Every ecommerce project manager desires to see their projects succeed.
However, many projects experience bottlenecks due to inconsistency among teams, data security issues, and technological challenges.
Successful ecommerce project management is important for growth in ecommerce investments.
Your main goal should be to offer maximum value in the project outcomes. Use relevant online tools and automate.
Hire the right team members and track progress at individual and team levels. Ensure you have the right budget and be ready to scale when the opportunity comes.
1.Choose the Right Ecommerce Business Tools
Ecommerce project management tools help project managers to plan, collaborate, and track success. They make meeting the predefined goals easier and accelerate timeframe milestones. You may choose different tools for tasks such as:
Tracking Time
Time tracking can help you make wise decisions based on cost and project timeframe. It can help project managers create favorable schedules for their teams. Many brands use time-tracking tools to measure worker output versus time spent.
Time tracking tools can also be used to measure total hours worked when paying hourly workers. For instance, the manufacturing sector runs complex work schedules. Time tracking software helps managers keep accurate records of work hours for each employee. Other sectors that rely heavily on time trackers include transportation and health.
Video Conferencing
This technology is particularly important in companies that manage remote workers. It offers convenience during meetings and saves time, and cost. For instance, marketing teams use webinar software to conduct seminars and sales teams use video conferencing tools to negotiate deals.
When hiring, they use the tools to conduct remote interviews. The tool is useful for hosting webinars or launching product demos.
Digital Asset Management Tools
When brands want to conduct analytics and use digital assets, digital asset management tools come in handy. They help ecommerce brands optimize their sales and marketing campaigns. Brands such as hyper stores and logistics companies use these tools to interconnect their teams with digital tools. They help manage marketing collateral and expand market reach.
Email Communication Tools
Email communication tools help brands connect directly with their online audiences. The tools allow email segmentation based on audience behavior. Marketers used the tools to customize their email marketing messages. They allow real-time feedback and lead nurturing.
Website Management Tools
Website management tools help achieve different functions in ecommerce. They help in web design, social media integration, content workflow management, and website hosting. Marketers use them to get a view of site performance and to manage inventory.
Analytics Tools
Analytics tools help online brands get an all-rounded view of their sales funnel. They get a view of total visitors including potential leads, converts, and time spent on each page by visitors.
Before you choose a tool for your ecommerce project, consider points such as:
- The needs in your project
- The needs of your team both at the individual and corporate level
- Automation and integration needs and phases
- Resources available such as budget, training, human resources, and skills
When you use the right tools for your online business projects, you benefit from minimized overhead costs, scalability, and ease of tracking. You could shorten the time set aside for the project and achieve goals beyond your expectations.
When you are working on online business projects, you might need to download and use a lot of applications. They take a lot of memory and you might soon begin to experience challenges with limited storage. You can create more memory by deleting the application cache. If you want to clear it yourself, go to the library/caches or use a special app.
2. Automate
Automation is a term used for applications that help you minimize manual tasks in your project. It allows your team to perform most tasks without human assistance. They use different applications and online systems to do most tasks and drive the project at a faster pace.
Depending on the automation apps that you choose, you may decide to automate all tasks or just the repetitive ones. For instance, if you want to extract large volumes of data online, you might want to understand what is web scraping, its automation procedures, and web scraping ecommerce websites may also come in handy. Automation offers benefits to your ecommerce projects.
Saves Time
Companies such as waste management, food processing, warehousing, and aerospace brands use automation. Such brands run thousands of processes daily. Automation helps them save time and streamline processes.
Saves Money
A survey by HubSpot shows marketers spend about sixteen hours weekly on manual tasks. In busy organizations such as data entry and marketing, automation can help save a lot of money. It eliminates the need to hire more people to help with fulfilling manual tasks.
Helps Scale Your Projects
Automation frees up time for workers at various levels. For instance, the construction sector relies on many manual processes such as quality analysis and control, surveying, and document processing. Automation allows project managers to develop automated quality control systems. They process documentation for contracts, license applications, and workflows quickly.
Improves Data Quality
Ecommerce sectors such as retail, finance, and planning require a lot of accuracy. Human beings are prone to errors and mistakes. However, such mistakes can have a serious impact on business. Automation increases accuracy and data quality.
Enhances Analytics
Automation replaces manual tasks with real-time processes. It acts as a catalyst for AI in analytics. It offers a wider scope and minimizes errors. This offers brands an advantage against their competitors. It helps generate more profits, sales, and enhance ecommerce safety.
Streamlines Project Phases and Processes
Automation makes it easier to track workflows and eliminate bottlenecks. It enhances planning, data security, and transparency.
