8 Benefits Business Stakeholders and Management Have Using Multi-Store eCommerce Harness the Power of Your Multi-Store eCommerce to Get the Most Out of eCommerce This is one part of a four-part series. Don't forget to check out how multi-store eCommerce benefits customers, marketers, and IT professionals. Many enterprise-level businesses operate multiple online stores with unique branding and product offerings. This can become overwhelming for business managers if no multi-store eCommerce solution is in place. Attempting to track information divided between separate platforms takes valuable time away from marketing, product development, and other important business matters. A multi-store eCommerce platform provides a framework for businesses to develop, launch, and manage all stores using a single administrator dashboard. Other tools allow for the creation of a customer experience that promotes conversions and increases ROI, something that company stakeholders are always on the lookout for. Centralized Control The major benefit of multi-vendor eCommerce is the ability to oversee and handle data from every store in one place. Managers no longer have to deal with the confusion that can result from changing product descriptions separately, adding new products to several different stores, or updating customer information in more than one database. In multi-store eCommerce, one catalog serves all storefronts, so updates are instantly visible across the board when changes are made to an existing product or a new product is incorporated into the catalog. Customer data is also centralized in a multi-vendor marketplace platform. Whether an individual shops at one store or is a supporter of many of a company’s brands, it’s possible to use the consolidated data to create a comprehensive picture of order histories, purchasing preferences, and responses to marketing campaigns. With this information, management and marketing can work together to develop strategies that draw in new customers and ensure that existing customers keep coming back. Unique URL Architecture To get the best possible results with SEO and organic search, each store that a company runs should have its own branded URL and an easily navigable internal link structure. A good multi-store eCommerce platform will offer the option to create unlimited sub-domains, allowing companies to operate as many stores with as many products and categories as they wish. Unique sub-domains differentiate brands from each other and improve visibility in search results. Every store can be individually optimized for a distinctive set of keywords to bring it to the attention of a target market that’s interested in a specific type of product. With no limit to the number of internal URLs each store can have, menus may be subdivided in whatever way providing the easiest path for customers to find what they want. Real-Time Inventory Management Regardless of the number of stores that a company operates, a multi-vendor marketplace solution places all products in a single catalog. Products can then be separated into categories that pertain to specific storefronts. However, data for every product remains centralized but can be assigned to display in any number of stores. Even if an item appears in multiple shops, the inventory across all stores updates in real time no matter which site a customer makes a purchase from. Companies that manage multiple warehouses are able to monitor available inventory across distribution centers. This ensures that items can be re-stocked before they run out, no matter which store it's being purchased in, preventing the frustration customers experience when faced with the possibility of waiting for a backorder. Customized Delegation Empowering employees in all departments to work without interruption or delay unburdens business managers from having to deal with bottlenecks in the system. In order for this model to succeed, a multi-store eCommerce solution must provide a way to assign unlimited roles and rights to supervisors and teams. Giving everyone their own unique logins and permissions facilitates smooth data transfer and better communication. Managers no longer have to worry about clearing up problems that develop as a result of inaccurate data or a lack of cohesiveness between departments. This could be roles such as allowing Procurement Managers the ability to purchase items, but only Accounting can pay invoices, for example. Customizable permissions make it easier to delegate roles to specific departments, teams, or individual employees. Once these parameters are in place, business managers can leave their staff to work without the need for constant supervision. Support for collaboration and task sharing improves business operations and gives employees a better working environment. Unlimited Scalability ECommerce scalability is essential in any system that an enterprise-level business relies on. In a multi-store eCommerce setting, this means being able to continue adding stores and products without the need to purchase new software or pay for additional licenses or hardware at regular intervals. The option to scale up or down supports ongoing growth and provides the choice to create niche stores for flash sales, seasonal events, and product launches. Clarity ecommerce is such a modular solution. International Application Unlimited URLs and an infinitely expandable product catalog provide the tools a company needs to expand into the global market. Storefronts can be designed to display content in customers’ local languages and price information in their native currencies. This creates a comfortable shopping environment preferred by international customers and increases the chances of generating conversions on a global level. Easy Shopping Experience It would be more than a little inconvenient for customers in a brick-and-mortar department store to have to check out purchases from each department separately, and yet a similar scenario occurs if a company manages its brands under different online platforms. Integrating with multi-store eCommerce lets customers put purchases from all of a company’s stores into one shopping cart and go through a single checkout process. This simple solution creates a smooth shopping experience that leads to higher conversions and more repeat customers. Information from these consolidated purchases all goes to one main database that updates with each transaction and can be pushed back to your ERP for fulfillment or to your CRM for Sales to track and provide service on. Accounts can easily be monitored to catch problems and deliver quick resolutions. Should a complex issue arise, it’s easy for lower-level employees to forward pertinent information to the management for further assistance. Complete Integration Whether a business already has a dedicated ERP, PIM, or CRM system or decides to add one in later, a multi-store eCommerce platform can be integrated with both to ensure a continual flow of important data. Other applications used to manage tasks such as billing, shipping, and marketing automation may also be integrated to minimize the amount of time that management has to spend tracking down information and resolving confusion. Clarity Can Help With Clarity eCommerce, you have access to all of these tools right at your fingertips. Our eCommerce experts can design an integration tailored to help you meet your business goals. contact us today for a free quote on a multi-store eCommerce solution that will provide customers with the best possible shopping experience and help you maximize profits from every store.