Website Development with 12 Months Free Hosting

Website Development with 12 months FREE Hosting

Are you ready to take your online presence to the next level? At Focus Ecommerce and Marketing, we specialize in crafting bespoke websites on two of the most powerful platforms in the digital realm: Shopify and WordPress. Whether you’re an ambitious entrepreneur or a seasoned business owner, our expert team is here to turn your vision into a stunning reality.

Special Offer
WordPress

WordPress Development

Renowned for its versatility and customization options, WordPress is the go-to choice for building dynamic websites and blogs. With thousands of themes and plugins at your fingertips, you can create a truly unique online presence that reflects your brand’s personality and resonates with your audience. Plus, with its user-friendly content management system, managing your site has never been easier.

Shopify Development

As a leading ecommerce platform, Shopify offers unparalleled simplicity and scalability. From sleek storefronts to seamless checkout experiences, Shopify empowers businesses of all sizes to thrive in the competitive online marketplace. With its intuitive interface and robust features, you’ll have everything you need to showcase your products and drive sales.

Shopify-Development

Products Built for Profit

Fully Featured Platform with No Development

Website Development

Custom Design and Development:

Whether you're starting from scratch or looking to revamp your existing site, our talented designers and developers will create a visually stunning and highly functional website that sets you apart from the competition.

Ecommerce Integration

Ecommerce Integration

Ready to take your online store to new heights? We'll seamlessly integrate Shopify or WordPress with your ecommerce platform, ensuring a smooth shopping experience for your customers and maximizing your sales potential.

Responsive Design

Responsive Design:

In today's mobile-first world, it's essential to have a website that looks great on any device. Our responsive design approach ensures that your site is optimized for desktops, tablets, and smartphones, providing a seamless user experience across all platforms.

SEO Services

SEO Optimisation:

Stand out in the crowded digital landscape with our comprehensive SEO services. From keyword research to on-page optimization, we'll help you climb the search engine rankings and attract more organic traffic to your site.

Special Offer

special offer

Ready to elevate your online presence with a stunning website on Shopify or WordPress? Contact us today to schedule a consultation with one of our expert developers. Together, we’ll unlock the full potential of your online business and help you achieve your goals. Let’s build something amazing together!

 

 

Terms & Conditions

  • WordPress site must be hosted with Focus Ecommerce.
  • WordPress hosting applies to Focus Ecommerce Basic package.
  • Shopify hosting applies to Basic package.
  • Site cannot be moved to another provider within the initial 12months.
  • Additional costs my apply.
  • Focus Ecommerce reserves the right to withdraw the offer at any time.

Low Setup Fees

Low Cost of Ownership

Future Proof Platforms

Built for Profit

Success Stories:

From beginning to end, working with Focus Ecommerce was an absolute delight. Their team showed a profound comprehension of our vision and objectives, and they contributed a degree of creativity and knowledge above and above what we had anticipated
What impressed us most was the scalability and reliability. As our business grows, we're confident Focus Ecommerce can scale with us, ensuring maximum uptime and performance.
Have nothing but great things to say about Ivan. He has helped me take my business to the next level in terms of marketing, social media, expansion and growth. Honestly. I would still be poodling along if Ivan hadn't given me a well needed push. Strongly recommend

Navigating the Future of E-Commerce:

 Personalized Shopping Experiences

In the dynamic world of e-commerce, the future is all about personalization. As we delve deeper into the digital era, the key to customer satisfaction and business growth lies in personalized shopping experiences.

 

Emerging technologies like AI and Machine Learning are not just buzzwords; they are revolutionizing e-commerce. These technologies enable businesses to analyze vast amounts of data to understand customer preferences and behaviors like never before.

Personalized Shopping Experiences

Imagine a shopping experience where every product recommendation is tailored to your specific needs, where search results align perfectly with your interests, and where your entire customer journey feels uniquely yours. This is not a distant dream but a rapidly approaching reality.

 

Personalization is becoming the cornerstone of customer engagement and retention strategies. By providing bespoke experiences, businesses can not only increase sales but also build lasting relationships with their customers.

customer engagement and retention

As we embrace these technological advancements, the question remains: How can we, as professionals in the field, leverage these tools to create unparalleled customer experiences? Let’s discuss the future of personalized shopping in e-commerce and how we can be a part of this exciting journey.

future of personalized shopping

Data-driven marketing automation

Here at Focus Ecommerce we partner with the leading AI-powered platform, Spotler.

Offering a complete marketing automation platform for B2B, B2C & eCommerce marketers to run multi-channel campaigns.

Ensuring you get access to all inbound and outbound tools and technology to engage your audience, delight your customers, gain more conversions, improve customer experience and grow your business.

Data-driven marketing automation

More sales, more customers and more growth for your eCommerce business

Improve your campaigns, implement cross-channel marketing strategies, and automate tasks that increase income. Promote loyalty, encourage recurring business, and bring back dormant clients. We offer the resources you need to expand your online store.

Latest Website Development Project

New Client

Ecommerce Shopify Website Build Launched

We are pleased to announce our latest e-commerce Shopify website development is now live.

Web Development

Building a Shopify ecommerce website

We are thrilled to announce in partnership with HMS16 the launch of our new Shopify website development project for Jersey Honey, dedicated to luxury scented candles!

