Four rules for advanced e-commerce operations

This article introduces the four rules of e-commerce operation in detail: strategy, planning, execution, and review. It is suitable for readers who are interested in e-commerce operation.

E-commerce is different from mathematics. Mathematics has standard answers. No matter what formula you list and what result you get, it will be the same for anyone. E-commerce is different. Everyone has different practices and understandings. They may get the same result with completely different methods. This is in line with the saying: All roads lead to Rome .

Even though everyone has achieved a monthly turnover of 5 million, some people may adopt the low-price natural flow model, while others may adopt the high-price forced payment model. However, the final profit is similar, and the end result is the same. The platform will not let you earn more money than you deserve, you know .

When I was doing e-commerce operations, I started from scratch, and how to advance quickly became my top priority at the time. However, some things cannot be rushed. It takes time for us to understand a platform, and it cannot be achieved overnight. The only thing I can do is to shorten the time of advancement as much as possible.

How can I achieve the level that others have achieved in two years in three months? Here we have to mention the four classic rules in logical methodology: strategy, planning, execution, and review .

As mentioned above, e-commerce has different ways of playing. Take the through train test as an example. Some people say that the through train test should be run all day, while others say that it should be run during peak hours. I have never run it, so I cannot tell who is right or wrong. I want to get the correct result quickly. I run it according to the four classic rules and get the conclusion within seven days. My conclusion is that it can be run all day.

In this article, I will use the example of selling bottled water to demonstrate how these four rules work.

1. Strategy

Strategy refers to how you want to do something. We are going to sell bottled water, but I have never sold this category before. What should I do? Go online to find peers and see how others are doing it.

After looking around, I have collected two ways of playing: one is to intercept traffic at a low price, and the other is to promote with high profits and high fees . Both methods can bring sales, and we have to choose one, which is our strategy.

When we promote any product, we must have a clear strategy for this product. If there is a cost advantage, we can sign up for activities, use price to beat competitors, and then raise prices later to reap the benefits.

If you don't have an advantage in cost but have an advantage in design, then you should try your best to improve the reviews and materials. You can still sell it at a higher price. Different strategies correspond to different playing methods . Everyone should understand this.

Let’s get back to the topic of bottled water. Assuming we are the agent of this water and have no cost advantage, it would be meaningless for us to compete with others on price. Therefore, I will choose the high-profit and high-paying approach.

When the products are put on the shelves, they will be set at high prices, targeting high net worth people. There are many advantages for high net worth people, the biggest advantage is that there are fewer refunds.

II. Plan

When it comes to actual implementation, there are often many kinds of strategies. The first set of strategies we formulate will most likely not work. The advancement of e-commerce operations is a process of continuous testing and improvement. Therefore, once there is a strategy, there must be a corresponding plan.

Planning refers to what to do and when to do it . Back to bottled water, the strategy has been set, and it is a high-profit, high-paying game.

The plan is to test this gameplay online from next Monday to Friday. Before going online, there must be a clear time node for when to make materials, when to S comments, and when to come out with conclusions. The plan is to put all of this into a table in advance.

Whether we make plans ourselves or our subordinates make plans, before actually implementing them, we can know the final expected appearance of the strategy by looking at the plan .

Planning is a brain-consuming process and may not bring much output value, but it is necessary to do it. The above only lists the new product launch plan, as well as the map testing plan, product selection plan, monthly sales growth plan, etc. Anything we do in the future can be included in the plan.

The work done by operations is inherently tedious and complicated. It is very energy-consuming to include all of it in the plan, so everyone should be mentally prepared.

3. Execution

The first two rules are more about thinking, while the execution phase is pure physical work. Others sell bottled water for 2 yuan a bottle, but we force payment and sell it for 3 yuan a bottle. We need to make at least seven or eight main pictures, and they should have a sweet and delicious feeling. Others' prominent selling point is buy one box and get one box free, targeting people who are looking for bargains.

We target high net worth individuals, so the selling points must be explored from the functional perspective , and corresponding mapping and testing are essential.

Put 4 pictures in the search, run it for three or four days at a high price, see which one works best, and then use that one. During this execution process, you have to keep an eye on the data trend in real time. Sometimes after running for a day, if I find that the data is not right, I will make adjustments on the same day.

For example, the original planned cost for a transaction is 1 yuan (total profit), but I find that it is not running, I will increase the price to 2 yuan. It is okay to lose money but still produce data, as long as our strategy includes how to raise the price to make up for the loss later.

The execution stage is relatively boring and tedious. Sometimes I test more than a dozen products at the same time, and keep an eye on the data trends every two hours. If the data is good, I may increase the budget at that time to put it into a larger pool to run the flow. If the results are average or poor, I will either continue to wait and see or make adjustments immediately.

4. Review

After the execution is completed, many people stop at this stage, and your e-commerce advancement path is blocked. If you want to advance, you must follow the last rule: review. Review means summarizing the gameplay of the previous test and drawing optimization conclusions .

I have been running the bottled water business for a week and have the data. I have a rough conclusion in my mind, but it is not enough. I need to export the data and put it in a document to analyze which performances are outstanding, where the performance is insufficient, and what the next step of optimization should be.

As a result, we ran the data of the bottled water direct train and found that out of ten links, eight had no exposure, and only two had a small number of orders. We need to draw a conclusion from the review: what is the reason for the lack of exposure? Is the bid too low? Is the material not good? Is the crowd not matched? How is the profit control of the link that has placed an order? Can it be continuously expanded? These questions need to have a conclusion in the review table to guide our work next week.

If you review the situation well and have the right direction, your accuracy will be improved when you make the next strategy, and we will be one step closer to the desired results. The advancement of operations is measured by results. When we can get the results we want, we will naturally advance to a higher level.

Finally, it is not realistic to use these four rules immediately after hearing them for the first time. Developing the habit of strategy, planning, execution, and review takes time and effort. Remember these four rules and constantly force yourself to follow them. If you persist for more than half a year, you will find that your abilities have greatly improved.

Author: Tiger Talks Operations

Source: WeChat public account "Laohu Jiangyy (ID: laohujiangyy)"