E-commerce – A business Like No Other; Needs Talent Like No Other

How difficult can it be to run an e-commerce business?

After all, a customer just needs to select the product they want, make payment as required, at the time of purchase or delivery, and sit back as the purchased product makes its way to them through the supply-chain network.

No store to manage. No customer queues. No empty or untidy shelves. No issues with absent staff.

Right?

Wrong.

Behind the scene activity in ecommerce

It seems easy to the customer because that is how it has been set up. And that is the goal of all businesses: making it easy for the customer to buy. E-commerce is a business as well, and no different in this respect from other businesses.

What happens behind the scenes when a customer places an order and the order is accepted?

The order details get communicated to the fulfilment team, which could also be an external party or a supplier, depending on the product and the arrangement in place. This team is now responsible for ensuring that the terms offered for the product and based on which the customer made the purchase, are honoured. Primarily, this means the correct product reaches the customer within the committed time and in good shape.

At the moment the order is being accepted, the system would also have calculated the optimum route as well as the warehouse/ supplier location from where the product would be supplied.

At the same time, the inventory management module of the platform will recognize the sale and reflect that in the inventory, especially if it is an internally fulfilled product.

Delivery partners are likely to be involved in the last-mile delivery to the customer as well as restocking of supply centres or warehouses, depending on the model followed by the e-commerce company.

Upon successful delivery, the same is annotated in the system, which could trigger the post-sale processes such as feedback solicitation, appreciation messages, and suggestions for repeat, related or other purchases.

The e-commerce engine is humming even before a customer places an order

And that was the easy part. The real heavy lifting happens even before the customer can browse through the e-store and place an order.

And after a smart human or entity, or a set of them, have done their homework and determined that e-commerce is the business for them, including the niche they wish to play in within the sector.

Like:

• Choosing the right e-commerce platform for the niche and the desired customer experience, including a decision on building one or renting.
• Ensuring that the products are categorized in a manner that makes them easy to find. In addition, ensuring that the products are displayed in an inviting manner and such that the customer gets enough information to make a decision.
• Tying up with a payment gateway that offers a wide choice of options to a buyer and is efficient in settlements.
• Implementing an integrated inventory management system that gets updated on purchases and returns.
• Having a supply-chain strategy and partnerships that ensure the fulfilment of customer orders speedily.
• Marketing and Sales plans designed to ensure traffic to the platform.
• Customer interaction plan from the time they come to the platform to ensure a great customer experience, eventually leading to the one metric crucial to any business – maximum revenue.

Ecommerce leadership talent

How does all this happen?

It takes smart people, lots of them, to ensure that the many moving parts come together and produce magic for the company. It takes leadership talent familiar with the demands of the industry to make this happen. Not any talent, but talent attuned to the demands of the e-commerce ecosystem and equipped to handle its peculiarities.

According to the Indian Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF), “the Indian e-commerce is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27% to reach US$ 163 billion by 2026” and “reach US$ 325 billion by 2030.”

E-commerce talent is needed to fulfil the promise e-commerce holds. And it needs to be fulfilled today, not tomorrow. One must remember that business is essentially always in flux. While one way of doing business is settling down, some disruptors are already working on the next big thing. While e-commerce is an established way of life today and expected to continue its rapid growth over the next few years, quick commerce, which could be considered as a niche within e-commerce, is already the new kid on the e-commerce block, attracting attention and investment dollars.

Conclusion

Ushankk is a leader in supplying e-commerce talent to industry leaders, having identified the need at an early stage. In addition to our proprietary databases and access to talent not actively searching for a job, our industry expertise can give you the edge in your search for top e-commerce talent.