ECommerce, or online-only, businesses have been around for a while, but have become increasingly popular since the COVID-19 pandemic. During the pandemic, many people were forced to shop online, but now many people have found it more convenient. This means that starting an eCommerce business could be very profitable— if you have the right tools. Here are six software solutions needed when starting an eCommerce business.

#1: Commerce

Of course, the first thing you’re going to need when starting an online business is a website since it’s going to be your storefront. Many new business owners use shopify development services as their eCommerce platform, but there are software companies that allow you to launch and manage an eCommerce site, as well as provide you tools to effectively manage it. NetSuite’s SuiteCommerce solution is an example. If you want to encourage your consumers to make larger purchases from your store, you can use the Shopify upsell apps.

Your eCommerce website will double as both your storefront and official business website. This means that in addition to listing the products you sell and allowing customers to place orders, your website should include basic information about you and your business, how your customers can get in contact with you, and links to your social media.

#2: Manufacturing

Not all eCommerce businesses make their products, but if you do (or want to), there’s a software solution for that! Software for manufacturing will help you with planning, scheduling, and monitoring the production of your products. It helps make sure that you have all of the correct supplies in the right place, and also allows you to keep track of work orders.

Manufacturing your products yourself may help you save money, especially if you have a software system helping you along the way. Of course, this depends on the products you sell, as some items cost more to make than others.

#3: Warehouse Management

If you’re manufacturing your products, you likely have your own warehouse to house your products, and you’ll need software to help you manage your warehouse operations. A warehouse management solution helps you manage the receiving and picking of your inventory, and some software will even be available on mobile devices.

#4: Inventory Management and Procurement

A warehouse management function will work perfectly with an inventory management function. Keeping track of your inventory, whether in a physical location or for an eCommerce storefront is essential for all businesses, but it’s not always everyone’s favorite business task. Software that manages inventory for you can give you a real-time view of all your inventory, keeps track of when an item is sold and can alert your product buyers when it’s time to order and restock a certain item.

With inventory management, you’ll also need a procurement function to help you buy your products, or raw materials if you manufacture your products yourself. This will make it easier to keep track of all vendor records.

#5: Order Management

Order management is essential for all eCommerce businesses since you don’t interact with your customers face to face. You’ll want a software solution that can handle all of your customers’ orders from start to finish, or from placement to delivery. Automating order processing and fulfillment leads to more accuracy and happier customers. Order management as a part of your software can also streamline the customer return process, if necessary.

#6: Customer Relationship Management

As mentioned above, you won’t interact with your customers physically because you’re an eCommerce business— but this does not mean that you won’t interact with your customers at all. All businesses, both physical and online, can benefit from having customer relationship management (CRM) software to better understand how they’re interacting with their customers, but it’s especially helpful for eCommerce businesses. Not only will CRM software give you insight into how you’re interacting with your customers, but it will also show you how your customers are interacting with your business. This data will help you when developing new marketing strategies.

So you can see how one software solution builds on top of another, and because of this, it’s important to have the most current software service(s). JD Edwards will make sure that you’ll have all the latest features and capabilities to ensure your business will become and remain successful.

Starting an eCommerce business may seem easier or harder than starting a traditional business, depending on how you look at it. Either way you look at it, it can be much easier when you have the right tools and business software to help you along the way. So look for business software that has all of these features if you’re wanting to start an eCommerce business.