Built on Shopify in double-quick time to satisfy a need in the run-up to Christmas. 

building an ecommerce website
Jersey Honey Luxury Candles Shopify Website

Why use shopify

Shopify Development

Shopify e-commerce platform is easy to use with customizable themes, apps, and integrations.
It offers excellent customer support and security features. With Shopify, it allowed us to quickly set up their online store and will allow us to manage orders and inventory.
Overall, Shopify is a great choice for small businesses seeking a user-friendly platform, reliable support, and a range of advanced features to succeed in the e-commerce world.

When building an ecommerce website for a client, we always assess their needs an d find the most suitable platform to match their requirements.

About

Jersey Honey

An ethical approach and beautiful items are the goals of the business Jersey Honey.

Based in the Channel Islands, a spotless eco-bubble in the English Channel with warm Gulf Stream waters and a microclimate that encourages the production of high-quality honey by bees, they can fully benefit from their position.

 

Why we used shopify

Luxury Scented Candles

Jersey Honey candles are manufactured with skill and stand for excellence and purity. Each candle is created with a unique, 100% vegetable wax blend that includes soy, coconut, and rapeseed.

A clean, even burn is supported by a cotton wick and a paper core. Each candle has a burn time of up to 50 hours, ensuring longevity. It’s more than just a purchase; it’s an investment in a lasting memory that will frequently give you moments of style, vigour, and tranquilly.

Effective SEO

Search Engine Optimisation

Effective SEO

What is Effective SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? It refers to a set of strategies and practices aimed at improving your website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). The goal of SEO is to drive organic (non-paid) traffic to your website by optimizing various aspects of your site to align with search engine algorithms. Here are some key components of effective SEO:

SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimization, effective SEO is a crucial aspect of digital marketing and online presence for several reasons:

Increased Visibility: The primary goal of SEO is to improve a website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). When your website ranks higher for relevant keywords, it is more likely to be seen by people searching for information, products, or services related to your business.

Organic Traffic: SEO helps generate organic (non-paid) traffic to your website. Unlike paid advertising, which stops delivering traffic once you stop paying, SEO efforts can continue to attract visitors over time, making it a cost-effective long-term strategy.

Credibility and Trust: Websites that appear at the top of search results are often perceived as more credible and trustworthy by users. SEO can help you establish authority in your industry, leading to increased trust among your target audience.

Table of Contents

1. Keyword Research:

The practice of identifying and selecting relevant keywords to target in your SEO efforts.

Identify relevant keywords and phrases that your target audience is likely to use when searching for products, services, or information related to your business. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to find valuable keywords.

2. On-Page Effective SEO:

On-Page effective SEO, also known as on-site SEO, refers to the practice of optimizing individual web pages on a website to improve their search engine rankings and visibility. It involves making changes and improvements directly to the content, structure, and HTML code of a webpage. The primary goal of on-page SEO is to provide a better user experience and make it easier for search engines to understand the content of a page. Optimize individual pages on your website by incorporating target keywords into elements such as titles, headings, meta descriptions, and content. However, avoid keyword stuffing, as it can negatively impact user experience and rankings.

3. High-Quality Content:

Content Optimization: Focusing on improving the quality and relevance of the content on a website to improve its search engine rankings

Create valuable, informative, and engaging content that addresses the needs and questions of your audience. High-quality content attracts both visitors and search engines, leading to higher rankings.

4. Optimized Images and Multimedia:

Use descriptive file names and alt text for images and multimedia content to make them searchable by search engines. Optimized media enhances user experience and accessibility.

effective seo

5. Mobile-Friendly Design:

Ensure your website is responsive and mobile-friendly. With the mobile-first indexing approach, Google prioritizes mobile versions of websites for indexing and ranking. 

A mobile-friendly design, also known as a responsive design or mobile-responsive design, is a crucial aspect of web development and design. It ensures that a website or web application is accessible, usable, and visually appealing on various mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets.

6. Page Speed Optimization:

Improve your website’s Technical SEO by optimizing loading speed on image sizes, reducing unnecessary code, using browser caching, and utilizing content delivery networks (CDNs). you can check page speed for free by visiting https://pagespeed.web.dev/

We see a lot of slow websites, WordPress sites in particular where people have opted for the cheapest hosting solution, like many things you get what you pay for, if your hosting is costing pennies then likely your not getting a very good level of service, you’ll be on a server with 100’s of other websites of whom could be using all the bandwidth, rederring you site slow or even unusable. Check out our hosting service here

Wordpress speed test results

7. Technical Effective SEO:

This aspect of SEO deals with optimizing the technical aspects of a website, such as site speed, mobile-friendliness, and structured data. Also address technical issues that might hinder search engine crawlers from indexing your site properly. This includes fixing broken links, optimizing URL structure, and creating an XML sitemap.

8. Backlink Building:

Earn high-quality backlinks from reputable websites in your industry. Backlinks serve as “votes of confidence” from other sites, indicating your website’s authority and relevance. However, don’t be tempted by phishing emails offering you 100’s of back links on ‘so called’ reputable websites. Your links should be on relevent websites, do not use a scattergun approach.

