The eCommerce business boomed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many consumers now prefer shopping online to limit their contact with other people and, therefore, reduce their risk of infection. Online shopping is also very convenient for consumers. This preference pushed offline businesses to move to the digital space.
Managing an eCommerce business entails several responsibilities. And if the business is small and is owned by only one person or a small team, the manpower may not be enough.
In this case, outsourcing is the next best step. Your eCommerce business will benefit from outsourcing in many ways.
Advantages of Outsourcing
Access Expertise
You need to take care of many things when you open and manage an online store. There’s marketing, website management, content creation, inventory management, and many more. Your team might not be able to handle all these tasks, especially when you’re just starting. And hiring new people for each expertise may be costly.
Outsourcing tasks is a solution to this dilemma. Many freelancers in the gig market specialize in a specific field, making them experts. Outsourcing your tasks to these freelancers will give you easy access to experts. Finding a freelancer also usually takes a shorter period than recruiting and onboarding a new employee.
Lower Risk
A compounding effect of passing the work to experts outside your business is the lowered risk. An outsourcing company justified on providing services to eCommerce businesses will have the know-how on industry trends in several areas, such as marketing, social media management, accounting, and others. This expertise removes the need for a trial-and-error method in your business.
Also, outsourcing experts know the best practices in their respective fields. This lowers the possibility of errors. So your business can grow quickly without many hurdles.
Stay Consistent
Certain processes in an eCommerce business require consistency. This will allow businesses to build their brand identity and their reputation. And these are keys to attract new customers and encourage returning customers.
For example, an accessory business might outsource product photoshoots to a freelancer. They will be responsible for everything: setting up the proper lighting for each shoot, retouching jewelry to make them look stunning in photos, processing and editing photos, and so on. By outsourcing, the business will get photos that look consistent across the board. They will have the same “vibe,” which can help you in building your brand image.
Lower Business Costs
Outsourcing can save you a lot of money in the long run. It’s actually one of the main reasons several businesses outsource tasks.
For example, recruitment and training can be expensive. Based on a 2016 report, on average, a company spends $4,126 for each hire. In addition, onboarding more people can be logistically costly. It means spending more on office furniture and equipment, employee benefits, and others. These expenses are lowered by outsourcing.
Increase Efficiency at Work
As mentioned earlier, outsourcing gives you access to field experts. This allows for increased work efficiency.
Say you have an urgent project that requires skills that your employees don’t currently have. You can train them, but it will take time and will slow down the project. On the other hand, outsourcing the project to top-notch experts will help you get more work done. And the outputs will also be of high quality.
In-house employees will also be more productive as a result of outsourcing tasks. These employees will not be overwhelmed by their workload. As a result, they’ll become more productive and are more likely to enjoy their work since they don’t feel pressured or stressed.
Stay Ahead of Competition
The eCommerce market is densely populated. This means having serious competition. To stay above your competitors, you need to know what strategies to implement and how to optimize the tools that you have.
This is where outsourcing can be very valuable. You should outsource tasks to field experts who can take care of the nitty-gritty of your business, whether it’s creating a marketing strategy, planning and implementing an advertising campaign, or something else.
Finding the Right One
Choosing the right outsourcing partners can be a challenge in itself. But there are simple steps you can take. For example, check the website of each prospective partner for a list of their existing clients. Consider approaching these clients to ask for their experience working with these outsourcing partners. Also, check the portfolio of each possible partner.
Trim down your list of prospective outsourcing partners and then talk to each one to get to know them better and see if they’re the right fit.
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