E-Commerce

Did you know that in two years 75% of retail purchases will be made online?

Looking to the future

E-commerce turnover in the world last year amounted to $ 3.5 trillion. More and more people use the Internet not only as a source of information, but also as a means to make purchases.

E-shops are gradually becoming a real threat to traditional retail outlets in a variety of product niches: from household appliances and electronics to food.

According to a study conducted by the National E-Commerce Association in cooperation with the PM Group marketing agency, last year’s sales of goods and services on the Runet were $1.20 billion more than in the previous year – 51% more than in the previous year.

More than 30 Russian online stores have an average daily attendance of about 1,000 customers. In short, the prospects of the industry are impressive.

But if you look through vacancies on websites and in newspapers, the position of “specialist online store” can not be found. The management structure of such a store is not much different from any other trade organization, so there is no indication that the work will have to be done in the field of e-commerce.

This business involves a variety of specialists: lawyers, economists, financiers, programmers, web designers … But the key figures are managers. Even within one company there are several interesting areas of their activity.

Assortment – on a virtual shelf!

The main feature of the online store – the lack of real retail space. The buyer has no opportunity to take the goods in his hands and consider it. So, the products need to be well presented on the site.

In large companies this is done by managers of the information department. They read summaries from video tapes, DVDs, describe the household or computer equipment and place the information on the site.

In small shops, such work is usually done by a content manager. This position can become the first stage of career development and smoothly move to the second – as a sales manager.

This specialist is engaged in the selection of assortment, knows all the advantages of the product and is able to quickly implement it. In due course he can head the department.

How real is it to start your own business

If there’s money, it’s not a problem. A huge number of organizations offer services to create sites, including for online stores. The price of the question depends on your needs and complexity of the project: from $ 1000 and above.

You also need to be ready to spend a significant amount of time: preparation of the terms of reference, selection of the appropriate design, proper information filling will take more than one day.

The problem is that it is much easier to create such a shop than to make it competitive and start making a profit.

  • We have to take into account the tastes of customers. If all retail outlets have “Day Watch” on their shelves, then, of course, we should have it first.

However, it is necessary to offer rare things, which, by the way, can suddenly become hits. For example, 2-3 years ago, we were very good at selling training manuals on dancing – we put them on the first page and the sales volumes were higher than “Harry Potter”.

I think it’s easier for a customer to find an exclusive ¬- assortment of giant, about 200 thousand items in the online store. And this is our advantage.

The task of the sales department is to track the interests of customers (statistics of visits and sales of the site helps), to anticipate fashion trends, to form an assortment. We always have licensed new products that appear on the Russian market, on average it’s about 150 DVD a week.

Of course, all of them do not need to watch, but to have an idea of the most popular movies is necessary. To do this, we go to festivals, presentations, meetings, evaluate hits – and make a sales plan for the month and year. But the subjective opinion of the manager should not affect the choice of assortment. The main task is to increase sales. So, it is necessary to be guided by tastes of buyers, instead of on own.

The head of the department is responsible for the revenue and, if necessary, should promptly take measures to increase sales. The work is carried out in close cooperation with the procurement, description, marketing and other departments.

A smile for the supplier

But the assortment is only half the case. Then it is necessary to purchase goods from suppliers. Large online stores do it in advance.

Purchased products are stored in a warehouse, which, by the way, may be located even in another city. From there, the goods are sent to buyers across the country. Small online stores of such luxury as warehouses, can not afford it.

I started my career in the Internet sphere by working as a driver. I went to get goods, talked to suppliers and promoted myself. I didn’t just come with a waybill – I got paid for it – I tried to talk to them and studied this business. Gradually I started to “lead” individual clients. I moved from cabin to office, became a manager.

My task is to maintain relations with existing suppliers and establish relations with new ones, search for goods at an optimal price, procurement. We need to constantly analyze the situation in the market, keep an eye on the pulse, but most importantly – to be able to accommodate people.

Determination of the final price of goods is in the competence of the manager who sells it. If you are friendly, smiling, ask a person how he is doing, he will meet you. And in time, there is a client base of its own.

Choose this profession if you do:

  • Communicative
  • are active.
  • enterprising
  • you’re a great PC guy.

Don’t choose this profession if you do:

  • irritable
  • sluggishly
  • irresponsible
  • you don’t know how to work as a team
    However, the market is changing, prices are not in place, and you need to be ready to constantly look for new partners offering more favorable conditions. If the chain of dealers and dealers is reduced to a minimum, then your income will be higher as well. In contrast to large online stores, we have to work with suppliers directly to the customer’s order. The person puts the goods in a virtual basket, and after that we promptly purchase them from our partners and pass them to the delivery service.

“Lawyers” clients

The source of income of any online store is its customers. Therefore, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of the work of managers in customer service. Their professionalism and ability to settle any conflict largely depends on the reputation of the company.

Head of CRM (Customer relationship management) of the OZON online shop:

Clients are the main resource and potential of the company. But to get a good return, it takes a lot of effort, time and patience. We solve a variety of problems of customers at all stages: from placing an order on the site to receiving goods through courier service.

A person came to the site, he does not understand something – we advise, give the necessary information. If he made an order, the execution of which is delayed – find out the reasons, try to eliminate the problem together with other departments of the company.

Sometimes, the client is dissatisfied with the quality of packaging, or he received the book in a different cover than he expected, or wants to return the product … However, our task is not just to settle the conflict, but to identify its source in order to exclude such incidents in the future.

For example, if the buyers do not understand something on the site, it means that they need to work with the IT department to make the interface more transparent for the client, to mobilize the forces of the information department, etc.

The direction of CRM in the company implies such an organization of work of employees of all divisions of the company, so that the interests of customers are taken into account at any stage. And my role is to transfer information in the form of recommendations and reports for other departments and management, optimization of business processes in the interests of both clients and the company as a whole.