The document outlines common reasons why e-commerce businesses fail, which include a lack of proper planning, being undercapitalized, having unrealistic expectations, insufficient resources and skills, and a weak infrastructure. It emphasizes the importance of having a solid business plan, realistic budget and timelines, the right technology platform, and help from experienced partners.

1. WHY E-COMMERCE FAILS
NetSphere Strategies
1430 Branding Lane Presenter
Suite 170 Stephan C. Moen
Downers Grove, IL
630.721.8861
630.324.4600
WWW.NETSPHERESTRATEGIES.COM SMOEN@NETSPHERESTRATEGIES.COM

2. E-COMMERCE FAILS BECAUSE
NO BUSINESS PLAN
• As the saying goes – “Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail”
UNDERCAPITALIZED
• Plan ahead - know your operating costs upfront
UNREALISTIC EXPECTIONS
• Planning is easy – execution is the challenge
RESOURCE CONSTRAINTS
• Lacks required skills sets and expertise
WEAK INFRASTRUCTURE
• Chose the wrong e-commerce platform
• Unable to scale for peak workloads
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3. NO BUSINESS PLAN
LACK OF EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
• Must have consensus between LOBs
NO METRICS TO MEASURE SUCCESS
• Set goals - monitor, analyze, feedback
• Sales = AOV + conversions + visitors
NO ROADMAP TO GUIDE YOU
• Know when to make course corrections
DON’T TRY TO DO IT ALL YOURSELF
• Get experienced help
NO WAY TO RUN A BUSINESS
• Plan before taking action
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4. UNDER CAPITALIZED
ACCESS TO CAPITAL
• Secure LOC when you don’t need it
CAPITAL COSTS
• Know your h/w, s/w, maintenance costs
OPERATIONAL COSTS
• Employees, 3rd party service providers
MARKETING COSTS
• Know your customer acquisition costs
FINANCIAL METRICS
• Identify profit margins to target
• Monitor sales, costs and cash flow
• Financial results validates the business
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5. UNREALISTIC
EXPECATATIONS
BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME
• Immediate growth and ROI - NOT
COMMODITY SOLUTION
• Returns commodity results
IT TAKES TIME
• Don’t let expediency rule
• Web presence – is a work in progress
• Impatience + Frustration = Failure
FORECASTS
• Too high and unsubstantiated
• Launch date set before kickoff meeting
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6. RESOURCE
CONSTRAINTS
TIME-TO-MARKET
• Deadline set before project defined
TALENT SHORTAGE
• Inadequate skill sets to do the job
ALLOCATION OF FUNDS
• Budget set with no project scope input
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
• Project plan does not exist or ill-defined
PROJECT SCOPE
• Too large, too complex, too expensive
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7. WEAK
INFRASTRUCTURE
SCALABLE
• Must be able to scale & split workload
AVAILABLE AND RELIABLE
• Must be architected for high-availability
SECURITY
• Platform must be PCI compliant
INTEGRATED PLATFORM A MUST
• Prebuilt hooks to connect to other apps
MULTICHANNEL PLATFORM A MUST
• Multi-channel shoppers = MVPs
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8. PUT A PLAN TOGETHER
MUST HAVE A ROAD MAP
• Solid business plan - keeps you on track
• Strategy + Execution = Results
START SIMPLE – GAIN CONFIDENCE
• Limit scope with realistic expectations
TAILOR MADE – TO YOUR NEEDS
• Differentiate yourself from competitors
DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
• Will cost you less, quicker to market
YOU WILL NEED HELP
• People, training, tools, experience
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9. WHY PARTNER WITH US?
TOP TEN – WebSphere Commerce Partner
PRODUCT CORE COMPETENTCE – experienced
partner to deploy a complete solution –
Analytics, eCommerce, SEO, Social Media
GUARANTEED INVESTMENT PROTECTION – our
eCommerce solution will scale with you –
whether your site generates a million or
billion dollars
FOCUS – not everything to everybody
LEADERSHIP - Led Inc.500 firm multiple times
GOAL – We Make Webstores Profitable
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