How Do You Manage Your E-Commerce Processes? Multi-Channel solutions for successful online retailers

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1 How Do You Manage Your E-Commerce Processes? Multi-Channel solutions for successful online retailers

2 As an Online Shop Manager, you have not one, but countless jobs. These include: Coordinating logistics providers Dealing with data centers Managing payment processes Supporting customers Sourcing new products and presenting them across a range of portals Searching for new content for your online shop In other words, your To-Do list is never done, which is why you often don t seem to have time to consider the most important question: How can I move my business forward? Intershop empowers the international growth of your online business. As an industry pioneer, Intershop has been driving the development of online retailing since 1992 and thus possesses unparalleled experience. More than 500 major enterprises and mid-sized companies worldwide benefit from this expertise. Leverage the knowledge of over 200 business consultants, developers, and Online Shop Managers to build your success. Together with its subsidiaries SoQuero and TheBakery, Intershop has identified four core areas of your work as an Online Shop Manager. We support you in all these key areas, allowing you to focus on what counts developing your business.

3 Capture markets, acquire new customers. My web shop looks great and offers terrific products, but no one can find them. How do I gain market share? How can I reach new customers? Lars Eric A., Online Retailer In order to achieve success in business, an online shop needs to be attractively designed and intuitive to use. Real success is impossible unless browsers can find your offers in the web s vast shopping mile. Whether you sell products online alongside your general activities or want to run an international, multi-channel company, Intershop gears its solutions toward acquiring customers, enabling you to benefit from a growing user base. Our online marketing solutions place your products exactly in the right places, where your customers are. You can use our smart tools to leverage the potential of social networks, marketplaces, and mobile sales channels. Fortunately, our e-commerce platforms have also consistently proven themselves capable of handling even the most formidable flows of (new) customers.

4 Your business model for successful selling Not so long ago, a business typically comprised one or more brickand-mortar stores with an online shop attached. Successful business models are now significantly more complex, combining B2B and B2C, using social networks and mobile devices as sales channels, selling products via auctions, and incorporating related products from other providers into the shop. And last but not least, the physical store, too, is now completely integrated. Whatever your online selling strategy is, Intershop 7 supports every conceivable model. You can use Mobile Connector to optimize your online shop for mobile devices, TheBakery to expand your offering, and Scoobox to set you up for the social web. How to make Google & Co. work for you Does your shop only appear on Google s second page? Maybe no one is finding your products at all? and sitemaps that show visitors where they can find what they re looking for. Intershop s SEO functions provide all the tools you need to optimize the positioning of your offering. Even if you relocate your shop, Intershop 7 simply redirects the URL model recognized by search engines to the new pages, so that Google and other search engines can still find you. And finally, SoQuero s online marketing experts can help you optimize your online success. Present your offering on portals Marketplaces and price comparison portals are often an excellent opportunity to introduce your shop to potential customers. But which is the right portal? Is it worth considering different price comparison providers for specific products? With the SoQuero Feed Engine, you can evaluate the relative success of a portal for each of your products. You can thus decide with confidence which platform is best suited and boost traffic to your shop. Successful international sales Selling internationally via the Internet is not as simple as it sounds. Customers obviously want to shop in their own language and use their preferred currency, while different taxes must also be taken into account along with legal aspects, sales cycles, and fraud prevention. And what about the challenge of fulfillment? Developed with international enterprises in mind, Intershop 7 enables efficient, centralized management of all content while accommodating all the characteristics of local markets. Its Payment Framework supports the effortless integration of various payment methods, and SoQuero s online marketing experts have the necessary experience to optimize your website for specific regions. Communicate across all channels With many e-commerce operations, the only communication channel is an newsletter. Is that the way to acquire new customers? ketplaces. Promote your web shop on social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. Use your own website as a communication channel, e.g., via blogs that provide regular reports on your products and how they add value. Intershop offers sophisticated solutions for communicating with potential customers. Spin your own social network Social media have gone from hype to must-have for every Online Shop Manager. Join and provide your customers with a communication platform for voicing their opinions, such as a forum. Engage with customers and prospects via quick, punchy tweets on Twitter, use YouTube for slick product presentations, and create a fan base on Facebook. Scoobox offers the exciting ability to seamlessly integrate Intershop 7 into your Facebook profile and create genuine added value for your fans. Search engines prefer short, clear URLs and Meta tags for each and every page Generate new sales potential by forcing affiliate partnerships and offering your products on mar-

