If you've been around the e-commerce field for a while, you may have noticed that operational efficiency is the driving force behind scalability. Implementing a smooth workflow where resources are maximized is the operational goal behind a digital business.
However, even the biggest brands face obstacles, interfering with workflows and impacting revenue.
Depending on the industry you’re in, different challenges can come up. However, if you work in e-commerce and product sales, you’ll probably recognize some of the issues we’ll cover in this article.
Basically, a bottleneck is a place where a road becomes narrow. In e-commerce, bottlenecks are congestion points that interfere with a business's daily operations.
To identify the bottlenecks affecting your business, you first need to understand that not all companies operate the same way. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of all processes you implement from start to finish.
Some of the most common bottlenecks in e-commerce include:
Manually tracking operations, such as manual order entry, inventory updates, or shipping label creation, are time-consuming background tasks that leave room for human error. Today, in the age of automation, these are processes that can be delegated to technology.
For e-commerce companies with hundreds of items, these tasks also extend to controlling and managing product information. For example, companies with multiple sales channels that need to update product titles for a seasonal sale often spend several days just updating that information. This may lead to information inconsistencies, which impact customer trust and, consequently, the brand's reputation.
Stock discrepancies are another problem that may arise if you use manual inventory control. This can lead to overselling out-of-stock items, or, on the other hand, loss of sales opportunities for items in stock that show as unavailable.
Systems decentralization generates these situations, since information is not synchronized across platforms, and requires constant correction.
Workflow inefficiencies limit the speed at which your business grows. Without a system in place that enables optimal synchronization, it limits how many new products you can take on, affects your ability to meet rising customer expectations, and leads to increased operational costs.
Bottlenecks in e-commerce sometimes lead to unnecessary use of valuable resources, but they’re not always easy to quantify. Yet, they inevitably end up affecting your company's revenue.
Employee burnout is one of the main issues of e-commerce bottlenecks. Your skilled staff is probably spending valuable hours of their day solving simple, but time-consuming problems, like updating and managing product information, or handling customer service for confused users due to inconsistent item descriptions. Over time, this leads to mental fatigue across your team.
On the other hand, it also leads to a loss of customer trust. When customers find different information across platforms, or when product descriptions and technical specs don’t match, it creates doubt about the accuracy of the content. In some cases, customers may place an order and receive an item with completely different dimensions from those listed, leading to returns and, ultimately, unexpected costs.
Missing market opportunities due to slow time-to-market is another hidden cost. This happens because, since most processes are done manually, it takes a long time to launch products. And during that time, your competitors might already be winning over more customers.
Thousands of companies around the world have faced this exact same situation, which is why systems have been developed, making workflows much smoother.
If the goal is to combat inventory management-related bottlenecks, you could implement systems that allow to have real-time visibility. Ideally, one that synchronizes with your sales channels and warehouse.
Thus, when a customer purchases a product on any marketplace, inventory is automatically updated on all platforms. This eliminates the risk of overselling and gives you accurate information to make restocking decisions.
Automation is the key to eliminating manual processes that consume your team's time. Order processing automation systems, capture orders from all your sales channels, process them automatically, and generate shipping labels without human intervention.
You can also consider implementing customer service automation tools, such as chatbots and ticket systems, that handle the most common inquiries, allowing your team to focus on the cases that truly require personalized attention.
The important thing is to identify which processes are consuming the most time in your daily operations and look for specific solutions to automate them.
If your company is growing and managing a large catalog of products, you can implement tools that function as a centralized hub for storing your information. Product Information Management (PIM) systems organize your product information, ensuring consistency and minimizing errors.
Once the information is stored, it functions as a distributor for all your sales channels, so your information will be consistent across all platforms.
Another common bottleneck is managing digital assets. Product photos, videos, technical documents, and other materials are often scattered across different folders, drives, and devices. Implementing a Digital Asset Management (DAM) system allows you to centralize, organize, and distribute all your digital files.
Platforms like Catsy combine PIM and DAM functionalities into a single solution, facilitating information management and reducing time to market by up to 75%. Catsy's PIM/DAM system has helped organizations make this transition smoothly, with implementation approaches tailored to different organizational sizes and complexities. It also allows you to maintain control over product stock, which is very useful for enhancing inventory management.
Bottlenecks are opportunities to improve your operations and gain an edge over the competition. By implementing the strategies discussed, you could build a more efficient workflow that frees up your team's time and reduces unexpected costs.