9. User Experience (UX):

Design your website with a focus on user experience. User-friendly navigation, intuitive design, and fast load times contribute to higher rankings and better engagement.

10. Local SEO (for Local Businesses):

If you have a physical presence, optimize your website for local search by creating and maintaining a Google My Business profile, acquiring local citations, and gathering positive reviews.

11. Regular Content Updates:

Keep your website updated with fresh, relevant content. Regularly publishing new blog posts, articles, or product updates signals to search engines that your site is active and valuable.

12. Monitor and Analyze:

Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to monitor your website’s performance, traffic sources, keyword rankings, and other important metrics. Analyze this data to identify areas for improvement.

Remember that SEO is a long-term strategy, and it requires ongoing effort and adaptation as search engine algorithms evolve. Focus on providing value to your audience, adhering to best practices, and staying up-to-date with the latest SEO trends and guidelines.

Looking for Help With Your SEO

Our search engine consultants will collaborate with you to outperform and outrank your rivals.

They will delve into your business and goals. Extensively research the target market using the insights provided. identifying which search terms should be targeted to achieve your objectives. We will carry out a full audit of your website to assess if any technical issues exist that need to be fixed. In conclusion we plan an effective SEO strategy with realistic and measurable targets in place.

effective SEO. How to Increase Website Traffic - SEO Services Colchester

Choosing an Ecommerce Platform

Ecommerce Platform

What to look for when choosing an ecommerce Solution.

Ecommerce Platform choice is wide and varied. Choosing the right e-commerce platform for your business is a crucial decision that can impact your online success. Here are some key factors to consider when evaluating and selecting an e-commerce platform:

1. Type of Business and Products:

Consider the nature of your business and the types of products you’re selling. Some platforms might be better suited for physical goods, while others excel with digital products or services.

2.Ecommerce Platform Scalability:

When choosing the right ecommerce platform ensure that the platform can accommodate your business’s growth. It should handle increasing numbers of products, customers, and transactions without compromising performance.

3. Customization and Flexibility:

Evaluate how much customization the platform allows. Depending on your business needs, you might require extensive customization to match your brand and unique requirements.

choosing the right ecommerce platform

4. User Experience (UX):

A user-friendly and intuitive interface is essential for both customers and administrators. Look for platforms that offer responsive and mobile-friendly designs.

5. Features and Functionality:

Identify the essential features your business requires, such as product catalog management, inventory management, payment gateways, shipping options, and SEO tools.

6. Integration Capabilities:

Check if the platform can integrate with other tools you use, such as accounting software, email marketing platforms, analytics tools, and more.

7. Security:

Security is paramount for an e-commerce platform. So choosing the right ecommerce platform look for built-in security measures like SSL encryption, regular updates, and PCI compliance for handling payment data.

8. Performance and Speed:

Slow loading times can deter customers. Choose a platform known for fast page loading and smooth performance.

9. SEO-Friendly Features:

An e-commerce platform that supports search engine optimization (SEO) practices can help your products get discovered more easily on search engines.

10. Support and Documentation:

Evaluate the level of customer support offered by the platform. Are there resources like documentation, tutorials, and a customer support team to help you troubleshoot issues?

11. Costs and Pricing:

Consider the overall cost, including platform fees, transaction fees, payment gateway charges, and any additional costs associated with add-ons or extensions.

12. Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce):

With the rise of mobile shopping, make sure the platform offers mobile-responsive designs and a smooth mobile shopping experience.

13. Ecommerce Platform Multi-Channel Selling:

If you plan to sell across multiple channels (website, social media, marketplaces), ensure the platform supports these integrations.

14. Data Analytics and Reporting:

Access to data analytics and reporting tools is vital for monitoring your business’s performance and making informed decisions.

15. Future Upgrades and Maintenance:

Assess how often the platform releases updates and new features. Regular updates can keep your site secure and up-to-date.

16. User Reviews and Recommendations:

Research user reviews and recommendations to understand real-world experiences with the platform.

Furthermore, Remember that each business’s needs are unique. Prioritize the factors that align with your business goals and long-term strategy. It’s also a good idea to consult with other business owners, industry experts, or developers to gather insights before making a final decision.

Why us

Looking For a Reliable Development Partner?

We only build on ecommerce platforms that offer the scalability and customisation you need to deliver a growth-enabled, brand-focused web stores that puts your customer first.

We offer options to suit all levels of investment, from start up businesses to enterprise level companies.

Website Development

What is Ecommerce Management

What is Ecommerce Management

What is ecommerce management? online commerce has revolutionised the way business is carried out, has become the order of the day if people wanted to expand their business on the internet and has created the need for ecommerce management

What is ecommerce management

Ecommerce stores exist in varying degrees such as brick and click and pure-play businesses. But all of these businesses have one thing in common. The need for Management of ecommerce. Any company should have the ability to identify, define, and manage the relevant eCommerce initiative, as well as have a professional execute this initiative.

So, what ecommerce management? It was previously the responsibility of IT engineers and programmers, and it was later passed on to web design professionals. But a business’s eCommerce needs in today’s online retail command a proper eCommerce management and a manager who is dedicated to care of the entire campaign.

