How to Succeed in E-Commerce

Running a successful online store is about more than just the right design, colors, and fonts on your website.

You need to be able to deliver the right item at the right time and at the right price.
You need to be able to offer a variety of shipping options
You need to offer an orderly and preferably free return scheme.

The entire supply chain needs to be interconnected. This means that you need to be in control from your customer searching around your website, until they are in purchase mode and until the item is delivered. This means that several different systems have to work in layers. To speed up these processes, routine tasks need to be replaced with automated systems.

That doesn't mean that human labor is taken out of the math, but that time is rather used to provide better personal service instead of punching orders between different systems.

The differences between mediocre and good flow in e-commerce:

Middelmådig flyt	God flyt
Ingen integrasjon mellom e-handelsløsning og ERP-system: Kun salgsordre overføres mens resten håndteres manuelt	En fullverdig toveis integrasjon som setter i gang hele økonomi- og logistikkprosessen tilknyttet transaksjonen.
Ikke mulig å se status i butikken eller data i sanntid fra ett system.	Et godt 360 graders bilde av butikken din fra ERP systemet. En samlet oversikt over kostpriser, mest solgte varer og varer på vei inn og ut av butikken.
Du må bruke masse tid på å lete etter ordre, varer, status og andre henvendelser.	Et enkelt søk i systemet gir svar på hva enn du måtte lure på. Når alle systemer samarbeider, finnes all informasjon på ett sted slik at de ansatte kan yte god kundeservice.
Lite kontroll på kostpriser og vanskeligheter med å prisgi varer.	Full kontroll på kostpriser basert på FIFO og når varer var kjøpt inn med tanke på valuta og volum. Frakten kan matches med varemottaket og du har en helt korrekt kostpris som sikrer deg rett utsalgspris.

Challenges for you who run an online store:

The importance of having an easy-to-use online store, but the lack of prioritization of making sure to have good systems that handle the chain of goods automatically when ordering.
Constantly increasing customer expectations for fast delivery and available customer service.
Lack of good procedures for returns. Difficulty finding out in the sea of systems and platforms.
Little knowledge of the possibilities for improving their own work routines.

Solutions to the Challenges

Choose an ERP system with an open interface (API) that allows you to interconnect information from third-party warehouses, banks, webshops and suppliers with EDI
Use a return solution so that customers themselves choose a new item when returning.
Create order flow for returns straight from customer and direct to warehouse.
Ensure automated reconciliation of small and large transactions in the bank.
Choose an ERP system in which logistics is integrated.
Spend time finding a partner who can advise you in the choice of systems.

The result:

A more customer-friendly and beneficial return scheme
Employees work primarily with marketing, customer service and new products rather than order registration.
The financial manager monitors data in the ERP system containing all information on goods, finances and reporting.
You guys get little or no error in orders. If errors appear, it is easy to determine the cause.

Learn more about the Visma Net logistics system here

Customer case: This is how everyday life improved for Tufte Wear when they gained full control of the entire supply chain

When Olaf Tufte started Tufte Wear in 2012, they first sold only super-soft men's boxers made from environmentally friendly fabrics. Today, they offer a wide range of women's, men's and children's clothing, where sustainability is at the heart of all products.
Like many other players, Tufte Wear started with simple systems that have had to change with the growth of the company. At first, they tried to keep track of inventories, orders and returns using Excel only, but the increased word volumes could no longer be handled manually. Action had to be taken!
Today, Tufte Wear uses Visma Net to navigate and maintain the value chain of the company. It hasn't been seamless. They have had to test several ERP systems that turned out not to offer sufficient support for what they needed. Namely, the entire supply chain:

Logistics
Workflow
Integrations

“For us, it is important that our e-commerce is associated with an ERP system so that we avoid creating products multiple times in different systems. Such were the situations for us in Tufte Wear before we got Visma Net. Today, our system is more precise than ever. Everyday work is easier, I have good control and I know that the system works with us instead of against us.”

Bendik Sogn, CFO of Tufte Wear.

This is how the flow of goods works in Visma Net

1. When a customer orders an item, customer data, sales order, prices and discount agreements are transmitted from Visma Net.

2. Back comes sales orders and customer information from WooCommerce.

3. If the item is not in stock, a purchase proposal is created in Visma Net immediately so that the item is ordered in one click.

4th. Third-party warehouse gets notification of order. Once picked, packed and tracking number ready, delivery is confirmed back to Tufte Wear.

5. After that, the status in WooCommerce will be updated with tracking number.

6th. The money is withdrawn from the selected payment method (Klarna/Vipps/Visa), then the amount goes into Visma Net, and payments to the bank are matched against the amount paid on the web.