We often get asked about what exactly outsourced ecommerce means, and with good reason. It can be challenging to explain, even when you work in it every day, because it encompasses a lot of interconnected pieces.
In its simplest terms though, outsourced ecommerce is payment processing PLUS a bunch of complementary features (identified below) that can contribute to your success selling online.
When you outsource to an ecommerce platform, you plug into a comprehensive solution that can be tailored to your business needs to increase conversions, customer lifetime value and total revenue. Once this customization has been completed, you are free to focus more on your business while your external ecommerce team manages every aspect of your ecommerce day-to-day operations, along with scaling and optimizing your online business.
To break it down even further, here are some of the key features and benefits that make up an outsourced ecommerce solution.
Payment Processing
Simple payment processing can make sense for some start-ups that only want to accept credit cards and a single currency. This involves working directly with payment companies and ensuring compliance with their security and other regulations. But the more payment options and currencies you want to offer your customers, the more complicated it gets.
When companies scale, the complexities of adding and managing more payments methods, staying compliant with updated regulations and protecting against evolving security threats dramatically increases. With an outsourced ecommerce solution, you only deal with your ecommerce provider who, in turn, works with payment gateways and processors to ensure you have no issues continuing to offer your customers their preferred payment methods.
Plus Security & Fraud Protection
Outsourced ecommerce includes PCI compliance so you don’t have to worry about meeting evolving requirements. Additionally, many outsourced ecommerce solutions like RevenueWire include fraud protection to lower the risk of costly chargebacks.
Plus a Customizable, Fully-Hosted Cart
Every business is unique. So when it comes to ecommerce, one size will never fit all. That’s why outsourced ecommerce solutions offer cart page templates for businesses to choose from which incorporate ecommerce best practices and can subsequently be customised to mirror your website design. You can also offer discounts, coupons, free trials, cross-sells or upsells within your checkout path to increase conversions and boost your revenue.
Plus Subscription Billing and Optimization
For subscription services, outsourced ecommerce can automate the recurring payments and subscription management processes, and includes features to ensure subscriber payment information is automatically kept up-to-date. For payments that do fail, dunning management capabilities are built in to automatically retry the transaction which can greatly improve the number of customers and, ultimately, revenue that you are able to retain.
Plus International Payments and Tax Management
Selling online has the advantage of being able to access customers all over the world. While the opportunity is vast, it also adds to the challenge. To get overseas shoppers to buy from you is more difficult than many think. For the best results, you need to have a purchase solution that can intelligently detect where in the world your shopper is and localize their purchase experience in terms of language, currency, support options, local payment types and more. In addition, international taxes can be automatically calculated and remitted on your behalf.
This is one aspect where outsourced ecommerce solutions can have a dramatic effect on conversions and simplifying your ecommerce process.
Plus Mobile Optimization
Sales made using mobile devices continue to grow fast. Add to this the importance search engines like Google are placing on being mobile optimized and it’s clear companies need to ensure their entire mobile ecommerceexperience is easy. Outsourced ecommerce solutions have cart pages that are optimized for mobile to ensure that mobile shoppers don’t abandon their purchase.
Plus Cart Testing Capabilities
Successful ecommerce means never being static. You need to consistently test what works best when it comes to converting your customers and what tactics may work at increasing lifetime value. That’s where cart testing can be invaluable so you can test changes to your checkout process.
Plus Robust Reporting
Good business decisions need insightful and up-to-date information. Outsourced ecommerce platforms come equipped with multiple reporting options so you can stay on top of key performance indicators (KPIs) to be able to make informed, timely decisions, pinpoint what is working well and what is not, and even increase the value of your firm (investors love metrics).
Plus Customer Billing Support
Happy customers are vital for ecommerce businesses. Outsourced ecommerce solutions offer built-in customer management tools and a multi-language billing support team available via phone or email. This allows your internal team more time to ensure your customers’ success with your service.
Plus Partner Payout Management
If you work with performance marketers or channel partners, outsourced ecommerce solutions often include partner management, tracking and the ability to automatically calculate and pay out based on their sales performance.
Plus Getting Up & Running Quickly
For new products with robust sales targets, getting to market as quickly as possible is essential. And while setting up your own ecommerce platform is possible, it will take a great deal of time and resources that can be better put to use on building your core business.
Plus Access to Expert Account Management
Outsourced ecommerce is done by those who live and breath the industry. Outsourced ecommerce platforms are backed up with teams specialized in all aspects of ecommerce from cart optimization to security and fraud mitigation.
Wrapping it Up: Keeping Your Ecommerce (and Revenue) Optimized
If there’s one constant in ecommerce, it’s that everything is always changing. From technology to consumer preferences, security standards, payment methods, tax considerations, regulations and more, keeping on top of it all can very quickly become complex and time-consuming. If you fall behind, you can quickly see your revenue drop because of lower conversions, more failed payments or the loss of payment methods.
So the answer to what outsourced ecommerce is: it’s payment processing plus a lot of elements that need to come together to optimize your ecommerce success. By outsourcing your ecommerce platform, you can make sure you keep up with the latest technology and best practices while working with a team of experts to ensure your long-term ecommerce success.
You are in the business of being the best at what you do. That’s why you should be devoting your time to what you do best instead of spending time on building and maintaining your ecommerce platform.
