[Shopify] Tasks required for running an EC site

Work that absolutely must be done

This is an essential task that is absolutely necessary for running a store. Let's take a look at it step by step.

Product procurement

An EC site is also a store, and products must be procured.

If you already run a store, you can share this with the store's products, so this is probably an area you don't need to worry too much about.

If it is a restaurant that is running an EC site for the first time, you will need to think about how to package the products (vacuum packing, adding ingredient lists, etc.). Naturally, this will result in new tasks that have not been done before, so it is a job that requires you to think in advance about who will be in charge of each task.

For example, in the recent trend known as "DtoC," when a "wholesale company" sells to "individuals ," product design is required within a different framework than wholesale .

In the case of apparel, what to do about name tags? There are quite a few tasks that are different from wholesale, so make sure you clearly manage what is needed for those things as well.

In the first place , don't buy anything. Do it without inventory! In that case, how do you arrange for the product when it sells? Make sure to create a flow chart from the moment it sells to ordering the product and shipping it.

Product display

Of course, products cannot be sold simply by purchasing them, so in order to sell them on an e-commerce site, they must be " registered ."

Is the process of product registration really that easy?

In the case of Shopify, once you get used to it, the registration process itself should not be that difficult. Also, for registering a large number of products, you can create a dedicated Excel template and fill it in to send it as a CSV file. In that way, it is possible to simplify things mechanically.

The registration process itself is not that difficult.

The thing you need to be aware of is not the registration process itself, but the steps that go before registration .

When you purchase a product, do you have a photo of the product on hand? Depending on the item, there may be some, but if you are dealing with original products, there will almost certainly not be any.

This inevitably meant that we had to take photos of the products , but since we didn't have a professional photographer in-house, the question of how to take the photos became a major issue.

Is it okay to just take a photo with your smartphone? Nothing shows the difference between a professional and an amateur as much as "product photography." "Product photography" is something that seems easy to do, but is actually difficult, as it involves the application of light and shadows.

In fact, I have tried many times, but no matter how many times I try, I can never reach the quality of a professional. This difference is obvious to customers, so what to do about it is always a problem.

Also, will the text used in the product description be just text? Or will you create a richer banner to make it look nicer? Depending on this, the things you need to prepare before registering your product will change significantly.

If you don't think about this point seriously in advance, your site will end up being a typical example of an e-commerce site that is left abandoned and nobody does anything about it, so make sure you thoroughly simulate the business flow.

Shipping of products

Since it's an e-commerce site, the good thing is that you can pretty much ignore the "sales" itself and cash register work in terms of "allocating manpower"; however, since the products are not handed over in person, they have to be sent as they are tangible goods.

The most important task in running an EC site

It is fair to say that this is a fairly simple task. Furthermore, you need to be prepared for a considerable amount of work involved in this part.

Imagine the process from when a product is sold to when it is shipped.

First, when an order is received, you will probably create a slip . Naturally, the core business you are currently using will involve tasks such as data entry. Then, based on the completed slip, you will have to pick up the product and pack it.

Of course, we pick up different items for each order, and the size of the package may vary depending on the product. Do we even have boxes for packaging? Where should we get them?

Just the packaging part 

• Who fills out the slip?
• Who prepares the packaging?
• Who packs it?

It is necessary to understand this as a business.

On top of that, which company do you use to ship it?

I think that "Yamato", "Sagawa" and "Yu-Pack" are the three major companies. If you are doing wholesale, you may already have a relationship with one of them, but if not, you need to think about which company to use.

There is also a tedious task called "creating shipping documents."

Unlike wholesalers, e-commerce sites do not send items to the same location multiple times, so do you have to fill out the form each time?

There are two ways to do this: "manual input" and "automation," and of course automation is somewhat expensive. However, most of the time, it is introduced. It is also important to check whether you can use such a system !

Voucher and payment management

One new task that people in charge of e-commerce often overlook is money management .

When it comes to sales invoices, there will likely be a need to combine the data generated in the internal core system for shipping processes with the data on Shopify.

And you won't get paid the moment it's sold.

In the first place, the payment route will vary depending on the payment method used at the time of sale.

As I wrote in my previous column, there are surprisingly many different ways that money can be deposited.