Ecommerce management entails the creation and operation of an online business website, with the ecommerce manager in charge of managing all personnel involved in providing ecommerce functions. In short, it involves knowledge of the responsibilities and roles that the fields of IT, marketing, and website development teams must perform, as well as regular interaction with them to create and promote the ecommerce for the business.

Creation and management of a business’s e-commerce initiative is no easy task. It takes a special understanding that ecommerce is like any other integral department of a business, and thus eCommerce management involves online branding, promoting the website, maintaining the freshness as well as quality of the eCommerce website, and constantly creating new plans for the website’s online business initiative.

 

In order for the eCommerce website to deliver the relevant message on the online marketplace. The primary focus of eCommerce manageer is the identification and redefinition of the eCommerce initiatives and objectives of the company.

Once the digital strategy is defined, selling the concept becomes simple. So, identifying the prime reason of existence of the eCommerce website is really crucial. Whether the site is for commerce, community or for content…or for a combination of them, getting ecommerce revenue from all types of businesses on the internet is now very much possible with proper ecommerce management.

 

Why is ecommerce management important?

Ecommerce Effiency

Your ecommerce website isn’t a one-off creation it needs constant development to keep up to date with all the updates. You need to think of ecommerce management as a long term investment to make sure your online store continues to meet customer needs and pull in sales. Carefully monitoring user activity on your website can allow you to:

 

  1. Improve website efficiency By devoting time and resources to your ecommerce website, and seeing how users behave and make changes to aid conversion, complete regular maintenance and make sure content is up to date.
  2. Guide your marketing strategy Collect insights about how your customersare using the website and what they are purchasing. Who they are?, and what they want from your brand? Then you can create a personalised marketing approach.
  3. Improve productivity Owners of ecommerce businesses can use tools and software to simplify and automate administrative tasks. As a result, your team will be able to devote more time to the creative and strategic aspects of ecommerce.
  4. Focus your time on what matters You ecommerce manager can make data-backed decisions about where to spend time and money with clear analytics from your ecommerce platform and integrated apps

 

Ecommerce management is an integral part of all Business to Business transactions and hence has become the backbone of all commercial sites that exist on the internet.

 

As a Full Service Ecommerce Agency here at Focus Ecommerce, we specialise in connecting brands with consumers around the world. We sell & market consumer products, helping businesses reach global consumers. Offering a wide flexibile range of ecommerce services including both marketing and operational services.

 

 

Full Service Ecommerce Agency, Your Flexible Solution​

Choose how and where you want us to be involved, whether as an extension of your in-house team or existing agencies, or allow us to fully manage your ecommerce and marketing activities.

 

Ecommerce Consultants

What is a Full Service Ecommerce Agency?

What is a Full-Service eCommerce Agency?

While it sounds great, you’re probably wondering what a full-service eCommerce agency would provide, which is understandable. Read on to find out more.

Do you have an Ecommerce Business? 

If this is the case, you should think about hiring a Full-Service Ecommerce agency.

What Does Being a Full-Service eCommerce Agency Mean?

It is reasonable to assume that all eCommerce agencies provide all of the eCommerce management services that your may business  require. This would be ideal, but it is incorrect. Even to go as far to say some agencies advertising a full service are still not a 100% service.

 

For example, you might come across an eCommerce agency that specialises in development, another that specialises in digital marketing, B2B vs. B2C, yet another that specialises in content marketing, and so on. 

Full service ecommerce agency

Some may even offer a combination of services, very few with give you a 100% service that can manage your online business. You might need to work with a number of different agencies if running an ecommerce business, such as  website development, content creatation for your blog, and market this content to drive traffic to your website.

Focus Ecommerce’s full-service commerce service addresses this overspecialization, giving you the same power of a specialist without the need to hire multiple companies and saving you money.

Here are some of the services we can offer your eCommerce business. This includes but not limited to:

  • Ecommerce Development
  • Ecommerce Strategy
  • Website Managment
  • Tracking and Analytics
  • UI/UX Design
  • Website Performance Optimization
  • Back Office Processes
  • Order Management
  • Customer Services
  • Stock Control
  • Project Management
  • Analytics & Reporting
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Digital Marketing
  • Google Ads
  • Social Media
  • Email Marketing
  • PR – Brand & Product
  • Traditional Advertising (TV & Print)

Why Hire a Full-Service eCommerce Managment Company?

Working with a full-service eCommerce agency has many advantages aside from preserving your mental health. To begin with, you won’t have to juggle work between agencies to get anything done.

Coordination between different eCommerce agencies with different teams, working on various tasks, can be time-consuming, Just finding a time that suits all parties for a simple meeting can be excruciating, (imagine trying to hurd cats). It is not a long-term solution to your problem or well being.

Even if you manage to work with and coordinate between different agencies while still having time to run your own business, you’ll soon begin to wonder what the point of working with an eCommerce agency is in the first place.

One of the primary advantages of working with a Full Service Ecommerce Agency is the ability to provide a hands-off solution. That is something you will receive if you work with a full-service eCommerce agency. And if that’s not the case, and you end up coordinating between different agencies, why not just hire freelancers and save money?

Working with a full-service agency makes the most sense.

Here are more advantages to Full Service Ecommerce Management:

Long-term strategy and vision

Full-service agencies have a big picture approach that achieves your long-term goals because they offer everything from strategy and creative to marketing and technology services under one roof.

