Author: Extensiv Feb 23, 2023 7 Min READ

Grow Your Online Brand Using End-to-End Ecommerce Software

7 Min READ
Grow Your Online Brand Using End-to-End Ecommerce Software

Share

As ecommerce businesses become more and more sophisticated, they need to rely on systems and processes that are just as advanced in their functionality. This way, brands can keep their operations running smoothly and provide a consistently positive customer experience. 

Fortunately, end-to-end ecommerce software is just that type of system—helping retailers to empower growth, drive revenue, and optimize efficiency throughout their whole business.

What is end-to-end ecommerce software?

End-to-end ecommerce software is the technologies and platforms that assist retailers in their ongoing operations—from marketing, to fulfillment, to delivery. Since growing an ecommerce company is so complex, end-to-end software can help online stores save time, money, and stay competitive within the larger market. That’s because this software is designed to integrate with your existing tech stack so you can build a custom solution that meets all your business needs.

Manage multiple sales channels and drive results with Extensiv

Generally speaking, end-to-end ecommerce software covers everything from inventory management, to product listings, all the way down to payment gateways. In other words, end-to-end systems provide comprehensive support for all different types of ecommerce tasks.

Why should ecommerce businesses implement end-to-end solutions?

While there are countless reasons to implement end-to-end solutions, some of the biggest advantages include better performance tracking, improved efficiency, and increased customer satisfaction.

Better performance tracking 

One of the best things about end-to-end ecommerce solutions is that they allow for better performance tracking. These systems collect and aggregate all your backend inventory (and order) data so you can see what areas of your business need improvement and where you should focus your resources (like time and money). With the insights from performance tracking, you can make more informed decisions about inventory purchasing and fulfillment workflows.

Improve efficiency 

Ecommerce data and processes tend to get siloed whenever you’re using a large tech stack to manage your business. Unfortunately, these siloes can lead to a lot of unnecessary repetition—that is, work ends up being repeated by teams in multiple online locations. This situation is not just inefficient, but it opens up for more operational errors to occur. 

The good news is, by partnering with an end-to-end ecommerce solution, your brand can eliminate nearly all of this extra (redundant) work. That’s because with end-to-end software, you have just one vendor contract to manage and everyone on your team will be sharing information within the same ecommerce platform. What does this all amount to? Improved efficiency, greater collaboration, and more streamlined processes for your brand across the board.

Increase customer satisfaction 

Like it or not, customer satisfaction has a big impact on your company’s success. You need to deliver a positive, seamless shopping experience with every order—otherwise, customers are apt to turn to a competitor who can better meet their needs. Luckily, when you simplify your ecommerce operations, you can deliver the experience your customers are craving.

By leveraging end-to-end software, your brand can make it a lot easier for customers to complete their purchase (and receive their order) from your ecommerce website. This software connects your payment processing, inventory, and fulfillment information in a single space. That way, when a customer has an issue or needs help, they don’t have to wait long to get it. 

At the same time, having a unified view of your inventory levels, sales channels, and fulfillment options makes it significantly easier for your warehouse team to get orders out the door. This visibility helps you pinpoint the closest inventory location and choose the fulfillment method that minimizes order cycle time. The quicker orders are fulfilled, the happier your customers will be. 

Empowers data-driven growth 

Building a competitive retail brand requires you to understand what your customers want—as well as what their other options are. How do you come to those sorts of realizations? By figuring out what data you need and finding the tools to match. 

Thankfully, end-to-end ecommerce systems store all kinds of data for you, so you have easy access to these numbers, and statistics, and insights any time you need them. This transparency (coupled with accessibility) is the key to empowering data-driven growth for your online business and propelling your ecommerce site to the next level of success.

Questions to ask when considering end-to-end ecommerce solutions

Choosing end-to-end solutions should always be done thoughtfully. With that said, there are a few questions to consider as you’re determining which software is the best fit for your brand. 

Does the software fall within the budget? 

