E-commerce and Online Retail Operations

Every sale begins with a visit and passes through several steps. Seeing where buyers drop out shows you where to improve.

• The usual path is visit, view a product, add to basket, enter details, pay and receive the order.
• Conversion rate is orders divided by visits, multiplied by 100 to give a percentage.
• Buyers leave at points of doubt, such as unexpected delivery costs or unclear returns.
• Trust signals include clear photos, real contact details, visible policies and honest reviews.
• Track how many people reach each step so you can see the biggest drop.

Activity. Draw a map of the path from visit to repeat sale and mark where you think most buyers leave, with a reason.

Standard to meet. Draw a map with at least five steps, a conversion number for each step you can measure and one suspected drop point.

A listing is your shop assistant. It must show the product honestly so the buyer knows what arrives, which reduces returns and complaints.

• Use at least three clear photos on a plain background, including one showing size next to a common object.
• State the size, weight, material, colour and care instructions in the first lines.
• Make only claims you can prove, and avoid words like best or guaranteed unless you can back them up.
• Write a title with the product type and key detail so it can be found by search, such as: cotton tote bag, 38 cm wide.
• Show a price that includes GST where it applies and state clearly what is and is not included.

Activity. Write five listings with photos, size, material, care details and an honest claim check.

Standard to meet. Give each listing three photos, full measurements and no claim that cannot be proved.

A price that ignores fees can hide a loss. You calculate every cost per item so you know what each sale truly earns.

• List product cost, packaging, payment fees, platform fees, delivery paid by you and any GST you must pay.
• Payment fees are often a percentage plus a fixed amount per order.
• Margin is profit divided by the selling price, shown as a percentage.
• Test a price by comparing two options and checking the number of orders at each.
• Remember that free delivery is a cost to you unless it is included in the price.

Activity. Build a spreadsheet that works out cost, profit and margin per item for three products.

Standard to meet. Build the sheet with every cost line, correct formulas and margin shown as a percentage for each product.

Customers trust stores that explain their rules clearly. Consumer rules protect buyers and sellers must follow them whatever the policy says.

• Write a delivery policy with timeframes, areas served and what happens if a parcel is late.
• Write a returns policy that says how many days, who pays return postage and how refunds are paid.
• Write a privacy policy that says what data you collect and why, and keep it short.
• Faulty goods and goods that do not match the description usually need to be remedied by law, whatever your policy says.
• Check with your local authority and an adviser, since consumer and tax rules vary.

Activity. Write delivery, returns and privacy policies of one page or less, and ask an adviser to review them.

Standard to meet. State timeframes and costs clearly in the three policies and record an adviser comment.

Fulfilment is where promises are kept or broken. A routine for picking, packing and tracking prevents mistakes and late parcels.

• Set a daily cut-off time, such as 2 pm, and state that orders before it ship the same day.
• Pick items against the order sheet, check each item and count, then pack with enough padding.
• Weigh the parcel and measure it so the postage cost you charge matches what you pay.
• Send a tracking link to the customer, which reduces how often they ask where the parcel is.
• Fix delays quickly by contacting the carrier and telling the customer before they ask.

Activity. Run orders for 30 days with a log showing order number, ship date, tracking and any delay with its cause.

Standard to meet. Log every order, with a same-day ship rate and a cause recorded for each delay.

A return is a chance to keep a customer and learn what is wrong. A fair and fast process turns a problem into trust.

• Inspect each returned item and record the reason in a standard list such as wrong size, faulty or changed mind.
• Refund or swap within a stated time, such as 5 working days after the item arrives.
• Respond to every customer message within one working day, even if only to say you are looking into it.
• Count the reasons each month and look for the most common one.
• Change the listing, the packing or the supplier to remove the cause.

Activity. Process at least five practice returns and keep a log with reason, action, time taken and a change made.

Standard to meet. Record the reason and the response time for each return in the log, with at least one change that targets the most common reason.

Numbers show which efforts pay off. You track where visitors come from and what each order costs to win.

• Record the source of each visit, such as search, social media, email or direct.
• Cost per order equals the money spent on a channel divided by the orders it produced.
• Repeat rate equals customers who bought again divided by all customers.
• Compare channels using the same period and the same measures.
• Put the figures in a table and highlight the channel with the lowest cost per order.

Activity. Produce a table of visits, orders and cost per order by source for the 30 days, with a short note on what to change.

Standard to meet. Check that the table is correct and uses the same period for every source, and name one change with a reason in the note.

The review turns 30 days of work into decisions. You decide what to keep, change or stop, based on the numbers.

• Pull together your key numbers: visits, orders, conversion, margin, return rate and cost per order.
• Sort each product and each channel into keep, change or stop.
• Set a rule for dropping an item, such as margin under 15% and fewer than 3 sales in 30 days.
• Write three lessons and the change you will make for each.
• Share the report and invite one question from your mentor or peer circle.

Activity. Present a report with your numbers, a keep, change or stop list and three proposed changes with expected results.

Standard to meet. Use at least five numbers in the report, apply a stated rule to each product and include three changes.