Latest technologies

Full-service agencies keep their staff up-to-date with the latest eCommerce technologies and trends.

Reducing your costs

A Full-service eCommerce agencies can handle all of your company's requirements or work with your enternal team. This will allow you to outsource your company's task to save money.

Multi-channel opportunities

Being a full-service agency entails working across multiple channels. This enables you to meet rising customer demand, increase engagement, and capitalise on multi-channel opportunities.

Conclusion

A full-service eCommerce agency can handle all of your eCommerce needs. Focus Ecommerce can handle everything from eCommerce websites and custom feature development to digital marketing and overall strategy.

Because we have people from various disciplines collaborating in our full-service agency, you won’t be in a disadvantaged position if you try to manage this critical revenue-generating force yourself.

In addition to being a hassle-free solution, our full-service agency makes scaling your marketing efforts easier. Because we can handle your increased workload on relatively short notice. If you want to hire outsourced professionals to help you grow your Ecommerce business, nothing less than full-service will do.

Get in Touch To See How We Can Help

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IRP Commerce

A Deep Dive into IRP Commerce

IRP Commerce Unleashing Ecommerce Potential: A Deep Dive into IRP Commerce A profit centred ecommerce platform with all the Products, Modules, App Store and Integrations

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ECOMMERCE SOLVED

Solving ECOMMERCE with Real Time Calculation of Sales, Margins and Net Profit

The IRP platform effectively solves eCommerce by demonstrating novel technology that calculates merchant net profit in real time.

Download our WHITEPAPER

IRP Commerce

IRP COMMERCE

IRP Commerce is on of the fastest growing ecommerce platforms, seamlessly combining sales channels and digital marketing channels into one central system.

The IRP approach to ecommerce includes the following critical elements: an award-winning, enterprise-grade ecommerce platform and a network of performance-rated digital specialists.

IRP Commerce Cloud

The IRP Commerce Cloud has all of the tools and features you’ll need to revolutionise your business. There are no pricey third-party plugins or software development required.

  • IRP Shopper – Secure, cloud-based and preloaded with the latest conversion and revenue-focused ecommerce features. Providing Multi-lingual, multi-currency, international sales ready to create an unbeatable experience. Featuring a simple administration console and is comprehensive and intuitive, enabling you to control every aspect of ecommerce using one central system.

  • IRP Trading Terminal – Fully connected with the IRP and employs statistics and machine learning to transform your data into revenue-generating, profit-boosting actions in real time. Allowing you to recruit, convert, and retain more consumers with the help of powerful prediction capabilities.

  • IRP Marketing Cloud – No need for expensive third-party email systems. A-fully integrated suite of email remarketing tools helping you stay connected and personal with your customers and grow your sales. Plus, Instant access to over 40 Google shopping feeds that are ready to use and internationally configured.

  • IRP Marketplaces – Instant access to Amazon and eBay, domestic and international. Simple management of stock to control all selling touchpoints.
IRP Commerce admin

Enterprise Solution

Which ecommerce platforms you use is usually a matter of personal preference, often down to the fact you’ve used it previously or its been recommended.

However, ecommerce software is one area of computing where the outcomes of different platforms can result in significant variances in sales and profitability. In fact, the ecommerce platform is frequently the deciding element in online success, therefore it’s crucial that a company selects the right one.

IRP Commerce is the correct solution for thos ambitious retailers looking to expand globally.  IRP is an enterprise level ecommerce platform designed to help develop and implement a proven commerce strategy for sustained growth for small to mid-market upwards retailers. A fully-integrated multichannel solution which combine multiple sales channels, award-winning international reach and a comprehensive set of features and tools.

IRP Commerce cloud

Stable & Scalable Architecture

IRP connects your consumers’ digital and physical touch points, allowing your multiple sales channels to integrate in real time, such as web, stock control, EPOS, phone, and mobile.

It’s a rock-solid infrastructure that’s designed to scale and handle large transaction volumes.

Secure Cloud Technology

IRP software is hosted in the cloud. The IRP itself is based on Microsoft technologies on an SQL Server Database. The IRP platform application is programmed on the .Net framework.

All you need is a broadband connection and a browser. There is no requirement for any software to be installed on your devices to run the IRP.  The IRP is also PCI Level 1 compliant – this means a maximum level of security for your data and credit cards.

Centralised Administration

Featuring one centralised administration area operating all the functions of IRP commerce. Completely secure and Admin rights are governed by role-based permissions.

Comprehensive Features

The IRP is packed full of features that help you to build a world class website.

Multichannel Coverage

Combines sales channels and digital marketing channels with a centralised system. IRP makes life simple for ecommerce managers and more opportunities maximises sales.

The IRP commerce solution encompasses web, mobile, telesales, till, stock control, B2B and digital marketing.

Web

Incorporating a world-class ecommerce website equipped with all the functions, features, and integrations required for creating a successful online business. Including everything from inventory management, order processing, customer relationship management (CRM) and advanced reporting, to a full range of sales & marketing tools.

The IRP supports multiple languages, currencies and tax calculations for true international expansion. The IRP has connections to many of the key players in the ecommerce industry. Integration with Google, AWIN, Trustpilot, Royal Mail, Parcelforce, Realex, PayPal and Worldpay means you join a connected commerce world right from the start. Ecommerce is continually evolving, the IRP platform ensures you’re kept up-do-date with key developments.

