A Fourth Factor That Is Frequently Overlooked

Not meeting the goals mentioned in the above paragraphs, can lead to not achieving the results anticipated. But a successfully designed and marketed Website that results in a substantial sales increase can also create business disruption when the e-commerce system is not integrated in “real time” to the “back office” system.

For example, I recently received an inquiry about our ERP software solution from the president of a small fastening company who had read my previous article “how to choose the right software for your company” which was published in a popular trade magazine. When speaking with her, she told me that she recently “turned off” her website despite the fact it was extremely successful in producing a substantial amount of new sales. The reason for “turning off” the website was that the “back office” system did not produce the proper inventory status information.

Not having this data resulted in severe business disruptions. Realizing that she would lose customers and her company’s high rating on the web, the president decided to “turn off” the website until she could find suitable new “back office” software for her company. As a result of the high level of stress created by the business disruptions, many of her staff members decided to leave the company, increasing her business disruptions.

Another Example Of How A So-Called Successful Website Can Create Unnecessary Business Disruptions:

Recently, three presidents of very successful electronics e-commerce companies told me they have excellent e-business retail stores that enabled them to grow their businesses substantially. When I asked them how good their inventory control is in the warehouse, they all admitted that this was one area that required great improvement as:

1. Misplaced inventory was “collecting dust” and was not found until the next physical count took place in the warehouse. Quite often, when the misplaced inventory when found, it was obsolete. The inventory that could have been sold became excess inventory since new inventory was ordered while it was misplaced.