To automate your ecommerce project management:
- Decide what needs automation
- Decide the budget you have and the skills available in your team
- Choose the right automation tools and be ready to scale
- Offer proper training and analyze success consistently
3. Set clear trackable goals with compelling metrics
Goals provide you with a direction to follow and a platform for accountability. It offers you a definite goal and a focus on priorities. Tracking goals for your ecommerce platform is a good way to measure progress.
It can be an excellent motivator for your team and other stakeholders. The types of goals that you set for your brand could be different from another company.
For instance, some brands could set goals aimed at boosting brand awareness. Other types of brands might want to build a strong brand reputation or boost online traffic flow.
Depending on the set goals, your brand should be able to determine the performance of marketing content, the growth of online visitors, and your brand voice across different channels. When the set goals are clear, your brand enjoys a wide range of benefits.
- Enhanced effort by your employees. Your workers focus on achieving the goals. Due to this, they work harder and support each other.
- Increases creativity level. Employees become more creative on ways to boost productivity and goal achievement.
- Boosts collaboration. Your teams may collaborate more to brainstorm ideas. They stay motivated and seek direction where they feel insufficient.
Through tracking, you can look back to see where you’ve come from and your destination. When setting trackable goals for your projects, look at the wider vision of your organization first. Your goals must be aligned with the broad brand vision. Next, write down the benchmarks for individual goals.
After that, decide on the metrics needed for each goal. You may have broad goals cutting across the entire project and smaller short-term goals. When your goals are clear, it makes the entire vision clear. Your team stays motivated and every success instills a sense of achievement in them.
You must choose the right model for setting your goals and define your metrics. The model you choose must offer clarity and direction. Leverage skills such as strategic thinking, research, and team management within your team. Here are different strategies you can use to create your brand’s goals and metrics.
Work with your team. Let your team help you craft the most convenient goals. You can get better ideas when you work closely with your employees. Allow them to give you constructive criticism.
Use the SMART approach. The SMART approach ensures your goals can be measured and are specific. Create goals that your brand can attain ensuring they are relevant to your customers and are time-bound.
Get brainstorming support. Call for brainstorming meetings to help you set dedicated goals. The meetings should create room for engagement and participation. Share your vision including your expectations to act as guidance to the team.
Work with short-term and long-term steps. Your goals should be built upon actionable steps that drive both the short-term and long-term vision. Each team member should know the part they ought to play.
Develop a visual roadmap. A visual roadmap helps offer an outline of your brand’s goals. It offers a visual representation of your milestones and timelines. It provides an understanding of the project phases and the priorities required.
4. Keep relevant team members informed and engaged
Every member of your team is important for the success of your projects. You must seek to build trust and resolve conflicts or challenges whenever they arise. Avoid offering too many expectations but also be ready for challenges.
Present all stakeholders with information about the milestones of the project. There are different ways to help keep your team members informed and engaged.
- Create a strategy for frequent communication. Communication should not only be clear but also frequent. It ensures there is a consistent flow of information.
- Allow two-way communication. Information flow should not be one-sided but two-way. It allows feedback to flow and enhances openness in communication.
- Create a culture of engagement. Let every member of your team feel they are valued. Give responses to their messages and show appreciation. Offer them a balanced work-life environment. Appreciate the potential of each employee.
- Adopt multi-channel communication. Avoid using one method of communication. Instead, use different channels to connect with your teams. You may use email, social media, chats, telephone calls, and so on.
Keeping your team informed opens a stream of feedback about the project. It helps you get ideas about the flow and project alignment with business goals. Your team stays not only informed but also engaged.
They offer enhanced support and show greater satisfaction. One of the methods you can use to disseminate information is email templates. They help you to quickly create reports and communicate with your teams more effectively.
5. Use a scaling budget to account for change
One of the important strategies for your project’s success is to learn how to scale. What you need most is a scaling budget and a plan for success. Your budget will help you get tools for business development, training, and hiring.
The purpose of scaling is to increase efficiency and maximize good outcomes from your projects. Have a budget for improving your website design, optimizing your strategies, and equipping your team.
Uncertainties may arise in any project phase and impact on its success. How well you handle unforeseen issues can determine the impact on your budget. Keep an eye on probable risks and assess them.
They could include delays in deliveries, weather effects, inflation, or lack of raw materials. In your budget, set aside a contingency reserve for such scenarios. Keep track of your budget expenditure and its performance.
If change requests come, evaluate them before implementation. Take time to review your budget after each phase of the project.
Key Takeaways for Ecommerce Project Management
Your ecommerce platform provides you with a wider reach of audiences globally.
However, your goals might stall if you fail to achieve success in all project phases.
Success comes due to proper planning and budgeting.
Be ready to adjust your budget if unforeseen circumstances arise in your project. Have clear goals and work with the right team members. Automate your processes and choose the right ecommerce tools.