Mobile

Incorporating a world-class ecommerce website equipped with all the functions, features, and integrations required for creating a successful online business. Including everything from inventory management, order processing, customer relationship management (CRM) and advanced reporting, to a full range of sales & marketing tools.

The IRP supports multiple languages, currencies and tax calculations for true international expansion. The IRP has connections to many of the key players in the ecommerce industry. Integration with Google, AWIN, Trustpilot, Royal Mail, Parcelforce, Realex, PayPal and Worldpay means you join a connected commerce world right from the start. Ecommerce is continually evolving, the IRP platform ensures you’re kept up-do-date with key developments.

Telesales

IRP’s easy to use Telesales feature enables your call centre or customer services team to process phone orders seamlessly or take over a customer’s basket at the touch of a button. Your IRP fulfilment system receives all order information and customer information immediately. No more unnecessary uploading order and stock information.

Till

The IRP comes with a fully integrated EPOS system that lets you use numerous tills in different locations. Save time and costs with the ability to manage stock and customers, thus impacting on your bottom line. Vary prices by location and your vouchers and loyalty schemes can be unified across all stores and online channels. The software is powerful, but it’s also user-friendly and simple for staff to learn.

Stock Control

A feature-rich stock control system delivers benefits to your business. Including: ensuring you stock the items your customers need, increasing your stock accuracy and helping you deliver goods on time. Bring all your sales channels together into one efficient, cost-effective central stock database.

B2B

The IRP comes fully equipped with a B2B platform that facilitates trade relationships, suitable for all wholesaler, distributor, reseller and manufacturer requirements. This includes multiple customer accounts and pricing on the same platform as well as volume purchasing and pricing options. The IRP offers business software for business intelligence across all levels of the supply chain.

Digital Marketing

As well as all the web, mobile, telesales, EPOS and B2B channels, the IRP comes with a full set of Sales & Marketing features and tools allowing for advanced email marketing and PPC management as well as exposure on search engines, affiliate networks, shopping comparison sites, marketplaces and social networks. – For more details on marketing Click here

IRP Commerce | Focus Ecommerce And Marketing

A System You Can Trust

Making money is the goal of any business, and the IRP will assist you in maximising your sales potential. The IRP has transacted over £1,000,000,000 of revenue for companies online.

The IRP is a reliable platform you can trust, so whether you need a single or multichannel solution, the IRP always keeps you in complete control of your business.

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Outsourcing Ecommerce The Benefits To Your Business

Ecommerce Outsourcing - What are the benefits.

Ecommerce outsourcing and associated tasks is a business practice that has many different definitions and comes in many different forms. However, the one thing that is certain is that it’s the most effective ways for ecommerce businesses to reduce their costs and become more efficient, both of which are essential if they want to stay competitive. This article describes the benefits of outsourcing ecommerce and what it can do for your business finances, revenue, and workflow. We will also dispel a few of those disadvantages people believe outsourcing brings with it.

Ecommerce Outsourcing - What is?

is the practice of using a third-party company, products and services to create goods and provide services, rather than doing the work in-house. The practice started in the 1970s and grew popular in the 1990s as a way for companies to reduce their internal cost structure and is still a popular option today.

 

The term “outsourcing” typically refers to tasks usually performed by in-house staff. With an ecommerce business, these tasks can include things like marketing, order management, stock control, writing product descriptions, handling support tickets, website development, technical support, and more – sometimes even handing the complete responsibility of eCommerce to a third party.

Ecommerce Outsourcing

Many businesses outsource ecommerce services to cut current costs or save on new resources they want to add to their workflows when they can’t afford or don’t wish to hire dedicated employees.

 

Smaller stores may have the business owner and one other employee handling multiple tasks, but eventually, all businesses need to hire an individual or an entire department to handle each task. This is the point when the owner of the eCommerce business must decide whether they want to outsource or insource the task. They can insource a task has become too overwhelming for the business owner to handle themselves.

 

This can become a major task in itself. On average every job offer attracts approx. 250 applicants, so are you willing to sift through them yourself or do you spend money on recruitment agency?

An in-house employee can be more expensive as you will be paying benefits on top of a basic salary. Although its likely believed to be much easier to keep track of an employee, providing you insist on an office-based employee. However, with the introduction of more home working being a major factor in peoples decision making when taking a job, you may have to consider a more flexible approach. Then there will also be a time where their services are not available save for illness and holidays.

 

Its also said a full-time employee, contracted to work 5 days a week on average is physically only working for 3 of those days. So, it may make more sense to outsource roles and tasks in cases where the business output does not justify hiring a full-time employee or you are looking to be more cost effective.

Why Would a Company Choose to Outsource Work?

There are two basic reasons why organisations prefer to outsource ecommerce services.

 

  • Outsourcing saves businesses money.
    As an eCommerce business, you can save money by outsourcing tasks such as marketing, social media, web   development, technical support, administration, and even shipping tasks to a third party.
  • The other reason is time.
    Outsourcing gives you, the business owner, more time to focus on tasks that will help you grow and expand the business as a whole. It can also lead to a better quality of life for you and current employees as it’ll remove a few tasks from everyone’s daily list of responsibilities.

