Scaling an eCommerce business can be hard work, but having an agile mindset can make it easier to grow the business. In fact, a recent global survey reveals that a majority of executives believe being agile plays a crucial role in delivering the right products and services, accelerating decision-making and speed to market, improving the customer experience, and staying ahead of the competition.

Agile Methodology ?

We are surrounded by new technologies all around us, which in turn help us to develop even more modern technologies. The Agile methodology is one of such developments, which is specially created for eCommerce websites, apps and software.

• Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
• Working software over comprehensive documentation
• Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
• Responding to change over following a plan

In eCommerce business, the agile methodology involves uncovering challenges and developing solutions through collaborative, self-organized, and cross-functional teams. It is concerned with the flow and performance of the entire eCommerce system and also involves creating a feedback loop to increase product efficiency while encouraging continuous improvement through testing.

Benefits of Being Agile in Ecommerce business :

While not all companies have adopted the agile methodology, studies show that 98% of companies that began using agile benefited from it. In addition, research from the Project Management Institute found that Agile organizations are more likely to finish projects on time (65% vs. 40%) and hit all their goals (75% vs. 56%) when compared to non-agile teams. Agile companies even grew their revenue 37% faster! Here are the top seven advantages of agile methodology for eCommerce businesses.

1. Improving Speed and Flexibility : In today’s competitive marketplace, eCommerce businesses need to battle everyone from disruptive startups to Amazonian giants. This makes the prospect of a fast-moving, adaptive organization highly appealing. Agile methodologies streamline production from the initial conception of an idea to the final deployment stages, keeping eCommerce business highly flexible and adaptive. It also helps them meet the ever-changing needs of modern consumers by allowing for quick product changes based upon user feedback.

2. Meeting and Gauging Market Needs : What do consumers want? And what might they want that they don’t yet even know they need? Many eCommerce businesses need to introduce new products and features consistently to generate interest and revenue. By meeting consumer needs, and introducing new products or features proactively to determine whether there’s any interest, companies can stay on the cutting edge and serve customers in the best possible way.

3. Creating Higher Quality Products : With the agile methodology, everything goes through regular and rigorous QA checks to ensure customers receive the highest quality products. Of course, it doesn’t stop there; QA is continuous, and ways to improve deliverables are always in development (whether it’s a new or complementary product or simply adding on a new feature).

4. Taking Fewer Risks Through Transparency : The agile methodology provides transparency or visibility into all aspects of the business to all departments, from marketing to design to logistics. When all the players are on the same page, working together to achieve the same goal, the risks of failure are reduced considerably.

5. Conducting Continuous Testing : Quality assurance checks are critical for product launches and for maintaining consistency over time. Following the agile methodology, products are tested in a variety of ways as soon as they are developed, and any defect can be identified and ironed out. During testing, opportunities may also be discovered that can be implemented to improve the final product.

6. Improving Customer Experiences : By following an agile methodology, eCommerce business can develop a higher-quality product, quickly make improvements and add new features, and meet and exceed customer expectations. The result? Happier customers who will make more purchases and act as brand advocates, telling others about their positive experiences. Read more about developing a customer experience strategy.

Conclusion :

As your eCommerce business evolves and grows, following an agile methodology process can help you improve your products, increase your revenue, and build your customer base. To do this, however, it’s important to keep the lines of communication open, cultivate a collaborative work environment, and embrace the right technologies.

With eComGlobus as your technology partner, you can also scale to your full potential and improve the customer experience by using our eCommerce fulfillment system, which manages your warehouse operations and eCommerce fulfillment process. eCom Globus offers visibility to your entire inventory and manages supply chain fulfillment operations from the distribution center to the store.