5 Build on your success by turning customers into frequent buyers. Acquiring new customers is an achievement in itself but the real challenge is to make them come back. Our shop welcomes numerous customers. Unfortunately most of them only visit once, how can I keep them coming back? Francesca P., E-Commerce Sales Manager With our e-commerce solutions, you can offer your customers a shopping experience that is both memorable and enjoyable. They find exactly the products they are looking for. Promotions are tailored to individual customer interests, and additional products and services offered. And rather than stocking everything yourself, you have the option of identifying specific products that complement your range, incorporating them into your shop, and selling them to your customers. Round off the shopping experience with the kind of personal contact that gives customers the feeling they are getting excellent sales advice. They are then more likely to recommend your shop to others.

6 It s about finding products, not searching them Make shopping a personal experience Offer attractive customer service With more than half of all online shop visitors using the search function to find products, searching is clearly vital to your sales success. A state-of-the-art product search function finds the right products, delivers the right quantity of search results, presents useful, sortable lists, and handles incorrect customer entries sympathetically and intelligently. Offer buyers of a particular item another product at a special price. Grant a discount when customers spend a certain amount in your shop. Show specific customers a completely different shop, i.e., one that is tailored to their shopping behavior. All this is possible by arranging customers into groups, thus helping you to manage highly focused campaigns. Your welcoming online shop also needs an appealing voice. Take good care of your customers and make them feel valued. contact is clearly a must, but you can offer more: the Call Center Solution Kit adds comprehensive telephone hotline functions to Intershop 7. Call Center Agents have all product and detailed customer/order information at their fingertips. Your customers can also use Intershop 7 s Advanced Search functionality to group and refine search results and locate the desired product from a long list of results. Generate desire and sell more Wish lists, product ratings, auctions, individual buyer profiles, and order tracking add up to a richer shopping experience for your online visitors. Give your online shop a welcoming look With Scoobox, you can also add a forum and blog to your shop to exchange information with your customers. Offer your customers exactly those products they are looking for by identifying their needs with the Advanced Product Advisor. The product recommendations generated by the Advanced Recommendation Engine are genuinely relevant items that match the product and thus offer your customers real added value. You can also use Scoobox to manage social media campaigns. Other options offered by Intershop 7 include coupons, wish lists and favorites lists, newsletters, and discount functions. Whether you re running a virtual shop or a real one, an attractive environment is good for sales. Visually appealing product pages, engaging product presentation, and intuitive navigation encourage visitors to browse and buy. As Online Shop Manager, editor, and designer, you create this shopping experience and thanks to Intershop 7 s Design View, you can work quickly and creatively, while retaining the necessary overview at all times and without the need for any technical knowledge.

7 Efficiency breeds success optimize your business processes. Other solutions often need to be integrated into an online shops e-commerce system, such as payment systems, suppliers or logistics providers. We run dozens of systems alongside each other I have to manage them and invest a lot of integration effort. How can I save time in this area? Lee Wang C., IT Manager However, these systems frequently make awkward bedfellows. Fast, error-free processes are crucial to online selling, which is why seamless integration and automation is needed to lower operating costs, avoid errors, and ensure the perfect shopping experience. Synchronize your sales channels to avoid storing and maintaining the same data multiple times. Intershop s solutions communicate via open interfaces with any number of other systems and include a number of ready-to-use integrations.

