Statista predicts that global e-commerce sales are likely to reach around 8.1 trillion dollars by 2026. With online businesses expanding their operations at lightning speed to remain competitive and keep up with consumer demand, it can be hard to maintain the same level of service quality without enlisting outside help.
Amidst this challenge, many e-commerce businesses are now turning to outsourcing to manage a few of their internal functions. It presents an excellent option for businesses, from large enterprises to small startups, to access a wider pool of talent and boundless resources – the kind that would otherwise be too costly or time-consuming to find on their own.
So, what is e-commerce outsourcing? How can it assist your e-commerce business? And what roles can you outsource? Read on to find out.
What Is E-Commerce Outsourcing?
Outsourcing is delegating specific business functions that require specialized skills or knowledge to a third-party provider. A few examples of these tasks include customer support, website development, digital marketing, accounting, product design, data entry, accounting, and more.
This external partner can be located anywhere in the world. Take, for example, outsourcing in the Philippines. This beautiful country offers online businesses plenty of offshore, nearshore, and onshore outsourcing companies. It’s one of the world’s most reliable, consistent sources of skilled professionals.
Why Consider Outsourcing for Your E-Commerce Business?
A. Cost Savings
If your aim is to cut down your operational and overhead costs, outsourcing is your best bet. You don’t need to put in time and energy in finding, hiring, and training staff for a certain job role. Partnering with an external provider allows you to access world-class talent without spending massive recruitment fees or employee benefits.
B. Specialized Expertise
Outsourcing companies are masters at finding the right person for the job. They understand the complexities of e-commerce operations. So, they can better offer you a vast supply of domain-specific talent that might be hard to find in your local market.
C. Instant Scalability
Sometimes, online businesses can experience sudden spikes in demand. This kind of surge in workload isn’t always possible to manage with your in-house staff. And this is where outsourcing can help businesses swiftly expand their teams with the necessary skill set and resources.
D. More Time to Focus on Core Functions
Attempting to do it all yourself can be a Herculean job. It’s a mistake that most business owners make. Understandably, you want to oversee every aspect of running your business. But investing unnecessary time and energy in non-core tasks can prevent you from focusing on the more critical aspects of your operations that need your attention.
Outsourcing to a third-party provider takes the burden of mundane tasks off your shoulders. It leaves you to concentrate all your efforts on focal areas such as product development, customer support, and market research.
E. Competitive Edge
The open market loves competition, and the internet has only made it that much more intense. As a business owner, you must spare no effort to establish an aggressive edge over your rivals. Outsourcing to an accomplished provider can help you complete tasks in less time, grow your business, and take on more projects with ease.
What Internal Functions Can You Outsource?
Every outsourcing company has a different scope of services. But some of the most common roles you can outsource include:
1. Customer Support
E-commerce demands the highest level of customer service. This ranges from responding to emails and providing product information to addressing customer complaints and shipping delays.
Here, outsourcing customer support can help your online business provide 24/7 service without worrying about recruiting an entire in-house team.
2. Web Development and Design
Web development and UX/UI design play a pivotal role in the success of any online business. Your website needs to be aesthetically on-brand, user-responsive, and simple enough for customers to navigate.
Hiring a salaried team of web developers can be pricey, even more so if you operate in a country with substantial labor costs. Outsourcing to an experienced provider can arm you with world-class talent and resources at affordable rates.
3. Digital Marketing
The right outsourcing partner can help you increase your online visibility, generate more leads, and build a loyal customer base. They usually have teams of content writers, graphic designers, PPC specialists, and social media experts with the proper know-how for executing effective digital marketing campaigns.
4. Human Resources
Flexible staffing is yet another area where outsourcing can come in handy. Bringing on a few extra hands to handle your HR operations can give you the bandwidth to focus on other business areas. So whether it’s employee recruitment, payroll, or onboarding, you can always count on a reliable external partner to take care of it.
5. Data Entry
Tedious tasks like data entry can eat up a lot of your valuable time. That’s why many businesses now opt for outsourcing to get the job done quickly and accurately. Typically, data entry tasks involve invoice and billing, records indexing, surveys, product listings, and more.
6. Accounting and Bookkeeping
Any seasoned business owner will tell you how nontrivial it is to log and track your financial transactions. This includes maintaining accurate financial records, preparing statements, analyzing costs and revenue streams, and more. But when you’re first starting, bringing in a full-time accounting team might not always be feasible.
Outsourcing accounting services can provide an experienced team of certified public accountants (CPAs), certified financial analysts (CFAs), and other specialists who can handle all your bookkeeping needs effectively. They’re well-versed in different types of accounting such as financial, managerial, cost, auditing, and tax — all suited to your particular business model.
Where to Go From Here
Outsourcing is an invaluable service for e-commerce businesses. But before you bring in outside help, spend some time analyzing your needs. Break down your tasks to see which ones take the most time and resources. Doing so will help you decide which roles to outsource and in what order.
With the right third-party provider, you can expect faster turnaround times, improved performance, and considerable savings for your online business.
