DES 0429 Ecomm Tech Stack eBook FINAL3.pdf

HOW-TO GUIDE

BUILD AN ECOMMERCE TECH STACK FOR FAST & FLAWLESS ORDER FULFILLMENT

This guide outlines the must-have components, red flags, and steps for how to build a high-performance ecommerce technology (tech) stack.

CHAPTERS

What's a Tech Stack?

Do I Need a Tech Stack?

Why Integrated Technology?

Your Tech Journey

Four Must-Have Capabilities

1. Ecommerce Platform
2. Shipping Solution
3. Inventory/Order Mgmt. 3a. IMS
   3b. OMS
   3c. ERP
4. Warehouse Management

Choose Your Tech Stack

What’s a Tech Stack?

Everyone wants fast and flawless ecommerce order fulfillment, but sometimes it seems impossible. You know technology can help, but with countless software options available, it’s hard to know where to start. Descartes has been in the logistics technology business for a long time, and we’re here to lift the burden. Let’s talk about tech stacks for ecommerce.

A technology stack sounds more complex than it is. A tech stack, as ecommerce business leaders commonly define it, is simply a collection of software programs that all talk to each other and work together to accomplish a specific process. This is also called an app stack, especially by IT people, but, to avoid overcomplication, we call it a tech stack in this guide.

Think of a tech stack as a set of connected building blocks. You start at the ground and add each block of technology as your business grows. They all need to be sturdy and work together.

It’s Time For a Tech Stack When You Have:

Unhappy Customers and Bad Reviews

The most common problem is negative feedback from your customers, i.e., complaints about late orders, receiving the wrong items, and canceling orders due to inventory availability. In short, your customers will tell you where they need better performance from your business, so pay close attention to feedback both online and through your customer service team.

Staffing Shortages and Overtime

The second most common way to know you need integrated technology is to look at the overtime costs and if you are thinking of hiring new or temporary employees. Sometimes adding more people is a quick fix, but it can soon lead to inefficiencies and more fulfillment errors.

Too Many Tedious, Error-Prone, Repetitive Tasks

A third way to tell it’s time for a tech stack is when your workers frequently become bottlenecked by too many time-consuming manual tasks that should be automated. If manual data entry, handwritten records, double data entry, or manual configuration of settings/preferences is slowing you down, it’s time for a tech stack.

Without a foundation of scalable integrated technology, these problems will worsen as your business continues to grow.

The Value of Integrated Technology

As your business starts to scale, you will outgrow certain processes and stand-alone technologies that used to work when it was smaller.

Why use integrated technology for ecommerce?

• It makes businesses operate faster by preventing double data entry
• It improves accuracy and prevents keyed entry errors
• It provides greater visibility on holistic performance with cross-platform data
• It equips businesses to scale up and down as needed for growth and peak seasons
• It reduces the number of people needed to run fulfillment operations
• It saves businesses money

How can an integrated tech stack save my business money?

Businesses that invest in a tech stack often see a significant return on investment from:

• Savings in labor costs
• Reduced shrink
• Savings in shipping costs
• Increased fulfillment process efficiency
• Decreased fulfillment errors

Your Tech Journey

Before we get too deep into software solutions details, let’s identify a basic tech journey for your business. While every business’ tech journey will be unique, everyone benefits from a high-level overview of how things fit together before getting started.

The tech stack journey for ecommerce fulfillment takes two very basic forms: direct-to-consumer (D2C) and business-to-business (B2B). As you begin to brainstorm the best tech journey for your business, these simplified examples will provide a basic idea of where to start.

Questions to consider when planning your tech journey:

• What are the urgent problems I need to solve with technology?
• Is my business D2C, B2B or a mixture of both?
• What is my business's level of operational complexity?

Four Must-Have Capabilities of a Tech Stack

What belongs in an ecommerce tech stack?

Think of an ecommerce tech stack like a set of connected building blocks. You start at the ground when your business is small, and you add each block of technology to the stack as your business grows. Each block needs to be sturdy enough to support the weight of the next one, and it must be constructed to fit with the others in a secure way so the stack doesn’t topple. Depending on which stage your business is in right now, you may only need the first couple of blocks. However, you should choose them with the future stack in mind.

A mature ecommerce tech stack includes four capabilities for fulfillment: ecommerce platform, shipping, inventory/ order management, and warehouse management.

These programs work together to create a smooth experience every step of the way. For each program, we will cover important considerations for that type of software, the red flags to avoid when building your tech stack, and how to know when your business is ready to add that type of software. Again, you may not need all these capabilities yet, but understanding the programs will help you lay a solid foundation for future growth.