Unless your brand is working with unlimited funds, you’ll definitely need to factor in your current budget. More simply, it’s important to choose a software you can afford (and that’s well-suited to your financial situation). You’ll have to do your due diligence as you research software options and read through the fine print to figure out what you can expect to pay for those services. 

After all, there’s no need to get into financial trouble by purchasing the most expensive software available—and there’s no guarantee that the most expensive option is inherently better or somehow provides exceptional features and functionality. Instead, look for a software solution that aligns with your budget and offers the features that speak to your customers’ online shopping needs.

Can the software integrate with existing tools? 

Integrations are vital to the usability of your ecommerce software. In short, integrations allow all your retail functions to communicate and collaborate with one another so you have a complete view of your product movement, sales data, and more. That said, it’s important to look for an end-to-end software partner that can sync up with your existing tech stack. 

When your ecommerce software integrates with your analytics tools, shipping services, or even Amazon, your brand can enjoy a well-rounded approach to your end-to-end operations.

Does the software align with business goals? 

Every ecommerce store will have its own problems to solve and goals to achieve. Is your brand focused on reducing its overhead and increasing profits? Or maybe you want to cut down on wasted time and improve your operational workflows? Whatever the case may be, end-to-end ecommerce software can help you reach those goals with ease. 

When you have a clear understanding of where you’re going and what challenges you need to overcome, you can look for software that’s aligned with your objectives and can help take your business to the next level. Meaning, you can address all your operational requirements and optimize your ecommerce processes as best as possible. 

Can the software scale with business growth? 

If your software can’t scale past implementation, then what’s the point of implementing at all? A lack of scalability puts limits around your company’s profits and customer base. That is, you won’t be able to generate as much revenue or reach as many new customers as you would with a scalable software partner. Without a doubt, cloud-based software is the way to go. 

There’s really no denying that cloud-based systems are more scalable (and more user-friendly) than on-premise software solutions. Cloud programs are accessible from anywhere and automatically update your data in real-time so your whole team is working with the most accurate information available. These automations and accessibility are exactly what your brand needs to unlock growth and secure continued ecommerce success.

How does Extensiv support ecommerce business processes?

Extensiv is an undisputed leader in the world of ecommerce solutions, thanks in large part to its order management, market insights, and integration management capabilities.

Order management

Extensiv’s Order Manager serves as mission control for your entire ecommerce business. This platform offers unmatched insight, visibility, and control across all your different selling channels, so you can deliver the flawless fulfillment modern consumers have come to expect. 

Essentially, Order Manager allows you to see (and control) everything happening across your sales and fulfillment network. On a more granular level, Order Manager helps you automate order management, replenish inventory levels, track and integrate shipping, and forecast future demand for all your product listings. This way, you ensure your products are always in stock (so your customers can always find whatever it is they’re looking for).

Market insights

Extensiv also supports your ecommerce business processes via ongoing market insights. More specifically, Extensiv provides weekly updates on order volume trends from industry-leading marketplaces—including Amazon, Shopify, and any of the other online marketplaces your brand might leverage within its multichannel strategy.

All the data Extensiv collects is formatted to show trends in the average order volume (AOV) per merchant flowing through these platforms. You can then use this data to better understand fluctuations in your sales through these marketplaces in near real-time.

Integration management

Using Extensiv’s Integration Manager, retailers can automate and streamline their online orders from a single, unified platform. In other words, Extensiv seamlessly connects your fulfillment tech stack so you can filter, map, and organize your customer and order data with ease. This increased control not only boosts efficiency, but it enhances accuracy at the very same time.

Extensiv doesn’t play it safe on these integrations, either. In fact, Extensiv is equipped with 110+ ecommerce integrations, 80+ EDI retail partners, 60+ warehouse systems, and 1000+ 3PL integrations. With this much integration potential, there’s no doubt your commerce platform can achieve all its fulfillment goals and maintain a positive user experience with every order.

