eCommerce Readiness Assessment

Just how ready is your company to develop an ecommerce site where you can sell products directly?

This assessment tool is only a guide but will help you pinpoint some of the hurdles facing your company.

Commitment Readiness

Company Commitment to Web Sales

Without serious commitment on the part of top management any web sales initiative is seriously crippled since commitment brings resources and removes barriers. However, sometimes full commitment comes only after some web sales success, and many companies have built stores with only tentative or partial commitment from top management.

Little commitment at any level Full Commitment at sales/marketing level only Partial Commitment by CEO and top officials Full Commitment by CEO and top officials

Competitive Environment

The degree of threat from online competition has a way of affecting top management commitment.

No competition threat from Web sales Minor competition threat from Web sales Moderate competition threat from Web sales Major competition threat from Web sales Acute competition from Web sales

Distribution Chain

Distribution chain factors can create ambivalence in commitment to Web sales, and therefore severely retard the process.

Committed to no sales on company website, display and referral only Web sales will cause major distributor/dealer resentment/defection Web sales will cause moderate distributor/dealer resentment/defection Web sales will cause minor distributor/dealer resentment/defection Web sales welcomed by distributors/dealers who receive commissions for sales in their regions. No existing distribution chain to disrupt

Content Readiness

Product Database

The basis of an online store (except the very smallest store) requires a spreadsheet or database containing SKU, product name, price, weight, description, etc.
Select applicable options.

Full product data exists only in a page oriented program such as Quark, PageMaker, or Frame Maker. SKU and Product Name Price Weight Full Description Category/Subcategory Filename of product photo

Product Photos

For most products, photos are an important motivation to the customer to actually complete the sale.

Do not exist Obtainable from catalogue printer at cost per photo Exist as print or transparency Exist in digitized form easily obtainable Exist in Webready format (dimensioned) Exist in Webready format optimized for minimum file size No product photos required

Systems Readiness

MailOrder Experience

Companies that have only sold in physical retail stores are at a disadvantage, since the distribution requirements for online sales are substantially different than instore sales. Customer service, order tracking, and shipping systems are vital. Existing direct sales and mail order companies have a leg up here. This category applies equally to inventory and dropship models.

No company mailorder fulfilment experience Minor company mailorder fulfilment system already in place Major company mailorder fulfilment system already in place

Legacy Computer Systems

The larger the company, the more important are connections to existing backend inventory, accounting, and order fulfilment systems. This does not kill web readiness, only web sales efficiency. Many companies, however, choose to develop an online sales presence prior to full integration so they don’t lose market share. Select one of these measures of relative ease of bridging from Web ordering from end to existing systems.

Very difficult and expensive Moderately difficult and expensive Relatively easy and inexpensive or no existing system

Internal Maintenance Staff

Online stores must be maintained on a regular basis by inhouse staff, not outsourced.

Maintenance staff budget commitment or in place Maintenance staff inadequately budgeted or planned Maintenance staff not budgeted or planned

Developer Readiness

Site Developer and store software readiness require some important decisions. (a) selecting a developer to construct an online web store and (b) selecting a store building software environment in which to construct the store.

Neither developer nor store software selected Store software selected, but not developer Developer selected, but not store software Store software and developer selected

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eCommerce Readiness Assessment