8 Integration for clear structures The world is increasingly interconnected but are your systems? Optimizing processes involves connecting separate systems. The best way of overcoming one of the critical challenges here is to deploy a lead system that supplies all the other solutions with information. Intershop 7 is designed to do both: Thanks to its numerous standardized interfaces, our e-commerce suite can be seamlessly integrated into an existing set-up as a pure transaction platform or it can serve as the lead system that connects all solutions in a future-proof manner. Don t lose sales at checkout There are many providers of payment solutions and a corresponding range of different payment methods favored by your customers. Let them choose: the leading providers are already integrated into Intershop 7 s Payment Framework and other methods can be quickly and easily added. You can also offer the options on a customer-specific basis, e.g., payment methods to all customers that are safe for you as a vendor and selected methods only to those with approved credit status. Define your own settings for each payment method and sales channel and ensure that your customers can select their preferred method and save it for future purchases if they want. Get maximum leverage out of your product data Product data is the bedrock of your online shop. When attractively and efficiently presented, it keeps customers in the shop and encourages purchases. Intershop 7 allows you to manage multiple product catalogs within a single system to target different customer groups, with the catalogs being stored and maintained in a single location. With solutions from TheBakery, you can integrate the systems of leading product information providers. Intershop 7 supports distribution of data between different installations so that sellers, purchasing organizations, suppliers, and distributors can all efficiently interact online while you benefit. What your suppliers can do for you Your suppliers frequently offer much more than just a product. Thanks to the supplier connection function of your Intershop 7 installation, you can use product data and images provided by suppliers. Another option is for your suppliers to manage orders themselves via automated order splitting and routing. Full integration of business partners into your organization s processes will allow you to achieve the best possible buying prices and give you the ability to respond quickly to changing market conditions. TheBakery s integration solutions help you to reduce inventory costs because you no longer have to carry every item yourself. Your shop displays information about suppliers products, which are then shipped directly from their warehouses. Keep track of the order process Customer accounts and streamlined payment processes are a standard feature of modern e- commerce. But if you operate multiple sales channels, order processes need to be managed as part of a multichannel strategy. Purchases in multiple web shops have to be combined and passed to the logistics function on a fully automated basis, to avoid errors. In addition, customers want to be able to track their orders. Intershop 7 s order management functionality enables all this and much more. How can I ensure fast product delivery? One of the biggest challenges in e-commerce is making sure customers receive the ordered products as quickly as possible. How fast are you? We help you to find a logistics provider who ships fast, stores your products when required, and manages returns in a professional manner. With TheBakery, you can go one step further and offer products your shop doesn t stock by integrating the offerings of manufacturers and other suppliers, without having to handle storage and shipping.

9 Analyze your processes and learn from your customers. In a traditional physical store, staff and customers really get to know each other over time. Your online customers, too, will also be pretty familiar with your online shop by now. We have plenty of loyal customers, our workflows are excellent, but the figures are still not as good as they should be. What can we do to improve our margins? Gerome Z., Head of Marketing But what do you know about your customers, about their interests, buying behavior, and environment? And what do you know about your own store and your competitors? Visibility, loyal customers, and perfect processes are all very well, but they are of little use if you cannot measure your success. Intershop provides you with all the tools necessary to stay in control of your store processes, monitor your marketing campaigns, and above all keep an eye on your competitors. Gain all the information you need to continuously optimize your business, organize it more efficiently, and achieve your objectives more reliably.

10 Customer analysis with A/B and multivariate tests Does the layout of an online shop affect sales? To find out, use A/B and multivariate tests to try out different ways of promoting products and show your customers different versions of the same page, either at random or in groups. From the resulting sales figures, you can easily identify the most successful version and deploy it accordingly. Keep an eye on your competitors Your products may appear in search engines and portals, but there seem to be competitors who always offer better prices? Manage and monitor campaigns Personalized campaigns with coupons or discounts, search engine advertising, establishing a presence in portals ultimately, you need to know whether the increase in sales justifies the effort. The Intershop 7 product family allows you to develop and manage almost any type of campaign and evaluate its success. If you re planning a search engine campaign, for example, SoQuero provides the necessary reporting tools to filter search terms and place them in the relevant search engines. You can check and optimize your budget at any time in Bid Manager, which delivers all the relevant information in the form of graphical reports. How familiar are you with the processes in your shop? Even if your business processes are perfectly synchronized and running smoothly, you need instant access to the latest status information. Why has a particular customer order not yet been shipped? How much warehouse space is available? What returns can be expected in the next two weeks? Answering these questions provides valuable insights into your shop s optimization potential. TheBakery helps you to answer almost every question relating to your processes, and displays the information in intuitive dashboards. How well do you know your customers? targeted marketing and business information you need. The CIC is your most important tool for defining sales-boosting strategies based on customer behavior and improving your portfolio and your sales processes. More system data for total peace of mind You know all about your customers, are in control of your campaigns and processes, and keep an eye on your competitors. But what about your e-commerce platform? Are there any hidden weaknesses hindering sales? As well as delivering information about your customers, the Intershop 7 Customer Information Center provides an overview of the technical parameters of your Intershop 7 installation. MARA, the market research tool from SoQuero, keeps you one step ahead of the competition by monitoring selected search engines and portals containing specified products. You are alerted to any price change and can respond accordingly. What do you know about your customers? Which product groups are really successful? Which marketing campaigns achieved their objective and which did not? Which content received the most clicks? Where do your shop visitors actually come from? These and other questions are all part of customer analysis. Leverage performance and utilization reports to support smooth technical operation and analyze site-specific data for system stability. This information can be used to observe long-term trends and identify short-term problems at the operational level. This keeps your online shop in good shape and equipped to handle customer growth. Our response is the Intershop 7 Customer Information Center (CIC), which delivers the

