They sell goods directly to consumers (B2C), like digital files or skin care products. This means they need a way to handle their internal communications and customer relationships, especially if it’s a franchise. This system should connect several stores to the same network, let people share information and ideas, make it easier for departments to work together, and help customers get what they need.

An E-Commerce CRM system is the answer we’re looking for. It helps online stores make a buyer’s journey that leads to repeat sales and real customer term value.

The idea of CRM software is not new. In the past few years, healthcare and real estate CRMs have become very popular and worked very well. They’re already on the list, but today, we’ll talk about custom CRMs for E-Commerce.

Why CRM is useful for e-commerce

Before we get to the meat of the matter, let’s examine the most important benefits of CRM software in the E-Commerce world.

Developing an E-Commerce CRM

Starting from scratch to make an E-Commerce CRM is hard and requires good management skills and knowledge of the E-Commerce world. To help you with the second part, we’ll share what we know about managing customer relationships in E-Commerce and list the most important steps in building a custom CRM.

#1: Make a plan, set goals, and strategize

Ideas are the beginning of all things. No doubt that good design and code are important to the success of your project. But a well-designed tool won’t help you get what you want if it doesn’t solve your problems and meet the needs of your business. If you weren’t seeing, would you go grocery shopping for the week and pick things at random without looking at the prices or products? Not a good idea. The same is true for making software. You could hurt your chances of finishing a project if you don’t plan it well at the start.

So, we recommend that you get your team together to brainstorm ideas. Look at how your business works, write down the problems and issues you have with managing your customers, and be clear about what you want your answer to do.

Advice from Seamless Solutionz LLC: Talk to internal partners, system users, and the development team to get a clear picture of what you want to do and how you plan to do it. Gather and write down the project’s needs.

#2: Create a user experience that fits with how you use CRM.

It’s very important to have a smooth experience, especially with complicated systems like CRMs. The problem is that there isn’t a single way to build an E-Commerce CRM that works for everyone. A lot depends on the details of your business and how your processes work. However, there are some things that every business that wants to build a CRM should think about.

• Focus on the user when you create. Know who your readers are. Don’t try to picture what you’d do if you were the user. You should talk to your potential users and spend some time with them to find out what they need and what they want to do with your software. 
• Plan for different kinds of users. Marketing, sales, and customer service are just a few of the groups that work together on CRM development. Now you know what different people need, want, and want to achieve. Write down all the user roles that are connected and what rights they have to see certain information and use certain features. In addition, make sure you know how the different parts of your system will work together and connect. 
• Collect your information and start making a map of the user trip. This will help you make sure that the users are always at the center of the design process.

The buyer’s trip also called the customer lifecycle, is another important thing to think about when you’re making your CRM system. A key part of designing a good CRM user experience is figuring out the steps your customers go through as they get to know your business. You need to know how your customers move through your sales cycle and which department is in charge of each stage of the buying process.

What are the most important things that an E-Commerce CRM should have?

If you want to create your program, you should look at the popular ones. We looked for the best E-Commerce CRMs on the market and chose LinkedIn, HubSpot, and Zoho as the top three to show you their features.

We’d be wrong to say that these are the only must-have CRM tools. You can make your features from scratch to fit your wants and concerns. The whole point of custom creation is to do that.

#3: A user experience that looks good, is branded, and is easy to use

One reason companies choose custom software creation is to ensure that all of their products have the same brand look. A CRM is no different. Custom development lets you choose every part of your CRM system, from how it looks to how it works, while still staying true to your brand.

A good CRM user interface design must be easy to use, clear, consistent, and quick to respond.

• Easy to use. Make sure that users can quickly and easily complete jobs without any (or very little) training.

• Easy living. E-Commerce CRMs are very complicated programs. Just don’t make things too hard. A good user interface only has the required parts and makes sense.

• Clarity. People who use your CRM should know how it works and be able to quickly find what they need.

• Sticking to it. Clear and easy your CRM, but make sure it stays the same. Users shouldn’t have to learn new ways to do things every time they do something similar in your CRM system. It should always act the same way.

Being responsive. Your workers are more likely to use your CRM on their phones. Adapt your CRM app easily to different screen sizes to ensure that it works well on all devices.

#4: Tech stack and connections

Your technology stack is another important choice. To make your CRM project work, you can use a lot of different computer languages, frameworks, and libraries. How are you going to pick the right ones? There isn’t a language that works for everyone. Pick a language whose packages, tools, and help will work with your project.

#5: Write code, test it, look it over, and release it

Feedback loops and constant testing are very important. During the creation process, you should ask users for feedback. If you do this daily, you can make sure your user journey, user interface, and features work well before your CRM is open to everyone. Before you put your ideas into code, like when you’re making a CRM plan, you might even need to get real feedback.

Also Read This Blog: Streamline Your Real Estate Deals with Podio CRM Software

Which is better for your E-Commerce business: Salesforce or customization?

There are already a lot of CRM tools that you can use, so why make your own? Custom CRM software creation can, of course, hurt you if you run a small E-Commerce business. Buy a custom CRM if you have a lot of workers and departments that use it, serve a lot of customers every day, need more features than a ready-made solution can provide, and have your unique workflows. Let’s talk about these cases in more depth.

#1: Are you okay with the features that Salesforce already has?

What do I need from my CRM? Should you build or buy? This is the main question you should ask yourself.

Check out Salesforce CRM’s benefits to see if they meet your needs. If the features in Salesforce work for you and you don’t have any other needs, go with it. But custom development is the best option if you need advanced features that aren’t in a ready-made answer and if you have your own way of doing things.

#2: What number of people or teams will use the CRM?

Salesforce costs are based on who uses it. That means you’ll pay more if more people use the CRM. Let’s say you choose the Salesforce Enterprise plan. For every five workers who use it, Salesforce costs $750 per month or $9,000 per year. Okay, that’s fine. It will cost you $3,000 a month if 20 workers use it, though.

#3: What is your project’s budget and due date?

Custom CRM creation is not an option if you need a quick fix and don’t have a lot of money. Again, creating an E-Commerce system from the start is a complicated process that takes a lot of time and work. If you don’t have the right tools, don’t go special.

#4: Does your brand’s personality show up in all of your products?

As a big business, you should get custom E-Commerce CRM development if you want to keep your brand’s look across all of your products. That is if you want to be in charge of every design choice in your CRM, from the way it is navigated to the way it looks to the styles and content.

When should you start from scratch, and when should you use a ready-made solution?

We create custom CRM here at Seamless Solutionz LLC. Read about how we made a custom CRM for a consulting company that helped them keep track of their clients and finances more easily.

Send us a message with your CRM idea, and we’ll respond with some tips and a rough price range.

Also Read This Blog: Why and How Custom Real Estate CRM Development Works