E-Business E-Commerce & Channel Strategy
Simply put, E-Commerce & Channel Strategy define how you transact with an end-user.
E-commerce is a subset of overall E-Business strategy as E-commerce focuses on the monetization of consumer and/or customer visits via the touchpoints they make with systems in your business. This can be via a direct-to-consumer website, retail partner website, in-store kiosks, or otherwise.
The pillars of E-Commerce are:
B2C (Business-to-Consumer) & B2B (Business-to-Business) Strategy
B2C and B2B strategies while having different target end-users are fueled by the same fundamentals and principles in the other spheres of E-Business. B2C/B2B strategy is largely a business planning responsibility requiring the utilization of consumer insights and industry experience to establish growth guidelines and financial objectives. As a part of this strategy, this role must garner alignment with Marketing, Sales, Operations, and agency partners to sustain the strategy.
Channel Strategy
A component of any E-Commerce strategy impacting end-buyers will ultimately need to incorporate channel strategy, too. Managing channel conflict, especially for manufacturers selling direct to consumers, is a critical component to your E-Commerce strategy. Pricing, promotions, product offerings, how you communicate where and how to buy your products — these all play into your E-Commerce Channel strategy.
Online Merchandising
The online merchandising pillar works closely with the Content & User Experience Strategy pillar to drive conversions through the various touch-points included the E-Commerce strategy. Online Merchandising is less about design and more about segmentation and targeted marketing.
Order placement & order processing, product data management, & supply chain management
In the enterprise, chances are that your E-commerce strategy will require interfacing with ERP systems for fulfillment. Knowing the intricacies of these systems will enable you to craft an E-commerce strategy about what can and can’t be done. The last place you want to find yourself is in a situation where E-commerce strategy has been crafted around capabilities that don’t exist or are too time-consuming or costly to implement.
P&L responsibility, pricing strategies, and channel conflict management
For online retailers, pricing strategy is important particularly if you are a manufacturing selling direct-to-consumer. As a manufacturer, disintermediating the channel can be smart strategy for your business, however you are in business to grow sales, and this means maintaining acceptable profit, pricing strategies across channels of business, and healthy relationships with you channel partners.
Tags: channel strategy, online merchandising, web analytics