Ecommerce Outsourcing - The Benefits

Now that you know what outsourcing is, let us talk about what it can do for your ecommerce business. Let’s expand on the two key benefits that all Ecommerce businesses want to improve and has been mentioned a few times already—saving time and money—plus also a few additional advantages you’ll experience.

commerce Outsourcing

The Advantages of Outsourcing eCommerce Tasks

1. Save Money

Simply, this has to be one of the the biggest motivators for allocating tasks to companies and contractors outside of an in-house team. Employees require a full salary, benefits, taxes, time to train and equipment. You may also need to set up a new department or even a new office depending on the task that needs to be outsourced.


Without outsourcing, your options are either to continue handling the task yourself, pass off the task to an employee, which will only add to their workload and negatively impact their efficiency, or hire a new employee.
Take for example you decide you should be more active on Social Media, you look around your team, often business owners will settle on the youngest person believing that because they are active on Social media they can manage the company accounts, but are they fully up to date with all the changes the social media platforms are constantly making, are you putting this on top of their current workload. If an additional duty, they might become disillusioned that their workload increased without compensation. It is actually a time-consuming task creating compelling engaging content, engaging in consumers in conversations and tracking competitors. So should you trust this to an inexperienced employee.


With outsourcing, you can allocate certain tasks you and your employees do not have the time or skill for now without needing to cut costs in other parts of your business. You’re hiring a company that has experience in that field.

2. Enjoy a More Flexible Hiring Process

You will find yourself mainly outsourcing tasks you need performed year-round but not often enough to justify hiring new employees. However, there will be times where you will need short-term help as well. This is the case for projects that have expiration dates, seasonal work or perhaps even maternity leave.

 

For example, if you want to add 500 new products to your store, you will need someone to write optimized product descriptions for each. If this is something you don’t normally do, then adding that many new products to the store at once, you’ll need to ask a few employees to take care of it on top of their daily tasks or take care of them yourself. Plus, you need to consider the SEO benefit of the descriptions. Outsourcing this task, on the other hand, would allow you to hire a freelance copywriter or copywriting agency to handle the task as a one-off project.

 

As for seasonal work, you may have seasonal product launches or busy times for retailers can be events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas. You will hopefully see increased sales, significantly higher than normal, but this revenue boost brings with it other challenges, more orders to process and more customer queries.

 

Outsourcing eCommerce tasks may allow you to hire seasonal workers to cover the holiday rush with the money saved. For example, customer service could be managed quite easily on a few hours a week, but outsourcing would allow you to quickly increase the manpower to cover the extra enquiries, with the without the hassle of finding extra people yourself.

3. Save Time

As previously said, outsourcing eCommerce tasks saves you and your staff time. When you can outsource duties, you can devote more of your time to consumer research, development, outreach, and other activities that will help you expand your brand’s influence.

You’ll see a boost in productivity and morale when your employees are able to save on time and be much more efficient with the tasks they were originally hired to do.
Which will eventually turn into more sales and satisfied customers. Employees won’t be looking to cut corners when up against deadlines.

4. Stay Competitive

The internet breeds competition, you and your team can work yourself around the clock all you want, but if you only accomplish the bare minimum you will struggle to expand. Outsourcing allows you to complete tasks more efficiently and take on new projects while spending less. This will allow you to keep up with competition without needing to hire new employees.

A Flexible Ecommerce Solution

A complete e-commerce management agency. We can fully manage your ecommerce business, maximising your businesses potential.

Or choose how and where you want us to be involved, whether as an extension of your in-house team or existing agencies.

Ecommerce Consultants

5. Increase Your Profits

The basic aspect of business is you have to spend money to make money.
This rule never changes no matter how successful your business gets. You will always need to spend money on products, hosting, employees, marketing, and advertising to keep the business running. Take a look at some of the most successful brands such a Coca Cola or McDonalds how often do you see ad advertisement? They have reached a level, but to stay there they know they must keep promoting themselves.


However, referring to that basic principle one more time, spend more to earn more, which essentially means expanding the number of products you sell, the types of products, expanding into new countries and launching new marketing strategies, all of which require, more money.
Outsourcing, as explained above, allows you to expand the business and take on more projects without needing to spend money on recruiting new employees. This will allow you to earn more revenue and a higher return on investment

6. Start Projects Quicker

It takes a considerable time to recruit and onboard new personnel. You will need to post job ads, conduct interviews, assess which people are the best fit for the job and your organisation, and then train them. If all you want to do is start a new project for your marketing strategy or reshoot all your product photographs, this can be a long and difficult process.


Outsourcing simply cuts right through this process and gives you immediate access to qualified candidates and agencies. You can get to work on your new project at a much more efficient rate, all while spending less.
By outsourcing you can reduce the risk and test the idea without worrying, lets be honest not every idea works, another rule of business is test, test, and test again. An outsourced agency provides and cost-effective solution to launching and testing a new plan and the ultimate goal if successful is then to look at an internal employee.

Outsourcing Ecommerce Tasks

7. Staff Members’ Individual Skills

You might be able to outsource indefinitely without having to convert contract work into full-time work. If you have employees who work directly with outsourced labour, you may be able to train them in the skills you need to outsource.