Since it is a company job, when it comes to processing invoices at the end of the month, the EC staff will inevitably be asked by the accounting staff, " What is this sales amount? "

• Which data should I refer to?
• How can I extract it?
• And who will do it?

If you do not anticipate these types of tasks in advance, you will have a hard time processing your accounting, so it is best to anticipate them in advance.

Legal matters

Of course, there are " laws for sales " for normal sales, but there are also " laws for mail order sales " for EC sites. For example, the "Specified Commercial Transactions Act" requires that the site operator's information must be listed somewhere on the site.

Also, when making a subscription purchase, it is necessary to clearly state that the sale is a subscription purchase and that after the first month is free, charges will be incurred from the second month, to avoid any misunderstanding.

In addition, consumers can use the "cooling off period" to process the sale, so if there is nothing written in the return policy, you may be required to accept returns.

You will also need to take legal action in this regard, so be sure to check the law.

In my field, alcohol is one of the strictest areas in the world, and a retail license does not allow for mail order sales, so it is necessary to obtain a mail order license.

Please note that there may be special rules for each industry.

Be extra careful with cross-border e-commerce

Shopify has a system that provides a very solid environment for cross-border e-commerce, so it is undoubtedly the world's easiest platform for cross-border e-commerce; however, the legal aspects are "up to the other country."

For example, if you want to sell goods to the United States, you must register with the US VAT and file value-added tax returns in accordance with local laws.

To be honest, this is something that can only be handled by someone who is familiar with American law. You need to check where you can ask for help, whether the tax accountant's office that your company currently uses can handle it, etc.

In addition, depending on the product, various preparations such as invoices and customs documents are required. To be honest, it is impossible for a web production company like ours to take responsibility for legal matters. There are almost no cases in which a production company can determine what documents are necessary depending on the product.

There will likely be experts for each country and product, so you should expect to have to go through the process of requesting the services of those experts.

What you absolutely need to do

You may have realized that even the absolutely necessary parts have a surprisingly large amount of work, but another part that requires work is the strategic part, which is, " How do we sell it? "

If you create an EC site and publish it online, will your products sell? Unfortunately, it's not that simple.

Attract new customers

The moment you open your store, it's like opening a store in the middle of the desert . There are no people passing by, so you can't sell your products unless people make the effort to visit your store.

Please refer to the details written here , but broadly speaking there are two ways to attract customers.

• Social media
• advertisement

These are the two biggest factors, and the least expensive way is to operate your own social media account. If you can operate it yourself, there are no costs.

However, in reality, it is difficult to operate a social networking site in-house.

Basically, you have to operate your business in a way that spreads awareness, such as posting every day . To be honest, the chances of your employees, who are new to SNS, succeeding in this are extremely low.

We can also give lectures on the key points of posting and what you need to do, and I think you will be able to achieve results if you do it, but the reality is that there are few customers who can continue doing what they are told, as the workload is much larger than you would think . Therefore, if you want to operate it in-house, I think you need a lot of guts and a long-term (yearly) plan .

In comparison, spending money is more effective and has immediate results.

For example, there is a way to leave social media management to the professionals.

There are many companies out there that perform a wide range of tasks, including daily posting, replying to comments, and producing post content.

And don't forget that your rivals are shops that use such companies . That's why there are so many companies that offer SNS management services (because there is value in that ).

Another method that has an immediate effect is by far advertising . If you can make money, your ad will be displayed at the top of Google search results, and there are various methods such as Facebook advertising and YouTube advertising, but you will definitely be noticed!

Although it depends on the accuracy of the ad placement, it is almost certain that you will be able to get access , so it is overwhelmingly effective in terms of immediate results, but it is also overwhelmingly expensive . Also, in order to place truly efficient ads, you need a lot of specialized knowledge.

For example, if you don't have enough knowledge to feel comfortable with "KPI, ROAS, CVR," even if you place an ad, it will be less accurate and you will attract customers, but it will cost a lot of money. You won't be able to escape this situation, so here again you have the choice of whether to allocate people in-house or outsource .

Acquiring repeat customers

Let's say you successfully acquired a new customer. Then you need to get them to buy from you a second time. This is what is called a repeat customer strategy, but in a normal store, it would be called creating a " regular customer ."

