Ecommerce outsourcing? But why? The COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the ecommerce industry has been unprecedented. At first, consumers turned to ecommerce as their only option to purchase products needed when brick-and-mortar stores closed. Now that those establishments have re-opened, consumers continue to spend online in record numbers.
ECommerce demand is booming, but so is competition. For ecommerce businesses that want to have a competitive advantage, outsourcing has become a particularly attractive option.
Outsourcing provides businesses with a young, tech-savvy population, affordable wages and excellent English, making it easy to see why businesses are turning to outsourcing. Having access to great resources isn’t enough. To see all the benefits of outsourcing, ecommerce businesses need to take the time to build strategies that best utilize outsourcing’s resources.
Cloudstaff has over 10 years’ experience working with global ecommerce businesses. Through outsourcing, we’ve helped them set up efficient, profit driving global offshore teams and have found there are seven key elements that all ecommerce retailers should be doing to grow business and increase bottom lines. Here’s the seven things your business should focus on:
1. Trim your bottom line & invest in your business
The first and most obvious advantage of building an offshore ecommerce support team is the cost savings you can make. Outsourcing countries have vibrant, growing economies, and wages are much lower than in most Western countries because they are still developing.
When businesses outsource to growing economic nations, most find they can cut staffing costs significantly, with further savings through reduced operational costs, such as office space, hardware, payroll and HR administration.
For growing ecommerce businesses, setting up offshore support teams is an ideal way to free up capital that can be better invested in adding new product offerings or targeted campaigns that extend your market reach.
2. Increase your expertise
So you have a great idea and outstanding product that you know that people will want. That’s an excellent start, but unfortunately, your great ideas aren’t worth anything if you don’t know how to reach your audience and manage procurement, logistics, shipping, store platforms and customer care.
Knowledge is key and this is where partnering with a reputable outsourcing provider is worth its weight in gold. Not only can you make the significant savings mentioned above, but top outsourcing providers are usually a one-stop shop to find industry experts for any role you need.
They often work with other ecommerce providers too, so industry insights can be useful for young ecommerce providers!
3. Improve availability
Customer expectations have changed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Online retailers are expected to be available 24/7 should their customers need assistance or have questions. Your online store never closes and if you are not there when customers expect you to be, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on an opportunity and could lose that customer to a competitor.
Most online businesses recognize just how important this is for their operations, but in many cases, the high costs associated with having a 24/7 team can be prohibitive and hold them back. However, outsourcing this function removes those financial barriers.
Just like in your native country, outsourced staff working night shifts will receive a slightly higher pay rate, but this is still nowhere near what you might expect to pay in Western countries.
Additionally, depending on where you are located, you may avoid paying ‘night shift rates’ altogether by using time zones to your advantage. For example, if you are based in the US, your local team can handle customer queries and support during the day, and your offshore team on the other side of the globe could handle them during your night time (their day time).
4. Expand your market reach
In a physical brick-and-mortar store, the customer base is typically restricted to those who live locally. In contrast, for ecommerce retailers, the world is your oyster. The key is being recognized by your target audience – no matter where in the world they live.
Outsourcing helps you reach wider audiences in several ways. First, it gives you access to top digital marketing and SEO professionals who can use technical knowledge to optimize content to reach your regional audiences. Additionally, it gives you access to new and evolving market insights. You might understand your home market well, but how well do you know Asian markets or US, Australian, and European markets?
Outsourcing business processes provides businesses with access to local experts who have native insight into unique cultural differences. This allows ecommerce retailers to optimize products, websites and materials to a specific audience – because these things are not one-size-fits-all on a global scale. Having local expertise is paramount to your business’s international viability.
This expertise means that rather than building strategies by endless trial and error, you can shorten the learning curve by accessing experienced ecommerce professionals who have years of experience working with businesses and customers all around the world.
5. Create engaging visuals
According to Time Magazine, the average human attention span is considered to be eight seconds, which means that when potential customers visit your online store, you don’t have very long to catch their interest.
Your eCommerce store needs to be visually appealing, but also provide all the information customers need to make a purchasing decision. Consider the following:
- Make sure your website is easy to read at a glance
- Ensure visuals and graphics are engaging for your visitors
- Provide clear and concise product information
Outsourcing gives you access to a wide range of roles, and designers and graphic artists are certainly no exception. The global outsourcing design scene is really booming, and if you are looking for world-leading, cutting-edge designers, outsourcing is the best path to recruit them. The fact that they are super affordable is just the cherry on top!
6. Ramp up operations
One of the most challenging staffing issues for eCommerce retailers is the need for fluctuating staff numbers depending on market conditions. Outsourcing can help you maintain business agility during peak and off-season by allowing you to scale up or down relatively quickly.
In many cases, though, businesses can avoid the problems of onboarding and offboarding seasonal staff altogether because outsourcing’s low-cost labor options allow them to maintain a constant staff.
7. Focus on your core
Growing your eCommerce business by outsourcing isn’t just about the work that is done by your offshore team. It’s also about the special and high-value knowledge and vision that offshore teams bring to the table. When you have the right outsourced support team taking care of all the little things, it allows you to focus on the core parts of your business, like your overall strategy and direction.
Ecommerce outsourcing is easy with Cloudstaff
Cloudstaff’s outsourcing experts are here to help. We’ve been setting up global outsourcing teams for over 10 years for companies of all sizes. From helping you get started to fine-tuning high-performance teams, we are always happy to share our experience with you. Speak with us today.