Every business wants to grow once it starts. In the beginning, you are not concerned about the growth factor. All you want to do is get the product done, find out the customers, assemble your team and get to work. You do not give a lot of thought to growing or scaling up. You leave that for a later day.
However, there comes a point in every businesses’ history where it has hit a growth wall. There are then just two options before it-
- Invest to scale up the operations, workforce, revenues, products, and services
- Be comfortable with what you have and see your advantage slowly diminish away
In this article, we speak to experts at Common Thread Collective, a leading firm helping Ecommerce businesses with scalability. We ask them about some steps and strategies to help online store owners with scaling up their enterprises.
List of 5 Things you need to know for Scaling up your Ecommerce Store
1.Scaling up through Awareness Generation and Marketing-
You have probably hit a growth wall because you have reached target audiences within a geographical territory. This means that to scale up, you need to reach out to customers in a new geographical area.
This is very a strategic marketing campaign that can help you grow. All you need to do is generate awareness about your brand, its products, and services. You also need to show how your existing customers are benefitting from your business. Awareness helps in scalability.
2.Using Automation and Freeing up more time for your Team Members-
Technology can help boost your scalability in a major way. Automating manual processes will allow you to free up the time and energy of your team members. The same can then be directed towards growing the business, improving products, and creating newer models of innovation.
Most of the big Ecommerce businesses are going in for rapid automation, including using robots at warehouses (Amazon, Walmart, eBay, etc). While smaller platforms might not have the resources to invest in life-size robots, there is always plenty of AI-enabled tools to help.
3.Look at Outsourcing Different Aspects of your Business-
Do you think Apple could have become the size it is today by doing its manufacturing? The answer is no. Apple outsources its manufacturing to companies like Foxconn. This allows it the time to create newer and better products and innovate to make it a market leader.
Similarly, Ecommerce companies should look to outsource areas of their business, like the packaging. While this might add to the expenditure, imagine the time, effort, and energy you would be saving. All this can then be used to scale up the business in different areas.
4.Secure Funding, Investments, and Financial Assets-
If you want to fuel your expansion and scale it higher, you need the fuel to do so. In very simple terms, you need a lot of money for all the processes, structures, and growth strategies. This means that if you do not have your assets, you need to look for investors to help you.
Many ecommerce start-ups hold funding rounds and disinvest their shares by bringing on board investors. This allows them to get the cash inflow required to fuel further expansion. Without adequate finances, you can bid goodbye to your chances of scaling up your online store.
5.Plan Every Step of the Scaling Up Process-
There are three words that you need to take into consideration when scaling up- plan, plan, and plan! Every step that you take concerning scalability needs to be thought through at multiple levels. This includes thinking about technology, the tools to use as well as customer relationships.
Planning will ensure that you are not found wanting when it comes to taking tough decisions, be it in raising funds or innovating on a new product. Most of the top ecommerce businesses concentrate on creating a growth division that looks specifically on issues like this.
The Bottom Line
Scalability is not very easy to attain. Most Ecommerce companies without proper guidance and strategies fail. However, if you follow the five things mentioned in the blog article, you will have a much better chance of scaling your Ecommerce business than your competitors.