Naturally, the way you go about attracting regular customers will vary depending on the product.

For example, in the case of daily necessities , subscription contracts may be possible from the start. If it is something that is constantly consumed, such as soap delivered once a month or vegetables delivered weekly, it is easy to acquire because it "decreases" and is a way to "replenish."

On the other hand, what if you sold a "desk" that was sold for one household? It's unlikely that you'll be able to sell the same "desk" again. So you'll need a repeat customer strategy to get them to buy other products, such as a storage drawer that can be placed on the desk, a display arm, or a desk lamp.

In any case, in order to continue doing business with customers, it is necessary for them to be satisfied with the " initial product they purchased, " so product appeal is naturally important, but it is said that an even bigger factor these days is " who they will buy from ."

To achieve this, companies are using email newsletters to make customers remember them, build a sense of familiarity with them, and then encourage them to make additional purchases. They are also using things like chatbots to make customers feel closer to them by constantly telling them, "We're thinking about you!"

However, the closer you are, the more manpower you will need. When starting a new business, it is overwhelmingly more important to have new customers than repeat customers, so this may not be something you need to think about right from the start, but it is an essential element for running an EC site in the future.

Keep in mind that no matter what, you will have to allocate manpower here.

customer management

Data on customers who have purchased from you will accumulate over time. This is called a "customer list," and should be considered an invaluable asset for your e-commerce site. Since these are people who have purchased from you once, they will be of great help when implementing repeat customer strategies.

It's not enough to just stare blankly at it.

This huge amount of data is full of information that can be used to increase sales, such as "People who buy this also buy this" and "Is this selling to this age group?", so it is a customer list.

Customer management is also very useful for analysis, but since it is important customer data in the first place, how many people in the company can access it? And who has the authority to tamper with it? It is an area that needs to be decided clearly, so when managing people, you should also take " authority " into consideration!

improvement work

Knowing that daily operations and sales strategies require a lot of manpower, we also need to improve our operations in order to increase sales.

While looking at various data and products, we not only correct mistakes, but also make choices such as "let's take something that we didn't expect and develop it in a better direction!" or "let's stop doing this!"

To do this, you may need to renovate the website itself, or you may be able to solve some problems by changing the content of your ads or the content of your posts on social media. Either way, if you do nothing, your website will only fall into decline, so it's important for e-commerce sites to keep making new improvements .

The area needed for this is

Renovation of the homepage itself

• Reviewing advertising and social media
• Product Review
• etc

It will never end! You will need to keep trying to find "better" ways to do things, not just "best" ways at that time.

However, if you think about it, it's a business, so it's the same for everyone. With an EC site, it's not like you can automate that and make a lot of sales.

summary

Although what I have written so far is not everything about EC website work, I hope you have at least a general idea of ​​just how much work needs to be done!

daily work

1. Product procurement
2. Product display
3. Product shipping operations
4. Sales invoice management
5. Deposit Management
6. Legal Management

Inevitably necessary tasks

1. Attract new customers
2. Acquiring repeat customers
3. customer management
4. improvement work

I can't handle this much work.

If you think that way and do nothing, the status quo will remain the same. There is no doubt that the workload is large, but the opening fee is much cheaper than opening a brick-and-mortar store , and the fact that the business area is not limited is a big difference from opening a brick-and-mortar store.

It's much harder than you think, and it's also much harder to succeed.

You can never succeed if you don't try

This is also true.

I think that doing as much as you can in-house will keep costs down and make it easier to get results. However, the scope of the work is so broad, and marketing elements are also necessary, but as you can imagine, new items will be added to carry out daily work in the first place. Even if it seems like a small amount, even 30 minutes mixed into your daily life can make you think, "Oh, did I really have so much to do?" This is the daily life of operating an EC site.

Pack and send luggage

It's hard work. I have to make invoices.

How much work will be put on the shoulders of those who have read this blog? It is best to think about this and think about how to allocate time to things that will help you sell, rather than the "tasks" of daily work.

A common issue is " how much will you be able to focus on your core business? ", so consult with an expert about this. Shopify also allows you to automate various aspects, so aim to create an e-commerce site that is easy to increase sales by making good use of the system.