As said in the previous point, the long-term, goal might be to move the task to an internal team and once at this point you can use the agency to train and develop that employee to take over the tasks without any loss in performance.

8. Less Red Tape

Hiring staff can be fraught with red tape and regulations. This is particularly challenging if your business fluctuates throughout the year and you need to up staff and down staff depending on the demand. There can be a lot of rules and process you need to follow in order to downsize your headcount.

 

However, one of the advantages of ecommerce outsourcing is that you can up size and downsize your staff without any associated red tape, allowing you much more flexibility in how you manage your business and costs.

Dispelling the Disadvantages of Outsourcing

Dispelling the Disadvantages of Outsourcing

Dispelling the Disadvantages of Outsourcing

1. Believed Lack of Control

It is often believed a big drawback you can experience while outsourcing eCommerce jobs is a lack of control over the tasks you allocate to third parties.


They are not your employees. Instead, you will be operating in a business-to-business manner, so while you can certainly provide descriptions and leave feedback on how you want things done, you’re not able to manage these types of projects in the same way you could if they were performed by in-house employees.


However, here are Focus Ecommerce and Marketing we always operate the manner the customer requests and any other respectable agency of freelancer should be doing the same. Make sure you define the role and tasks to be actioned, set sensible timescales and KPIs.


Communication should not be something that gets in the way, your outsourced ecommerce agency should be willing to take your call at any time. Although just like an employee if you are constantly phoning or email to ask for an update, essentially that task ends up taking long. Agree regular times for updates, schedule calls and zoom meetings in advance.


Build a rapport with your agency, essentially the relationship is a two-way thing, if your setting unrealistic timelines or constantly hassling the relationship will breakdown, treat them like an employee, to which I hope everyone is treating their employees with the utmost respect. Have an open dialogue with your agency, use their experience to help guide your business.

2. Working in Different Time Zones

If you outsource work to individuals and companies from around the world this can be one of the greatest challenges you will face with your eCommerce store. An urgent messages and project updates may not receive the instant response you were looking for and you may have to wait for several hours, depending on the time difference.

Its important to plan and have clear communication of expectations and time scales. Agree time in advancer to communicate in real-time wherever possible.

Fortunately, on the plus side outsourcing to a different countries and time zones does have its upsides This including being able to operate around the clock. When your in-house employees clock out, outsourced workers are clocking in overseas. So perhaps your looking to expand into a new territory, having a localised outsourced agency allows you to respond to consumers in a timely manner and manage Social Media and Marketing that is relevant to that market.

3. Privacy Issues

Privacy should be a major concern for businesses and consumers especially in the light of GDPR and increasing government regulation. When you outsource areas, such as payments, data storage and customer service, you’re inviting third parties to view your customers’ personal information. You must ensure that the company you engage to outsource are trustworthy, GDPR compliant and take security seriously.

Often the issue can be reversed, At Focus Ecommerce and Marketing we often see gaps in a business’s GDPR practices and as an engaged agency would always make recommendations to help make improvements so that a business if compliant. Again, choosing the correct e-commerce outsource partner is key to getting the best service.

Conclusion

Most businesses will at some point engage in some form of outsourcing, without even realising it and certainly, for most small to medium businesses, the benefits of outsourcing eCommerce tasks, outweigh the negatives.

Still, you need to examine your business closely and decide whether it is the right move for you. You should also consider all the various tasks you may already be or looking to outsource to gain a sense of its value. Often by combining a number of tasks with one agency can lead to a further reduction in costs. You should also consider your Outsourcing partner carefully and focus on using trusted outsource partners.

Start by breaking down the tasks you and your team are already responsible for to see if there are things you could be outsourcing to a third parties. Tasks you and your employees spend too much time doing should be prime candidates. Tasks you and your employees are either overqualified or underqualified for should be prioritized as well. Do you currently have a vacancy, consider this as an opportunity to re-evaluate the need for an internal employee, now could be the perfect time to explore using a 3rd party agency.

Next, determine which tasks and projects you’d like to implement in your business but don’t have the workforce to tackle.

Now that you understand the tasks you want to outsource, do your research to determine how much outsourcing is going to cost. You may need to actually reach out to contractors and companies to find out this information.
Alternatively, now may be the right time to bring an agency that can assess how your business tasks are being run, giving you a non-biased objective review is often the best thing for a business, it could be that a new piece of software could streamline your process. However, staff don’t like change so that detail is unlikely to come from within your team.

Outsourcing Ecommerce Services with Focus Ecommerce & Marketing

An ecommerce store owner cannot afford to have their time and money stripped away by technical issues, as this post has clearly demonstrated. You can save yourself a few headaches when it comes to the technical aspects of running a store by outsourcing those tasks to us.

We are a trusted outsource partner to eCommerce stores in the UK, EMEA, US and Canada. We can offer dedicated staff for your ongoing eCommerce  administration needs, Social Media and Marketing. Our team have over 30 years of experience in areas such as Retail, E-Commerce, Marketing, Government, and the Charity sector.

Check out our full list of Ecommerce services , or Contact Us today with your Outsource Requirements and see how we can save you money and drive your business.
Full Ecommerce Management | Focus Ecommerce

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