YRC's 5 winning steps for writing Ecommerce SOPs

Today, in many ways, how the big eCommerce online marketplace platforms deliver experience to customers is setting the benchmarks of not just retailing but also of customer experience. No doubt, marketing and technologies have played their due share in this. But the credit is also due to how these online brands are managing their operations.

In this communiqué, retail and eCommerce consulting brand ( https://www.yourretailcoach.in/e-commerce-consulting/ ), YRC re-emphasises five winning ingredients for writing eCommerce SOPs to achieve superior eCommerce operations management.

Establish the ORs (Operational Requirements)

Every process has certain definite goals. In order to achieve those goals, the work that goes into a process must be identified, mapped and defined accordingly. There will also be a certain flow of work. This chain of activities must not break. The output of one activity must meet the requirements of being the input of the next activity in the chain.

For example, an eCommerce retail brand may give the option of rescheduling the delivery date of an order. In this case, the SOPs followed at the final delivery stations must contain the provision of re-checking the delivery dates while classifying orders for last-mile delivery. This is an operational requirement but it has implications on customer experience.

Must Lead to Action

SOPs must unconditionally lead to decisive action. There is no room for a process coming to a halt in SOP definitions. In simple words, SOPs ( https://www.yourretailcoach.in/standard-operating-procedures-consulting/ ) must affirmatively lead to decisions and actions while leaving no space for inconclusiveness or indecisiveness that could result in the stoppage of a process.

For example, there is a trigger for every process. If an order fulfilment process is considered, the process triggers when an order is received. On this trigger, the fulfilment activities are initiated. There cannot be any ambiguity in the SOPs about this. All the details required for this process to be initiated must be shown in the system of the concerned process owner at the concerned fulfilment centre. If any of the informational requirements are not met, the process cannot be started. Even if order management is a partially automated process, the automation requirements are derived from the SOPs.

Must Lead to Results

In the previous point, the emphasis was on 'action' or flow or movement. In this point, the focus is on 'results' or output or performance.

SOPs are meant to realise the intended process or operational results. This means SOP definitions must lead to results. SOPs might be on paper but even on paper i.e. plans, the results must be achieved like in a story. This involves not just drawing the workflows but also establishing the standards of input, output, and performance of every activity in a process. The roles and responsibilities of all the concerned process stakeholders are also identified and defined. The goal is not to spare any operational detail beyond the scope of planning that could result in the non-fulfilment of process objectives.

For instance, the grievance resolution SOPs must include all the possible varieties of consumer complaints that can arise. Leaving any potential complaint type outside the scope of the SOPs would make handling customer complaints slower and less effective.

Impeccable Coordination

The successful execution of a business process often entails the involvement of multiple process owners. Sometimes these entities even go beyond an organisation. In addition to employees and internal departments, process owners may also include service providers, vendors, consultants, agencies, government departments, etc. If SOPs have to be effective, the operational activities and the role of every process owner within and beyond the organisation must find their due place in the SOP mapping. Veteran eCommerce SOP experts often stress the significance of this coordination and that if it is missing or broken in the Standard Operating Procedure for eCommerce ( https://www.yourretailcoach.in/e-commerce-sops/ ), such processes cannot deliver the intended output in the intended manner.

SOP-IT Integration

In modern-day enterprises like an eCommerce business, the planning for SOP development and implementation is diverse from what it used to be for organisations in more traditional setups. One of the reasons is the increasing role of automation and digitisation in the execution of business processes. While SOPs in documented or printed formats continue to be relevant, organisations today need to approach SOP development and implementation ( https://www.yourretailcoach.in/standard-operating-procedures-consulting/ ) from the viewpoint of technology.

Thus, while drafting SOPs for eCommerce for an automated environment, it is critical to be aware of the technological capabilities of the automation tools under consideration. SOPs cannot demand operational requirements that technology cannot provide. In the same way, technology should also not be undermined while drafting SOPs.

Scope for Improvisations

As experienced eCommerce SOP consultants, YRC underlines that no process workflow definition or SOP is ever concluding. The scope of improvising processes is always present if not right now then always in the near future because of the changing internal and external requirements of a business environment.

Business processes ( https://www.yourretailcoach.in/business-process-management-bpm-consulting/ ) also mature with time. Sometimes aberrations are detected in the normal course of business which necessitates corrections in the SOPs. Sometimes changes in the business environment demand modifications in the SOPs. Sometimes process improvisations or alterations in SOPs also become necessary because of planned internal changes.

Whatever the source of change is, SOPs must stand aligned to cope with the prevailing conditions or else they will not provide the required operational and business results.
Placing monitoring measures and creating a feedback mechanism is essential to detect deviations and scope of modifications in business processes. The senior leaders and managers also have a big role to play in the form of both executive sponsorship and necessary follow-ups in SOP redesign and implementation of the same.

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This release was published on openPR.