Making the jump to ecommerce

[nickhas]

I stumbled into web design about two years ago, love it and am doing everything I can to make a it a full time gig.

I want to take a step into ecommerce now. I've worked with open source stuff before and have enough knowledge that I feel comfortable building and designing an ecommerce site for clients.

I have the potential to redo someone's site (it really needs it). Currently, they only sell their product in store but feature a ton of products online that they should be offering for sale. What I'm worried about is handling inventory management.

Do brick and mortar stores expect their website to tie in with their existing inventory management system? Would I need to find someone to contract with to program this? Is it difficult to manage an ecommerce site that calculates inventory separate of whatever system they are using in-store?

Any insight you can provide into this would be really helpful. Thanks.

[Dubbya]

About six months ago, I was contacted by a software developer regarding "real time" inventory management, integrated procurement and order tracking. Some of these high-end solutions are fantastic but be advised that they don't come without a price tag.

I can see where a larger store might want to implement such a system but for the vast majority of smaller sites, it's probably not worth it. Given that you're a little more familiar with your clients' requirements, you'd be the best judge.

In my experience, even some of the larger electronics sites seem to maintain separate stock and, while a particular store or outlet may have run out of stock on an item, it's still available through the website, at least that's how it appears in the front end.

Here's a pretty good link to some information that might be of benefit to you and help steer you in the right direction.

The Internet in E-commerce: Inventory planning and order management

In terms of what's really required, it's all dependent on the amount of business that the store and the website do. IMHO, a few random web orders wouldn't provide enough ROI to make implementing a unified database worthwhile. If we're talking about one store and one website, it's probably not going to be worth it.

If you're doing hundreds of thousands of dollars is business a year, implementing an order management/fulfillment application might be the way to go.

[nimaha]

Thanks, that response puts me at ease. I just don't know what standard operating procedure is on this stuff.

In this case, it's about 2-3 niche stores all located in one metropolitan area so it's pretty small.

Thanks for the link, too. I've been searching around and hadn't found a good, informative article.

[Dubbya]

Okay, so you'll be running a single website with 2 or three brick and mortar stores (outlets).

Are they all tied into a central warehouse database which they use to manage stock? If so that's where you'd tap into with your real time fulfillment software.

Honestly though, as I said, unless you're moving a lot of stock I'd get the website up and running and just manage the data manually. It'll be faster and much less expensive to implement. In addition, it can take some time before the site is actually ready to sell and prospective clients are able to find it, so the initial cash outlay can be significantly reduced by just waiting until you need to spend the cash.

I'd recommend that you just get the ball rolling and place your initial focus on establishing a web presence. You can always add the order management/fulfillment component later if you need to.

.02

[nimaha]

It'll definitely run separate.

There's no way they could justify the expense involved in tying it altogether.

I just wanted a more experienced opinion on what other similar businesses might do. I figured this is how, but I just wasn't sure.

Thanks for the info.

[holladb]

Why not create a custom solution?

If they don't already have a managed database for their inventory that is kept up to date why not create one?

If the client has a POS system these typically use sql or access databases. If you can program or use visual studio you can easily create an ecommerce solution that will work magic for both ends.

He'll be able to track sales in store and online all up to date.

I have done work with OsCommerce (I have written a few contributions) and I have found that it is a great tool for beginners. In the long run however, it is easier to create a custom ecommerce solution. Using these 3rd party systems you'll run into issues with compatibility, functions that are needed or unnecessary, and your integrated payment system.

I have a few clients that HAVE to keep their inventory up to speed or it will affect their business terribly in the long run.

Originally the solution was the 3rd party software but you will quickly find a customized solution is the better one.

The best thing you can do now is sit down with your client and ask them what they need and want out of the system. If they're interested in an integrated POS system then offer it to them. If they're on a low budget go for a cost effective 3rd party solution.

Hope everything works out well for you

-Brando

[crankydave]

Biggest problem, as I see it, is that most inventory management/accounting systems don't integrate well with ecommerce platforms without a lot of customization... at least for now.

Drawing from a central inventory base, where the products are listed by their unique identifier and on hand quantities, creating fields for those in the ecommerce online data base, then uploading that data at the intervals requested by the client, whether that be hourly, daily, weekly, etc., can be very effective.

Dave

[weslinda]

Actually, the difficulty of this is not nearly as hard as one might think. There is a solution from a company named Stone Edge Technologies. It is a system designed to actually work across both brick and mortar stores and e-commerce and other sales channels to manage your orders and inventory.

Order Management & Order Processing with Order Manager From Stone Edge

THe solutions starts at $1500 and runs to $6000 depending on the level you need. While it isn't dirt cheap, it is a solid solution to offer a store looking to mix in online sales as well. Obviously, cart pricing and POS equipment are seperate fees.

If you are running a brick and mortar and are looking to get online as well, this is a solid solution that allows you to manage everything in one place. Definately worth a look if your client is interested in a single environment.

It integrates with a lot of environments so the company isn't locked into one solution. If you client is serious about it, this is worth a look.