How to Reduce Your E-commerce Store’s Operational Costs

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Omer Riaz, co-founder of DaskTech, Inc. and Urtasker 

E-commerce is one of the best and most effective ways to earn returns on your investments.

That said, rising costs have made it more difficult for business owners to boost profits while keeping prices competitive. After all, generating revenue is only half of the profit equation – reducing costs is the other.

Here are some critical tips to consistently help reduce the operational costs of your e-commerce business.

Hiring Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants are remote workers that are able to handle some of the administrative tasks connected to your business. Unquestionably they are a great way to reduce operating costs for running your business. Why?

• • Price – Virtual assistants cost considerably less than full-time employees
  • Time management – By outsourcing administrative and non-core tasks through a virtual assistant, small businesses free up their time to maximize business efforts – and results!
  • 24/7 operations – Hiring virtual assistants in different time zones ensures that your business is running around the clock.
  • No training necessary – Virtual assistants require no training or additional resources. Once they are contracted, they’re ready to work.

But the question is, what traits should you look for in a VA to match your business needs? Use these pro tips before hiring a VA.

Streamlining Supply Chain Management

Streamlining supply chain and distribution process can help reduce operational costs. This means incorporating supply chain management measures, such as inventory management, integrated supply chain methods and vendor managed inventory.

Overseeing Routine Inventory Checks

Regular tallying of inventory helps reduce operational costs of business. Inventory counting allows firms to determine which products can be offered to customers at a discount and which products need to be replaced.

By combining accurate inventory count with sales trend software, e-commerce businesses can also find out sales patterns that will guide them in placing future orders.

Getting Rid of Excess Merchandise

Eliminating excess merchandise can greatly help you save on operational costs. Storing inventory takes up additional space, which leads to additional costs.

Some ways that unwanted merchandise can be eliminated include store discounts, bundling items that can be sold to a physical store or by donating excess inventory to charity (for a possible tax write off).

It can be very difficult to keep track of merchandise and inventory when you’re trying to grow a profitable business. Hiring a virtual assistant is one way to ensure you’re able to focus less on administrative tasks and more on boosting your store’s profits.

Omer Riaz is an experienced IT professional, e-commerce consultant and Amazon seller. He is the co-founder of DaskTech, Inc & Urtasker, which made its trademark in the e-commerce world by providing skilled and trained virtual staff and services. Omer blogs on various topics, including his experience in the fast changing world of e-commerce, hiring and effectively managing virtual assistants.