Ecommerce Platform

The first block of your tech stack is an ecommerce platform. This is the software that allows your customers to shop from YOUR website rather than a marketplace such as Amazon or Etsy. As the foundation of your tech stack, it needs to support all the other programs you will eventually add.

You are ready for an ecommerce platform when:

• You want to run a fully functioning online store where people can purchase your products.
• You want secure payment processing for your customers.
• You want to manage sales, marketing, and your website all in one place.
• You want full control over your brand with a concrete online presence.

Considerations for choosing an ecommerce platform:

• Ease of use.
• Integrations/applications/plugins to help you grow your business.
• Scalability.

Red flags when choosing an ecommerce platform:

• Limited customization for your brand’s look, feel, and experience
• Poor reputation for cyber/data security
• Limited or small number of integrations

Shipping Solution

The second building block of your ecommerce tech stack is shipping software. Not only will this save you time versus manually entering order information into carrier shipping websites (and all the typos!), but it will also allow you to rate-shop multiple carriers (i.e., FedEx, USPS, and UPS) to find the best shipping rates.

You are ready for a shipping solution when:

• You want cheaper shipping.
• Typing shipping information into a carrier’s website for every order is causing a HUGE bottleneck.
• Keyed entry errors are causing shipping problems and unhappy customers.
• You want to use more than one carrier and start shipping rate comparisons.

Considerations for choosing a shipping solution:

• Carrier rate shopping.
• Automations.
• Live customer support.

Red flags when choosing a shipping solution:

• Unstable company. Choose a company with a long-standing reputation of excellent service.

Inventory/Order Management

The third must-have capability of an ecommerce tech stack is an inventory/order management system. In short, this helps you know what’s in stock, prevents overselling, and organizes complex multi-channel orders.

What’s the difference between an IMS, OMS, and ERP?

IMS and OMS titles for software are often used interchangeably. Generally, an IMS is considered a more “lightweight” and less expensive program, while an OMS provides slightly more complex features. An ERP offers advanced business management tools in addition to inventory and order management.

Inventory Management System

An inventory management system (IMS) maintains a common inventory record that reflects how much of each item you have in stock in real-time.

You are ready for an inventory management system when:

• You start overselling your inventory.
• You start selling on multiple channels.
• You lose sight of what you physically have on hand.

Considerations for choosing an inventory management system:

• Must integrate with ALL your sales channels.
• Automation based on minimum and maximum on-hand stock.

Red flags when choosing an inventory management system:

• Frequent bugs or system crashes.

Order Management System

Like an IMS, an order management system (OMS) provides a transparent view into the state of inventory.

You are ready for an order management system when:

• Your multichannel business grows in complexity beyond what your IMS can handle.

Considerations for choosing an order management system:

• Must integrate with ALL your sales channels.
• Real-time inventory.

Red flags when choosing an order management system:

• No delivery and service scheduling ability.
• Limited or clunky data analytics/reporting.

Enterprise Resource Planning

Another type of inventory/order management system is an ERP program. This software helps you run your whole business, pulling together your supply chain, inventory, accounting, project management, and procurement information.

You are ready for an ERP when:

• You need integrated functionality beyond inventory and order management.

Considerations for choosing an ERP:

• Integrations. Is it able to easily integrate with the other programs in your tech stack?

Red flags when choosing an ERP:

• Data security. This program will house your customer and financial information, so security is crucial.

Warehouse Management System

The fourth must-have capability for your tech stack is a WMS with mobile barcode scanning. This program helps you manage complex warehouse operations.

You are ready for a warehouse management system when you:

• Fulfill at least 50 orders per day.

Considerations for choosing a warehouse management system:

• Mobile-based.
• Scalability.

Red flags when choosing a warehouse management system:

• Cannot handle high volumes.

Choose Your Technology Stack

The tech stack journey for ecommerce fulfillment takes two very basic forms: direct-to-consumer (D2C) and business-to-business (B2B). Choose a technology app stack that best suits your current business needs.

Build a Tech Stack with Descartes

Because we know that strong integrations and strong partnerships build strong businesses, Descartes has curated a selection of software programs to help our customers build a high-performance ecommerce tech stack.

Ecommerce Platform Recommendations:

• Shopify
• Big Commerce
• WooCommerce
• Magento
• NetSuite Ecommerce

Shipping Solutions:

• Descartes ShipRush
• Descartes OzLink Shipping
• Descartes Enterprise Webship

Inventory Management Recommendations:

• ActionShip Inventory
• Fishbowl
• Order Hive
• InfoPlus
• Finale Inventory

Warehouse Management Systems:

• Descartes Peoplevox
• Descartes OzLink Mobile Warehouse for NetSuite
• Descartes Pixi

How to Get Started

Building an ecommerce tech stack is well worth the time, money, and effort. The ecomm team at Descartes is ready to help you take the next step.