Well, there are a couple of big ways you can really screw up your ecommerce integration. From not incorporating your CRM and ERP systems to ignoring impacts on your company’s tax nexus, there is a list of mistakes you can avoid by being prepared.

We’re here to help remind you of some of the top concerns to address before you move to a new ecommerce provider. Bring this check list to the next meeting with potential vendors and walk through these points with them to ensure a seamless transition.

Integration Points

Address all possible connection points between your internal systems and your new ecommerce platform to make sure everything aligns. Otherwise, minor issues like foreign currencies, orders delays or entitlement allocation could turn into major problems.

1. Guarantee complete integration of your CRM/ERP systems
   This is a big one! Your new ecommerce platform should work effortlessly to notify your master customer database of each transaction, or else your database is worthless. Be sure to map ERP-listed SKUs to SKUs in your ecommerce platform to avoid selling products that do not appear in your accounting system.
2. Confirm entitlement allocation and validation
   Make sure entitlement is granted to customers when they buy your product. Discuss options for customer validation in situations where only certain customers are qualified to buy specific products like upgrades.
3. Have a single sign-on
   Customers should never know they are logged into any system except yours. Should customers need to log into an account on your site to check for information hosted by your ecommerce provider, they should be able to access any information pertaining to their orders without leaving your site.
4. Determine who will host data files
   Determine which Content Delivery Network (CDN) to use, and explore any impact on your company’s tax nexus. Any reputable ecommerce company will offer an extensive list of APIs to address these typical, but sometimes complex issues. So make sure these items are on the table for discussion.

After you’ve tackled the integration pitfalls, walk through these trouble spots with your new provider to work out any issues ahead of time:

5. Create a flawless user experience
   Your web page branding should be consistent across your hosted pages and your ecommerce providers. Don’t forget to confirm your custom domains, and make sure customer specific data is passed to pre-filled carts.
6. Prepare your systems for any new data
   Orders that come from countries such as Japan and China include double-byte characters, which require more data storage than Western character sets like ASCII. If your internal systems are not prepared, your database may not capture this information properly, or at all, causing discrepancies later.
7. Plan for order delays
   Discuss your strategy to handle orders that are not received, which could be due to a variety of reasons, including:
   • Temporary Internet outages
   • An unfamiliar format
   • Planned maintenance
8. Don’t forget about resellers and affiliates
   Whether you heavily rely on resellers and affiliates or you are looking to do so in the future, it’s important that you have a system in place for these partners to use. A great ecommerce provider will be able to support and improve communication with your partners. Do not forget to ask your new provider to explain how this process works in their system.
9. Integrate the full-range of analytics
   To gather a 360-degree view of your ecommerce you need to track customers’ complete purchase cycle. Make sure your provider tracks customers when they leave your hosted pages and are transferred to the ecommerce platform pages.
10. Adjust accounting for new currencies
    You want customers from across the globe to buy your products in their native currency. If your new ecommerce provider offers new currencies, make sure you adjust your accounting system to reflect the additions. Stay on top of this topic as your provider updates their platform to include more and more currencies.
11. Ensure great customer service
    Make your ecommerce provider aware of your particular customer service policies and procedures, such as handling refunds and chargebacks. World-class customer service is so important! To provide the best, have a mutual agreement on how you communicate with your customers.

This list should help you ask the right questions before implementation, so hopefully you spend less time on unexpected issues and more time optimizing your ecommerce – which is why you got a new provider to begin with, right? Good luck going live!

Keystone

Integration with a new ecommerce provider goes more smoothly if you address your concerns in advance.

The post Eleven Ways to NOT Botch Your Ecommerce Integration appeared first on cleverbridge.

Whether you sell software, subscription products or access to content, it’s important to address all the possible communication points between your corporate enterprise systems and the e-commerce platform.

Otherwise, minor points like foreign currencies, orders waiting for payment or Internet outages may turn into major production problems.

Whether you have built your e-commerce infrastructure in-house or have been using an out-sourced partner, implementing a new, state-of-the-art e-commerce platform requires a lot of thought.

Here are a list of important integration points that you should make sure to discuss with any potential e-commerce partners:

• CRM/ERP integration – Informing master customer database of each transaction
• Entitlement allocation – Customer buys your product and needs entitlement granted
• Seamless user experience – Web page branding, custom domains, customer specific data passed to pre-filled carts
• Entitlement validation – Qualify customer to buy specific product
• Single sign-on – Customer logged in to each system simultaneously, your side should be the the master and your e-commerce provider the slave
• Hosting of data files – Whose Content Delivery Network (CDN) to use, impact on tax nexus

To go into detail about the above items would be too much to cover in one blog post. However, any reputable out-sourced e-commerce company will offer an extensive list of APIs to address these typical, but sometimes complex issues. So make sure these items are on the table for discussion.

After you have tackled the integration points, it’s important to talk to your potential e-commerce provider about the following hidden trouble spots that you may encounter when completing your integration:

• Delayed access to delivering or receiving real-time purchase notifications– If you are receiving order data from your e-commerce platform following each transaction, you need to have a plan to handle orders that are:
  • Not received due to temporary internet outages
  • Received in an unfamiliar format
  • Not received due to planned maintenance

