Do you want to set up an online shop and need help? Or is your online shop not performing the way you want it to? Together with us, you can have a business plan drawn up that analyzes your e-commerce pipeline and shows you ways of improvement that fit your company.
Reasons for an E-Commerce Business Plan elaborated by a specialist
Creating and operating an online shop is a complex venture. Technology, design, marketing, logistics, personnel - all of this needs to be organized and financed. So before you fall into the cold water and spend a lot of money, a business plan can help you assess the chances of success for your business model. If you have your business plan drawn up by a partner like Blauband, you will receive a professional assessment of your business project and a valuable external view. This way you will save you from unpleasant surprises in the future.
Why is Blauband the right partner?
We offer a lot of experience. Our employees already have over 150 business plans in various industries, including jewelry, telecommunications and online marketing. We have evaluated several e-commerce business models and can distinguish important factors in several European countries. If you let us draw up a business plan, you will see this experience.
We would be happy to help you plan your e-commerce project
Phases in creating an online shop business plan
Analysis of initial situation
First, let's take a close look at your company. Is there already an online shop or not? Which functions does it have, which ones are missing? Is the shop popular with customers and is your sales growing? How does the e-commerce channel fit into your company? You can only be really successful if the online business is meaningfully integrated.
From practice: A customer from the fashion industry complains that his online shop is not growing as expected. The company would like us to draw up a business plan for them. We put the shop through its paces, familiarize ourselves with the range of functions and analyze the company and its position in the market.
Determination of sales and earnings potential
In this phase, we look at possibilities that your online shop has on the market. We examine your target group and your (future) competition in an extensive competitive analysis. In addition, we look at various strategic approaches and determine which functions and marketing measures promise the greatest potential for success.
From practice: For our customers from the fashion industry, the market analysis shows, among other things, that part of the inquiries cannot be served via online channels because the collections on offer are sold out too quickly. In addition, unlike customers in the retail stores that are being advised, online customers usually only buy a single part and not matching clothing or accessories.
Development of scenarios
The time has finally come to draw up concrete plans. In the e-commerce business plan, we develop various scenarios to build or rebuild your structure so that your strategic goals are achieved. This also includes the question of whether certain measures should be outsourced. You can use profit and loss calculations to assess the prospects of success for each scenario.
From practice: We are developing a “Cross-Channeling Model” for a company in the fashion industry in order to optimally bring their offline and online channels together. The model allows employees in the shops to offer products from their inventory via the online shop. This means that fewer products are sold out online and stores can sell remaining stock. In addition, we use the experience of shop assistants to present a new strategy for product placement that compiles matching articles for online customers.
Validation of scenarios
Every scenario is checked by us for its feasibility during the development phase.
From practice: A fashion company would like to create and send newsletters with in-house staff and expand the marketing team. To check this option, we hire a recruiting specialist, who doesn't get a single application. The plan does not stand up to the reality check.
Illustration of opportunities and risks scenarios
Optionally, we assess the scenarios for you based on our experience with regard to their strengths and weaknesses. We also create a matrix for each scenario on opportunities and risks that can help you decide on one of the scenarios.
Best Practices – How are your competitors doing?
The comparison with competitors cannot hurt, regardless of whether you get inspiration or decide to find a new path. That's why we look at how your competitors deal with similar scenarios. Are they more into insourcing, outsourcing or hybrid solutions?
From practice: The analysis of the 100 most relevant competitors shows that 60% of the companies run their online business themselves, while 40% outsource activities to one or more partners. Our customer finally decides on a hybrid solution: he keeps e-commerce management, product data maintenance and order processing in-house, and transfers remaining activities (technical operation and hosting of software systems, maintenance of the interfaces, logistics, marketing. ..) to three external specialists.
We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
Let Blauband create a bulletproof business plan for you. Get in touch today and let us know about your situation and business goals. Together with you we’ll evaluate your online shop and how to advance your business model in a profitable and future-proof way.
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