In the past couple of years, I have been involved in several projects where a new online store is being set up. My own role and income angle is ex officio mainly the integration of product data from PIM to the online store, but at the same time I have followed other project-related issues from the side. On the private life side, the biggest single crunch in recent years has been a house construction project completed a couple of years ago, and even though it's about completely different end products, the projects themselves had surprisingly a lot in common.

Here are my observations and tips for an online store or house building project - hopefully this will help someone in either situation! 

1. Know what you want and be ready to measure success 

If you don't have a clear vision of what you want and why you started the project, it's difficult to achieve a completely satisfactory end result. So, right from the start, list the goals and the reasons why the goals have been set.

If the goal is, for example, doubling the turnover of the online store, multiplying the number of products sold in the online store, or improving the customer experience, it is also good to think about how the results could be measured after the project is completed. 

It is good to start the definition already at this stage - write down the requirements for the new online store even before starting the actual project. The better understanding you have of what you want and require from an online store (or house package) even before you start asking for offers, the better and more comparable offers you will get. This, in turn, directly correlates with how many surprises there will be along the way. 

2. If you are not an expert yourself, get a reliable consultant 

An e-commerce project may sound like it's not rocket science, and in principle it is. However, online shopping is a tricky business because it typically involves at least one, more often two or three integrations. Many things that seem small can be surprisingly big if they come up in the middle of the project.

Similarly, building a house may at first seem as easy as childhood Lego games, but in real life, all the nice things like water and electricity connections, drainage, building permits and so on come into play. 

That's why it's worth looking for someone knowledgeable about the matter, preferably an impartial one, who can help you with the specification and making the request for tenders before the tender round. No matter how you do your homework, it's difficult as a layman to handle everything, especially if you're in a hurry.

A good consultant knows how to help you think about important issues already in the definition phase, in order to avoid expensive surprises in the final phase. So you might pay a little "extra" to the consultant, but the savings (in money and time) are likely to be much bigger. 

3. Even if you buy a turnkey package, it doesn't mean that you don't have to do anything yourself 

Many online store builders (and house builders too, I've heard) are surprised by how much work the project requires, even if you don't code a single line or nail a single nail. It is therefore worth early on to make sure that your own resources are sufficient, roles are clear and the schedule is realistic.

An online store project requires at least an internal project manager (who may well spend half of the working time on the project), support from IT in designing interfaces and information flows, and probably help from product management when the information content as such does not support the vision. 

4. Put the foundations in order 

Also check that the processes of your background systems, e.g. ERP/PLM and PIM, can be made to support the online store. Especially the quality of the product data should be checked before starting the project. If you want to create the world's greatest (or even mediocre) search functions, filtering and comprehensive product sections for your online store, the data must be structurally sound and in order. For many people, it becomes clear only after the start of the e-commerce project that a large part of the time is taken up by cleaning and rationalizing old information, which, however, must be done in order to present the product information smartly.

At the latest at this stage, you should seriously consider the implementation of a PIM system, because ERP and e-commerce are only sufficient in extremely rare cases, if the goal is a functional product information process and selling and comprehensive product information. 

5. Competition 

The online store and the house package are both projects in a price category that I can't think of any reasonable reasons why these should not be put out to tender. Rutistu is worth it at least because you get an idea of ​​the price level and implementation options with different operators. It may take a little more time than if you just buy from the first customer who is convinced by the sales promises, but based on experience, the investment is worth it. 

On the other hand, there is no joy in competing if you don't know what you want - in the worst case, the offers you receive are not comparable in any way if the request for a quote was too narrow or unclear. Therefore, it is worth investing in the definition at this stage at the latest.

Making a reasonable offer requires that point 1 is in order: you know what you want and you know how to write it down in an understandable and sufficiently accurate way. The more precisely you can describe the requirements, the easier it will be to compare offers and the project itself. 

6. Consider who you buy from 

In the house building project, of course, I hunted for advice from friends who had already built and from online discussion forums, on the basis of which I immediately narrowed down at least a few actors - the same applies to the selection of an online store supplier.

Based on my own experience, a supplier that is too big is usually a worse option for a slightly smaller client, because the big ones are not so interested in the too small ones and the project might be pulled a bit left-handed. For slightly smaller operators, even a single transaction may be significant, and therefore they invest in them in a different way. So you should compare the supplier's size to your own size. 

7. Require documentation 

In terms of the future maintenance of both the house and the online store, it is critical to know what has been done, where and how. If in the future you want to make changes to the way data is presented or integrations, or if you want to knock down a wall in the house, it would be nice to know easily how things have been done or where, for example, the electrical connections run without having to tear everything apart to find out. 

During the implementation phase of the project, you often get the feeling that the supplier is doing the work according to the specifications and is just watching the progress from the sidelines. However, based on experience, at this stage it is important to be alert and require that all agreed matters are documented sensibly.

What is not clearly written in black and white, it does not exist and you are at the mercy of the editor's good will. Good will often works, but in terms of your own peace of mind and the ease of future maintenance, it is important to require that even the tedious documentation be done. 

8. Test, test, test 

If everything goes well, there will be a rush at once, but unfortunately you can't count on this. Both software and house packages do have certain guarantees, but it is often easier (and cheaper) to take care of things if errors are detected at an early stage.  

Here, too, you should seriously consider the help of a consultant, if you feel even a little bit that your own resources are not enough. This will probably save time and money (and nerves) in the end. 

9. When the project is finished, take care of maintenance processes and internal roles 

Yes, the project is finished and now you can just be and enjoy! Unfortunately, not quite - when the shop or house is finished, you should manage on your own and know how to get the most out of the investment. 

Agree with the service provider about the regular installation of security updates and other update routines. Technology is developing at such a pace that it is worth budgeting not only resources but also money for continuous small-scale development, so that things don't get bogged down.   

At this stage, your own internal role assignment takes center stage - you have to agree on who in your organization is responsible for ensuring that the store (or building) stays in order and participates in the development. Although there may be less work than during the construction phase, the resources and amount of work should not be underestimated.