• Lack of double-byte enabled systems – Orders that come from countries such as Japan, China and Russia include (if your e-commerce system allows it) double-byte characters, which require more data storage than Western character sets like ASCII. If your internal systems are not prepared, the data sent may not be captured properly or at all in your database, causing inconsistencies later.
• Analytics integration – Make sure your e-commerce provider is tracking customers once they leave your hosted pages and are transferred to the e-commerce platform pages. Not doing so results in a lack of visibility into the full customer purchase process.
• Accounting system currency reconciliation – Moving from an in-house system to a globally focused e-commerce platform usually entails exposure to more currencies than you may have supported initially. Find a way to allow customers to pay for your product in their local currency that also supports automated input into your accounting system so that you don’t dilute the benefit of accepting more currencies.
• SKUs in ERP system – Many ERP systems are configured with specific SKUs for your products that are not as flexible as some external systems. Be sure to map ERP-listed SKUs to your e-commerce platform SKUs to avoid products selling in production, but not appearing in your accounting system.
• Resellers and affiliates – Selling via resellers or affiliates requires detailed communication to ensure that your partners are familiar with and comfortable using your new e-commerce platform. Make sure that you plan a migration path with your new e-commerce provider.
• Customer service policies – Procedures handling daily processes like refunds, chargebacks, underpayments and other customer issues need to be communicated to your partner to ensure a common message is provided to all customers. Great customer service is a real differentiator – don’t ruin your reputation by not preparing in advance!

Embarking on a new e-commerce platform selection project is a daunting task. And the work doesn’t end once the selection is made – the real risk begins when it’s time to align your internal systems with your new e-commerce platform.

More time spent planning for the implementation (and asking the right questions) will result in fewer unforeseen circumstances in spite of the additional time required to reach go live status.

Using the right tools is critical to a successful result in such a large project. Here are some tools that can help you better prepare:

• Flow chart software to draw use case scenarios and process flow charts
• Project management software to identify task owners and visualize dependencies
• Dedicated sandbox testing environments that don’t impact existing production systems with unstable programs and procedures

With the discussion topics above and these tools to help you get organized, you won’t miss a beat during your e-commerce outsourcing project.

Keystone

When implementing a new e-commerce platform, the more planning you do in advance, the fewer errors you’ll have when flipping the “go live” switch.

What kinds of tools have you used to help you?  Any little gremlins that you never think of that always pops up when going live?

The post Tips and Tools for a Successful Ecommerce Integration appeared first on cleverbridge.

• Billing / payment solutions
• Subscription management solutions
• Full-service solutions

Billing / Payments Solutions

These usually offer a payment gateway to securely capture credit card information from a online cart and transfer the data and funds to a merchant account. Few companies supply both services under the same roof, so it is typical to have one company provide the gateway and another supply the merchant account.

Subscription Management Solutions

Subscription management solutions focus on handling when each customer is due to be billed and for how much. These are great for managing subscription plans, but don’t address all your ecommerce needs.

Full-Service Solutions

These have subscription management capabilities, but also core ecommerce ones like payment processing, multivariate testing, localization, marketing, fraud prevention, affiliate marketing programs, customer support, etc.

Figuring out which solution best fits your business requirements can be tricky. Even providers that help you boost revenue in the short term might seriously limit your ability to respond to future shifts in products and services, pricing and market opportunities.

So how do you find a solution that meets your needs?

cleverbridge is proud to present a complimentary white paper to help you navigate the ins and outs of each type of subscription commerce solution.

Download now to discover:

• The pros and cons of three types of subscription solutions
• Concrete use cases for each solution type
• Questions to ask yourself when evaluating providers
• Questions to ask potential providers

The post Navigating the Subscription Commerce Solutions Landscape [White Paper] appeared first on cleverbridge.

However, if you focus your time on deciding how and where you are going to sell it, there is a good chance you would neglect further product development. Now imagine that many of your customers speak a different language than you and carry only foreign currencies. Your ability to sell to customers just became much more complex.

Nowadays, many of the products we build and the environment in which we sell them are electronic. Though the tools of trade have changed, the principles have not. It simply means that instead of building a storefront, software companies have to establish an ecommerce environment.  That means deciding between an in-house or outsourced ecommerce solution─ or the classic build versus buy decision.

How can a company know whether it is in their best interest to build their own ecommerce solution versus outsourcing it? This is a constant dilemma for many businesses. In order to make the best possible decision, they must measure the costs and benefits of their ecommerce solution. This means building a business case by calculating the total cost of ownership of the solution and the potential return on investment it brings.

Many start-ups begin by building in-house solutions. It allows them to customize features according to their own specifications, maintain control of development and ensure security standards are met. This can often be a viable option in the short-term. However, in time, companies may find that their in-house solution has not kept pace with the complexities of the ecommerce world. After all, a company’s core competency typically centers around the product they sell, not necessarily the ecommerce used to sell it. What happens when in-house ecommerce starts to hinder business growth?

In building one’s own solution, either in-house or through free open source software, there are many pieces to consider:

• Domain names to purchase
• Hosting space to rent
• Merchant accounts to open
• Payment options to acquire
• Front and back-end developers to hire
• Analytics to measure
• Affiliate programs to join
• OEMs to partner with
• Fraudsters to defend against
• Customers to serve

Forrester Research offers this diagram to show the complexity involved in building an in-house solution.

When it comes to penetrating global markets, things become even more complicated as webpages, payments options and currencies must all be localized. The benefit of partnering with an outsourced solution is that they handle all of these activities on your behalf. This frees up many resources for product development that would have been otherwise occupied in ecommerce activities.

This is not to say there are no risks associated with outsourcing your ecommerce solution and companies must proceed with eyes wide open.

What if the investment in a full featured solution proves to be greater than expected? How much leeway can your software company afford? What if your partnership does not meet revenue expectations?

Keystone

 Deciding whether to outsource ecommerce is a dilemma for many organizations. Concerns about cost, control and quality often cause companies to select the in-house option. What if the right ecommerce partner could eliminate those concerns?

Visit our resources page to evaluate the costs and benefits of outsourcing to an ecommerce provider.

The post The Costs and Benefits of an Ecommerce Solution appeared first on cleverbridge.