How to Save Thousands on Your Next Ecommerce Project

Here&#39;s a list of items that should be in your business document. There may be areas that need to change. Make a note of those — &quot;this is what we do now&quot; and then &quot;this is what we would like for the future.&quot;&nbsp;There may also be other mission-critical parts that you will want to include like these items:</p>

Inventory</b></p>

This area has increasingly become more complex due to all the sales channels (like Amazon</a>) and storage options available to companies now. Do you keep inventory? If so, how are the numbers reconciled? Is there an outside service that does this for you? How are the products and SKUs created and how are they imported into the system?</p>

Shipping</b></p>

Be prepared to fully document the carriers, special rates, uncommon packaging, returns, bulk orders and all the credentials that come along with these services.</p>

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Tax</b></p>

What taxes</a> do your state, county and local governments require you to pay? Do you have a presence in another state? If you do, you need to figure your share there, as well. Because of the potential complexities, many companies are moving toward cloud-based tax services that do it all for them.</p>

Payments</b></p>

Which payments do you accept? Make sure to list all the payment types, payment methods&nbsp;and special scenarios for certain customer groups or locations.</p>

Fulfillment</b></p>

Do you fulfill through third-parties or do you do it yourself? Outline the workflow — from when an order comes in, the item is picked, how you decide what box to use&nbsp;and the way it is packed all the way through when it ships. This includes, but is not limited to, applications (web services), the people involved&nbsp;and the warehouses you utilize.</p>

You may take a quick look at these few sections and wave it off, saying, &quot;Yeah, this is basic.&quot; But, all these elements may not be so easily understood by people who don&#39;t follow your workflow every day. What makes sense in your head needs to be detailed out for everyone involved in the project. Writing it out is a very good exercise for critically thinking about these parts. And use graphs, drawing and charts if they can help explain the processes. At your project&#39;s peril, don&#39;t discount this step in your project.</p>

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