Running an E-Commerce business can be complicated, dealing with the constant pressure of orders, making sure goods are packed and dispatched on time, keeping track of stock, dealing with imports and keeping track of the finances.
If you sell through multiple channels then things get a lot harder. Each channel will have its own unique process to follow for recording orders and processing payments.
Add PayPal, stripe and merchant accounts into the mix and you really have your work cut out.
There aren’t many shortcuts with a thriving e-commerce business but there are some. The way to ease some of the pressure is to automate as much of the process as possible. This way you can eliminate the time you waste by duplicating effort.
Putting Xero at the heart of your E-Commerce business makes perfect sense
The Xero ethos is to open their doors to other software and apps and allow them to easily connect.
So, I would advise that you should select other elements of your business such as your online shop platform, your payment processor and your stock management system from those that integrate with Xero.
See the Xero Add On Marketplace for a list of these.
This way when you sell something the process is automated which will save you time.
Selling Via Amazon
One example of this is if you sell via Amazon.
For many reasons millions of vendors now sell through Amazon but Amazon’s platform can be painful to use. The way around this, is to integrate it and whilst Xero doesn’t integrate directly with Amazon, there are a number of solutions including; an Add On Partner called A2X, which will automatically fetch your latest Amazon settlement transactions, and post summarized invoices to Xero for your approval. Reconcile Amazon payments to invoices directly in Xero.
Make no mistake running a successful e-commerce business is time intensive but with a little forethought and careful set up you can minimise duplicated effort.
If you run an e-commerce business that is a little out of control and needs a re-think then give us a call on 01622 671 835 to talk through your options.
