Ecommerce platforms have experienced their boom in the last years, especially during the COVID-19 global pandemic. Many customers visit their mobile e-commerce app to order food or buy essential oil sets in Singapore.

On the other hand, many small entrepreneurs resort to social media, e-commerce platforms, and online marketplace as their primary business channels.

Because of the convenience, it is unsurprising that many online businesses experience rapid growth in a short period. The great demand requires a better and more efficient process and ecommerce channel management. It is where aunified ecommerce platform enters the picture.

What is a unified ecommerce platform, and why is it essential for entrepreneurs? Find out the answers here.

A Brief Introduction To Unified Ecommerce Platform

There is a growing dependency on e-commerce platforms today, thanks to technology, social media, and cashless transactions. In return, platforms continue to improve and evolve to cater to the skyrocketing demand. And one of their creations is the unified ecommerce platform.

What is a unified e-commerce platform?

A unified ecommerce platform is a complex software that integrates previously IT systems and channels into a single platform, creating a comprehensive retail ecosystem. It covers the end-to-end business process, from interacting and selling your products to your customers online to delivering the items to their doors.

What are the components of a unified e-commerce platform?

Channels

Your business should provide channels for the consumers to be able to interact with your products and services. What are these channels?

Business channels include physical stores, websites, e-commerce platforms, social media accounts, and kiosks.

Channel management for Singapore businesses that uses multiple channels. For example, collecting sales data from your website, physical store, and online market platform can be rigorous since they use separate channels.

In unified e-commerce platforms, these channels are managed by one centralised system. It provides a seamlessecommerce channel managementsystem.

Interaction

The consumer will now interact with your channels. Your unified ecommerce platformhelps record the behaviour or interaction of your consumer with your product. Interactions include signing up, logging in and out of your e-commerce website, the purchased and abandoned products, the products they searched, the prefered payment methods, product returns, and more.

Customer data and order data play crucial roles in designing strategies to improve consumer experience and interaction with them.

Products

Entrepreneurs can see real-time data about their products and services in different channels through the unified e-commerce platform.

Firstly, the platform allows them to see the stock supplies across their physical and online stores. What are the out-of-stock items? Which products are on display?

Secondly, they can monitor the flow of inventory in their warehouses with just one click.

It also covers the logistics part of the business. Which items are on their way? Which products are to be delivered? What are the things that have been returned?

Apart from ecommerce channel management, a unified platform keeps track of the ins and outs of your product inventory.

System

The system glues the three components of unified e-commerce platforms. It acts as a bridge or link for these areas.

For example, to fill in the gaps in the channels, the platform uses the content management system (CMS) to utilise each channel. It helps improve the user-friendliness of the e-commerce website and app and personalises the content of the website based on the interaction of the consumers. It improveschannel management in Singapore.

After implementing the CMS, the marketing automation platform will analyse the changes the CMS strategies have brought to the channels. They collect consumer interaction data, such as web traffic, time spent on the channel, conversion, and more.

On the other hand, enterprise resource planning (ERP) helps manage the day to day operations of the businesses concerning the product inventory and logistics.

It monitors the inventory, product pricing, order fulfilment, shipping, returns and replacements. All these systems connect the different components of the unified ecommerce platform.

Now that you know what a unified e-commerce platform is and its components, it is time to learn its benefits.

Benefits Of Unified Ecommerce Platform

Just a recap, the unified e-commerce platform merges the four components. These components are business and sales channels, customer interaction, product data, and software systems.

So what are the advantages entrepreneurs get from this platform?

Automation and flexibility

Perhaps, one of the most tedious parts of running a business is collecting data from your day to day operations. It becomes more complex when the entrepreneur handles the influx of transactions in multiple channels.

The unified e-commerce platform automates most processes, from inventory tracking to channel management in Singapore.

Additionally, since the platform merges all the areas of business operations, it is easier for the managers to access the data they need anytime and anywhere, giving them flexibility.

Real-time updates and efficient management

Subsequently, apart from flexible access, the platform also provides real-time updates to the data, such as inventory monitoring and interaction tracking.

Managers can efficiently manage the system and quickly troubleshoot issues based on this real-time data.

Reduced human errors

Since the unified e-commerce platforms automate the manual process, it reduces human errors. The platform gives accurate and transparent data. Moreover, the features, such as predictive analysis and algorithms, make it easier for analysts to interpret data.

Less human error in channel management in Singapore means better business decision-making.

Increased sales

All of the benefits will lead to a sales increase.

Firstly, if the process has been automated, the staff can save ample time per day. This period can be allotted to focus on more crucial parts of the business. Thus, improving the entire business process and customer experience.

Secondly, real-time updates provide more transparency and better insight into the current status of the business operations. Good business decisions lead to improved business andchannel management in Singapore.

Thirdly, human errors can be costly. Reducing human errors in the system avoids disastrous mistakes, poor decision making, and lastly, unnecessary expenses.

Conclusion

Market behaviour and consumerism are rapidly changing, and entrepreneurs must be quick to adapt to these changes. Thankfully, the unified ecommerce platform helps businesses catch up with these ever-changing market courses.

Kyndle

 

Kyndle provides a cutting edge unified e-commerce platform in Singapore. Visit Kyndle today.