11 Intershop Communications AG has been a leading provider of outstanding global e-commerce solutions since the early 1990s and benefits from a wealth of online retailing experience and expertise. We work closely with our customers to leverage the opportunities and challenges of new markets and technologies. Our solutions help Online Shop Managers to optimize processes and to sell more online and offline, any place, any time. SoQuero is a subsidiary agency of Intershop Communications AG, operating at the international level and specializing in performance marketing solutions. By bringing together consultancy, campaign management, and software solutions, SoQuero can assist with all aspects of state-of-the-art performance marketing. The focus is always firmly on sales-oriented campaigns that deliver measurable success at a predictable cost. TheBakery is revolutionizing online selling. The solutions of this Intershop subsidiary standardize and coordinate all transaction processes and information processed before, during, and after an order. TheBakery connects companies with business partners at all levels, helping to expand sales channels and reduce operating costs. ACQUIRE CUSTOMERS Capture international markets and support different business models with Intershop s e-commerce platform Increase visibility with product data marketing and search engine marketing from SoQuero Expand your sales channels using TheBakery s transaction platform Find your way into the social web with Intershop 7 and Scoobox GET LOYAL CUSTOMERS Increase conversion rates using the Intershop 7 enhancements Advanced Search, Advanced Product Advisor, and Advanced Recommendation Engine Enrich the shopping experience via the sophisticated personalization and Design View functions of Intershop 7 Boost customer satisfaction through direct integration of the Call Center Solution Kit into the e-commerce system OPTIMIZE PROCESSES Use Intershop 7 to: Reliably operate the online shop even during periods of peak demand Seamlessly integrate third-party systems and external databases Efficiently use product data Integrate payment service providers and make customer-friendly payment methods available Use TheBakery to: Coordinate all the procurement, order, and returns processes of retail and logistics partners ANALYZE SUCCESS Optimize your website via A/B tests in Intershop 7 Monitor the competition with SoQuero s market research tool Set up campaigns in Intershop 7 and manage and optimize them with SoQuero Bid Manager Process management with TheBakery Conduct in-depth evaluation of customer and system data with the Customer Information Center Satisfied customers with impressive figures Spanning over 75 countries and more than 50 languages, our customers can vouch for the daily effectiveness of our e-commerce solutions. 1.5 billion pages display over 250 million products, which are viewed 715 million times. That translates into 1.3 million orders and sales amounting to 200 million euros every day. E-commerce success is achievable just ask us how!

12 Search engine optimization for a shorter reservation process Range expansion via the TheBakery without tying up capital or exposure to inventory risk 60 countries, 20 languages with customer specific views and prices Fourfold increase in organic search engine hits, boost in conversion rate Boost in sales thanks to a broader, deeper offering Content management with content sharing across the system s various sites Search engine marketing with SoQuero Bid Manager Active process control in order management increases customer satisfaction Guided search and formula search enabled Cost per reservation cut by 58% Content Management» Rich user interface; handling of complex variation and retail sets Integration of external agencies including photo studios and copy writers» 24 countries, 13 languages The world s largest navigation solution provider sells hardware, maps and services Marketplace Adaptor to share products to Amazon and Co. Integrated into the stand alone software TomTom Home for buying map updates or additional services directly from the desktop Call-Center interface for fulfillment center Full integration in the Tridion CMS» Online approval workflow processes and price negotiation» One of the most recognized brands in Australia, part of Telstra, Consumer to Consumer auctions and classified capabilities Online publication capabilities from the User Interface Dealer Auto hotlist real-time integration Call-Center management tools»

13 Corporate Headquarters: Intershop Communications AG Intershop Tower Jena Germany Intershop Communications, Inc nd Street, Suite 303 San Francisco, CA USA SoQuero GmbH Ludwigstraße Frankfurt am Main Germany TheBakery GmbH Monbijouplatz Berlin Germany Phone: Fax: info@intershop.com Phone: Fax: info@intershop.com Phone: Fax: info@soquero.com Phone: Fax: info@theberlinbakery.com