Data already separates the winners from the losers in e-commerce and this is set to increase in years ahead. Both insight into and control of data, through an e-commerce Business Manager system, is key to creating data driven competitive advantage. Armed with greater insight and control, through a Business Manager system, e-commerce businesses can seize opportunities faster than the competition and provide a more personalized sales experience to their customers

What is a Business Manager system?

An e-commerce Business Manager system is one overarching system, which enables all the business systems to talk each other. It aggregates disparate data from other systems within the business and allows Business Managers to have business-wide control, managed through a single interface.

A Business Manager system is essential for businesses that have multiple online and bricks and mortar stores, providing a holistic view and control of, multiple e-commerce touchpoints.

An ideal Business Manager interface includes a dashboard to make better, faster decisions, powered by data visualisation. A Business Manager system is chosen by businesses seeking greater efficiencies without the expense of ERP systems or the loss of margin to providers such as Shopify.

A Business Manager system can be integrated into a custom-built e-commerce store or can sit above legacy systems in an e-commerce dashboard. This dashboard, provides visibility, and is powered through a business intelligence system such as Power BI or Tableau. When added to custom designed controls, the Business Manager combines visibility with control, to allow real time business management and workflow automation.

5 use cases for an e-commerce Business Manager system

Use Case 1 - The benefits of integrated data flow

The feature - A cloud based, cross channel, single point of control data

Key Benefits

1. Faster decisions, with integrated data flow.
2. Real time decision-making data at your fingertips.
3. 24/4 data access from anywhere.
4. Data driven decisions.
5. Real time data updates.

All the business-wide data you need to make a fast decision.

Use a Business Management dashboard to enable fast and confident, data-driven decisions. Capture the data from existing business systems, web, POS and business systems into a single dashboard, to provide real time insights into your business performance.

Track and manage your business performance from anywhere, anytime.

Draw data from your business systems into a single, cloud-based dashboard and control panel. To manage your business on the move, allow cloud-based logins on control panel to gain access anywhere, anytime. Centralise control of all your staff logins to control who has access to your business systems.

Manage all your business data in a single control panel.

Use a Business Manager Dashboard to gain visibility into business issues not visible in your separate business systems. Design a host of business management functions into your system such as; troubleshooting, tracking trends, managing duplicates orders and spotting underperforming products.

Use Case 2 - The benefits of custom controls over selling and buying

Key Benefits

1. Tools to take more control over your sales and margins
2. Precision stock and price control.
3. Automatic order updates.
4. Fast track promotions.
5. Increased profit with personalised dynamic pricing.

Dynamic customised pricing

Customise your e-commerce system so your business can implement dynamic pricing, with automated pricing variations synchronised to time, date, location, point of sale, online/physical, customer type, promotion or volume. Dynamic pricing can be used to increase margin, volume, customer loyalty and competitive advantage. Use a Business Management Dashboard to dynamically vary your offer to specific customers including product variants and volume-based pricing

Automate buying and selling.

By setting triggers based on transaction cues, your business can automate buying and selling activities including sales promotions or stock reorders. Use the Business Manager Dashboard to get instant, real-time view of sales and inventory, allowing you to accurately adjust buying and selling parameters as required. With a Business Manager Dashboard, ordering is more efficient, invoices and payment history are instantly accessible and orders and back orders can be tracked with ease.

Enable rapid interventions into sales and inventory.

Enable your store manager to respond quickly when circumstances impact demand, such as extreme weather, a pandemic or supply chain issues. A Business Manager system can provide your business with a real time update of your inventory. A single dashboard provides business wide data and controls for a speedy intervention.

Use Case 3 – The benefits of more precise sales data reporting

Key Benefits

1. More precise sales data to show slow lines, best sellers and ageing products.
2. Improved sales forecasting.
3. Past, present and future snapshots, vary view by SKU, carton, location, POS.
4. Predict reorder requirements.

Track seasonal trends, compare year on year or day to day.

A holistic Business Manager Dashboard can give your business the ability to get a real time snap-shot of your inventory. You can drill down into the performance of an individual product, a point of sale or a category. By using the Business Manager Dashboard for trends analysis your business can improve reorder predictions and allow for proactive management of ageing stock.

Continuous improvement of your range for increased profitability.

A Business Manager system can automatically track an individual product performance, allowing for more experimentation to improve the range. It can also provide real time feedback on individual product sales, providing a more accurate prediction of future best sellers.

Reduce poor performers and increase high performers.

Data tracking with the Business Manager Dashboard can provide automatic tracking of poor and high performing products to improve turn over. Data driven targeted promotions can shift poorer performing inventory, while high performers can be reordered before stock is depleted.

Use Case 4 -The benefits of centralized updating and management of multiple systems

Key Benefits

1. Simplify complexity, with a Business Manager system
2. Integrate your business data into a single control panel
3. Business Management control panel to visualise your business data.
4. One system to get all your business systems talking.

Instant snapshots of the big picture

A Business Management Dashboard can give your management team an eagle’s eye view of your business. A single view dashboard enables your team to identify and respond to opportunities early and arrest issues as they arise. With data visualisation tools within the Dashboard, you can zoom into the detail of big picture trends, pin-pointing individual products, stores, a specific point of sale or time window.

Seamless management across locations and online

Business Manager dashboards are designed to enable store managers to make changes to impact the business as-a-whole rather than by location or point of sale. By managing the business seamlessly and holistically, store owners can make business wide changes with greater ease and speed. A Business Management System enables traditional physical stores to fast-track online store growth.

Business wide system integration

While your business systems may not be able to speak to each other, a Business Management System can. The system connects fragmented business systems, aggregating their data into one global view. The Business Manager enables your business to continue to work with the existing systems, while managing your store within a single dashboard. A well-designed system integration cuts out the need for expensive ‘add ons’ and the excessive costs of large-scale ERP systems.

Use Case 5 – The benefits of sales management automation

1. Empower the sales team
2. Business insights to increase your sales performance.
3. Track individual SKU performance.
4. Vary prices by location and customer.
5. Automate sales authorisations.

Empower sales staff

The Business Manager System can be used to delegate and automate sales authorizations to designated employees, empowering the sales frontline. The sales authority gives employees more autonomy when negotiating or providing customer service.

Optimise profits

The Business Manager Dashboard gives visibility into the drivers and barriers of greater profit. It provides insight into the impact of price variations by location, product SKU, store and season, allowing the business to vary pricing according to opportunity.

Customised retail offerings

The Business Management System can enable a business to make targeted offerings based on customer profile and market segments. Member discounts, customized freight, order quantities, volume-based pricing, location or point of sale specific pricing can be used to promote larger sales volume and lock in loyalties of high value customers.

Want to find out more about Business Managers for e-commerce?

Contact App 360 to find out if an e-commerce Business Management

Louise Kelly

App 360