Whether your eCommerce business is up and running or you’re an entrepreneur with a bright idea, sufficient cash flow is crucial to the success of your venture. You may have received or be applying for funding for your eCommerce business to take it to new heights.
If you have secured funding for your business, it’s vital that you direct it to the correct places. In this blog, we will outline ways in which you can direct funding to grow your eCommerce business.
Upgrade your customer experience
Customer experience is integral to your eCommerce business, so directing funding towards upgrading it is a great idea. Exceptional customer experience will help your business to grow through repeat orders and referrals.
One way to direct funding towards upgrading your customer service is by introducing a chatbot to your eCommerce website. Chatbots are computer programs that interact with customers live; you can commission a software developer to build a custom chatbot that fulfils your website’s needs. Chatbots enhance customer experience by recommending products, providing instant customer support, and helping with order management.
You can also use the funding to personalise your customers’ shopping experiences, which will help improve their interactions with your business. Customers should feel that their preferences are reflected in their shopping experience, so you should consider investing in eCommerce personalisation software to tailor your site to each individual.
For more details on optimising your eCommerce business’s customer experience factor, read our blog.
Use multiple fulfilment centres to internationalise shipping
One possible avenue is to direct funds towards expanding the number of fulfilment centres your business uses. Using multiple fulfilment centres allows you to store your inventory closer to your customers’ delivery location, making it more straightforward and economical to ship your products internationally.
Having your inventory distributed across multiple warehouses might seem like additional stress, but there are many advantages. Not only will you be able to grow your business by selling your products to customers around the world, but you will also be able to:
1. Provide faster delivery to customers
Nowadays, customers expect incredibly speedy delivery of their online orders. You can make this a reality and enhance customer satisfaction by using multiple fulfilment centres.
Holding your inventory in several fulfilment warehouses closer to your delivery locations will help get your customers’ orders to them faster, making their experience more positive and increasing the likelihood of them shopping with you again.
2. Reduce shipping costs
If your business uses just one fulfilment centre, it means that orders to customers further away can take a long time. An increased shipping distance will incur higher costs for you.
Using multiple fulfilment centres means storing inventory closer to your customers, thereby reducing shipping costs
Invest in a new Inventory Management System
Investing in an Inventory Management System will help your business to achieve growth whilst keeping on top of stock levels, orders, sales, and deliveries. Automation through inventory management software will avoid issues with overstock or insufficient stock.
Effective inventory management is critical to ensuring that your eCommerce business’ inventory is controlled and organised. Here are a few reasons why your business should direct funding toward an Inventory Management System:
1. Avoid running out of stock
There is nothing more off-putting for a customer than receiving an ‘out-of-stock’ pop-up. Inventory Management Systems help you to avoid this problem by ensuring that products are well-stocked and creating alerts for seasonal products.
2. Predict demand for products
By monitoring changes in your stock, you can identify patterns and trends in demand for specific products. Whilst demand is contingent on many variables, Inventory Management Systems offer a helpful baseline.
3. Save time
Automated inventory management will take the task off your hands and negate the need for counting stock and writing up spreadsheets manually. Inventory Management Systems manage your business’ data in real-time without room for human error.
Streamline your omnichannel marketing efforts
Omnichannel marketing refers to targeting marketing efforts across all channels to offer customers an integrated, seamless shopping experience. This helps create a brand presence across various platforms and draw customers in.
Use funding to streamline your omnichannel marketing efforts by:
- Investing in your website design to make it more mobile-friendly
- Expanding your social media presence to increase the visibility of your brand
- Utilising paid advertisements and influencer marketing strategies
As you have read, there are many ways to direct funding to grow your eCommerce business. If you require funding for your business, visit Flinke‘s financing portal, where you can apply for funding in a matter of minutes!
