Large online store: inside view

Earlier we wrote about the difficulties and basic mistakes that can occur when opening a small online store. In order to give an idea of ​​large Internet projects in the field of e-commerce and the difficulties that entrepreneurs may encounter at the growth stage of their project, consider the work of a large online store “from the inside”.

Some people think that a store on the Internet is a website that is supported by a couple of people, and for its work you need several managers on the phone and a courier. In fact, any large online store has a very expensive and complicated back office, setting up which is not an easy task.
A large online store works as a conveyor, starting from receiving an order and ending with the return of goods, otherwise it dies. Let's start from the beginning.

Advertising department

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To obtain the required volume of orders, the online store uses various advertising tools that we have already written about . The advertising department is responsible for their effective use.

Department tasks:

• Manage advertising tools (contextual advertising, CPA, SMM, SEO);
• Development of various actions for the site;
• Analysis of the effectiveness of promotional tools;

Approximate structure of the advertising department:

• Head of Department;
• Content Managers (1-2);
• CPA Specialists (1-2);
• SMM Specialists (1-2);
• Editor and copywriter (1-2);
• Advertising analysts (2);

The online store cannot advertise a product without its description, characteristics and photos. The content department is responsible for their creation.

Content department

In order for the buyer to become interested in the product and make the right choice, you need high-quality photos of the product, reflecting important details, and a detailed description of its characteristics.
The content department can be the most expensive department in a company. Today, 3D photos and videos that show the benefits of each product are widely used. An online store that quickly creates high-quality content will always be more successful than its competitors in the e-commerce market.

The next division is almost always a stumbling block in modern business.

IT department

Automation is one of the top priorities for any modern company. And in the online store almost everything depends on it.

Site
The first thing that requires serious study is the site. To create it will not be suitable CMS in the standard configuration. As a rule, to meet the requirements of a large online store, CMS has to be turned into an unknown Frankenstein.

The site must meet the following requirements:

• To withstand high loads;
• Have convenient search filters, since there can be from 3 to 100 thousand products in the storefront;
• Contextual search should produce the most relevant data.
• Pages should open quickly and photos instantly loaded;
• The showcase should take into account the features (age, gender) of the client and his preferences in previous sessions. A similar model is used in OZON, AMAZON and other large market places;
• During the day, the status of availability of goods should be promptly carried out;
• Every day, new items should be promptly added to the storefront. Their number can vary from one to several thousand;

With such requirements, very little remains of the standard CMS functionality. Web-studios, which are attracted to the creation of an online store, often assure the customer that developing a website on a boxed CMS is a guarantee to receive updates and stay on those. support. But this is not the main thing when creating a large online store. Much more important - the implementation and the possibility of subsequent changes in various functions of the site, resistance to stress and safety.

Some companies develop a website from scratch, making the so-called “custom”. In this case too many problems arise. There is always a risk that the marketplace will not work stably or the contractor will not finish the project.
For ourselves, we decided that it would be more profitable to make a large online store on a free CMS system. There are several reasons for this:

• No need to pay for a software license;
• It is easier to find developers to maintain and upgrade the online store;
• Universal web developers who are not tied to a specific CMS cost significantly less;
• If there is a need to change the performer halfway, then it is easier to do it within the framework of some popular CMS platform, in contrast to the “Custom” solution;

Content management system
A new enough term for the Russian market. This system performs the following tasks:

• Storage of commercial content (descriptions, photos and videos);
• Manage showcase site - setting rules for displaying the goods in the respective categories;
• Setting rules for checking downloaded content;
• Tools for easy content creation;

Usually there is no ready-made system and you need to either order or make it yourself. From my own experience, one can say - the development of such a system will require at least 6 months. development. The cost of the system can be estimated at 3-5 million rubles.

Workflow and ERP
To automate the interaction of departments, companies usually use the ERP-system. Most often 1C. Almost all divisions of the company work in it. This allows you to build certain business processes that are characteristic of certain departments.

We give an example of business processes associated with the order of goods by the client, automated through the ERP-system.
The sales department, having accepted the order, enters it into the ERP, or the order enters the ERP system from the site automatically. Then the ERP system should automatically reserve the goods from the warehouse for this order. Part of the goods ordered, as a rule, is in the online store's own warehouse. Another part must be ordered from suppliers. To automate the process of moving the order between departments, in the ERP system creates a specific model of order movement between the relevant departments. According to this principle, the order is transferred to the purchasing department, which orders goods that are not in stock from suppliers. Then the order is transferred to the logistics department, which sends the drivers to the supplier’s warehouse to receive the goods and deliver them to the online store’s warehouse. After that, the order is moved to the warehouse. His task is to pack the received goods and collect orders for delivery to the customer. After assembly, the order is moved to the delivery department, which delivers the goods to the customer.
All these processes only on paper seem simple. But in fact, setting them up in ERP takes at least 1 year and requires a team of developers and business analysts.