Warehouse management 

Need some extra help with warehouse management? Look no further than Extensiv’s Warehouse Manager. This is a mobile/tablet-first technology for anywhere, anytime control and to-the-minute inventory visibility. With Warehouse Manager, your brand can access real-time data, manage and audit inventory, and receive inventory with incredible precision.

Whether you’re working from a smartphone or tablet, Warehouse Manager gives you the know-how to manage stock levels for every SKU across every warehouse. This way, you know exactly what's in stock, what needs to be replenished, and how much it’s all going to cost. Plus, Extensiv’s validation process ensures orders go out on time and are packed correctly. It even verifies/validates all receiving, picking, and packing functions on your brand’s behalf.

Fulfillment marketplace

Extensiv’s Fulfillment Marketplace is the go-to hub when you’re searching for a 3PL partner. This marketplace is a free, online directory that supports you in finding your ideal 3PL provider from a list of vetted (and qualified) contacts. More accurately, you can input specific criteria to pull up 3PLs that meet your exact needs. For example, you can sort by geographic region or services offered to find the 3PL that’s most aligned with your current situation.

Partnering with a pre-vetted fulfillment provider is one of the best ways to increase efficiency when it comes to inventory holding locations, manual fulfillment tasks, and more. Along with that, if you’re also working with Extensiv’s Order Manager, you can maintain a comfortable level of control, route orders, and replenish stock automatically regardless of how many warehouse locations or 3PL partners you might have.

How Loot Crate scaled with end-to-end ecommerce software

Loot Crate brings joy to their customers through crates of pop culture. This subscription-box brand curates anime and gaming goodies for their growing customer base, which requires careful planning, packing, and delivery of thousands of crates each month. 

Despite their clear vision, Loot Crate found themselves struggling with an underutilized ERP system that led to unnecessary manual work and countless human errors along the way. Unfortunately, these issues meant Loot Crate couldn’t deliver the experience they knew their customers deserved. So what did Loot Crate do? They went looking for a new system that could get all their crates out on time (and without any errors).

Enter Extensiv Order Manager. Once Loot Crate teamed up with Extensiv, they were able to unify all their data across multiple warehouses and automate a range of workflows so they could fulfill orders faster (while also saving money). 

What’s more, Order Manager provided a real-time inventory picture that helped the Loot Crate team see what was on-hand at multiple warehouses and what was committed to customers. With this information, Loot Crate could pick ‘bonus’ items and allocate them to future crates and ecommerce sales on apps like Shopify, Amazon, and eBay.

All in all, partnering with Extensiv allowed Loot Crate to get crates out faster, ship sooner, and save time while more than doubling their product lines and SKUs. How’s that for scaling well?

Request a free demo from Extensiv to supercharge your ecommerce operations in no time.

FREE REPORT Time to Expand Your Ecommerce Warehouse?   Best Practices and Tips for Brands & Merchants  

End-to-end ecommerce software FAQs

What is an end-to-end process?

An end-to-end process is one that offers a complete, functional solution without needing to obtain anything from a third-party. With that in mind, end-to-end software is the technology that assists retailers in their ongoing operations—from marketing strategies, to fulfillment, to delivery. This software takes care of ecommerce processes from start to finish in one fell swoop.

Is end-to-end ecommerce software necessary for growing businesses?

Yes, end-to-end ecommerce software is necessary for growing businesses. That’s because this software improves efficiency, increases customer satisfaction, and empowers data-driven growth. In turn, brands can enjoy more streamlined workflows and consistent revenue over time.

What are the top end-to-end ecommerce software options?

Hands down, Extensiv is the top ecommerce software for startups, entrepreneurs, and enterprise brands alike. Because Extensiv offers unmatched insight and visibility across all your different selling channels, your brand can control everything happening throughout your entire sales and fulfillment network. Aside from Extensiv, some retailers might be interested in using WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, or a CRM software to support their operations.

Written By:

Latest Insights

Mar 14, 2024 6 Min READ