce operations can significantly improve efficiency and accuracy for growing businesses. Handing off product listing management to professionals ensures product catalogs are updated promptly and consistently across platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, and BigCommerce. This reduces errors in product details and frees up valuable time. In the same way, outsourcing inventory management allows businesses to maintain accurate stock levels with real-time updates, minimizing the risk of overselling or running out of stock.
Order fulfillment and returns processing also benefit from outsourcing. Outsourced services can manage the packing and shipping of orders efficiently, reducing errors and improving customer satisfaction. They can also handle the logistics of returns, ensuring customers receive timely responses and refunds while your team focuses on other core activities. Additionally, outsourced customer support offers 24/7 assistance, managing inquiries via live chat, email, or phone, so customer service levels remain high without overburdening your internal team. Lastly, outsourcing data entry and transaction management automates processes that are prone to errors, speeding up operations and giving you more bandwidth to focus on growing your business.