There are no ready solutions for such tasks, therefore, the company’s staff always
There are several programmers who “doppish” ERP for certain tasks.

Internal projects
In any Internet company there are internal projects. They are associated with the introduction of a new function or software product, ensuring information security, etc.

There are several important tasks that an online store faces:

• Providing loans to customers through YesCredit credit brokers, All on credit, etc .;
• Acceptance of payments by bank cards;
• Acceptance of payments through mobile terminals;
• Call from the site by one click ( ex . Zingaya.com );
• Organization of pickup points;
• Introduction of products for call analysis and call center operation;
• The introduction of products for the calculation of logistics routes;

The structure of the department of information technology:

• Head of Department;
• Web Development Team Leader (he's a system architect);
• Developer (2);
• Tester;
• Layout designer;
• ERP Development Team Leader;
• ERP Developer (2);
• Project Manager;

The department of information technology, as a rule, is the third most expensive unit. The results of the entire company depend on how well the work of the department is built.

Technical Support Department

This department is engaged in supporting the technical infrastructure of the company. As a rule, it consists of 3-4 people. The mission of this unit is to respond quickly to tickets and perform the assigned tasks with high quality. With the right approach, the department can save the online store money on the purchase of software licenses, computers and other hardware.

Product Department

The website of the online store requires constant management, as clients work with it. Therefore, a product manager is required for the development of this product. This is a person who knows what features the site should have and strives to constantly improve it in order to best satisfy customers' needs.
This is a rather specific and rare vacancy, conditions of candidates, as a rule, high salaries (from $ 5,000), an Apple computer and a free schedule.

Sales department

Orders to the online store come in different ways. Some customers place an order on the site and wait for the manager to contact them. Others immediately call the online store for ordering and obtaining the necessary information. Unfortunately, the Russian mentality and the lack of normal operators does not allow online stores to work on the model of Amazon.

The manager of the online store works in the accounting system (usually 1C). Places orders in it and negotiates delivery with customers. From this moment begins the work of the back office to fulfill the order. Automating this process is a big and difficult task.

Purchasing department

The functions of this department include the daily purchase of goods from suppliers, the search for new suppliers and a lot of operating work.
Composition of the department:

• Head of Department;
• Account managers (or brand managers, their number strongly depends either on the number of suppliers or on the number of manufacturers);
• Operational managers (2-3);

A good purchasing department is seeking suppliers of discounts, installments and other favorable conditions for the company.

Logistics and Delivery Service

As a rule, all major online stores have their own delivery service. This allows you to maintain a high level of service, which is not always possible in the case of outsourcing. The service consists of a logistics and delivery group. The logistics service distributes the cars along the routes, and the delivery is the cars themselves with the drivers who deliver the goods.
Some companies create their own fleet, which is quite expensive and profitable only with high investment budgets. Most often, the online store does not hire drivers to the state, but works with them on an IP contract, which allows you to save on taxes.

Stock

The warehouse of a large online store can be very different from the classic warehouse of a distributor. It all depends on the product. An online store, as a rule, has many small orders for small-sized goods. Therefore, the storekeeper, for assembling the order, goes through the warehouse much more than the storekeeper of the wholesale distributor. Because of this, it is profitable for an online store to think through warehouse automation, to optimize the storekeepers time and, consequently, to reduce assembly time.

Claims Department

To resolve disputes with customers on orders and service, a complaint department is needed.
He can perform the following tasks:

• Consultations on defective goods;
• The solution of disputes when the courier is at the client;
• Customer retention discounts and gifts when the customer refuses the goods;
• Calling customers to collect statistics and assess the quality of the service provided;

Internal Control Department

Even with the quality of the organization of business processes in the company, it is necessary to monitor and evaluate processes from the outside. For this there is an internal control department. His main responsibility is to analyze the activities of the company in general and of each unit (employee) in particular. This is a lever that allows to eliminate bottlenecks in the company.

Human Resources and Security Service

The rapidly growing Internet business and, as a result, the growth in the number of investment projects affect the job market. First of all, this is reflected in salaries - they are growing rapidly. This is due to a pre-planned investment budget, the purpose of which is to find an employee, how much it would cost the company. Organizations whose budget is limited becomes much harder. For example, in Moscow, all 1C developers want to earn at least 100 tr., Even those professionals who recently graduated from the institute and have experience of half a year. With web developers a similar situation.
From the skills and qualifications of the personnel department strongly depends on the composition of the team online store.
The security service ensures that the company does not accept people who have a criminal record or a certificate from the mental health center.

As you can see, behind the website on the Internet lies a very large company, the formation of which takes more than one year of hard work.
We wish all entrepreneurs in the field of e-commerce to strive for maximum results and achieve them!