Are Excel spreadsheets important cogs in your multi-channel ecommerce operation? If they are, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is: You are at risk of compromising inventory management and product data across multiple sales channels with just one tiny mathematical error. The good news is: There are better solutions out there built specifically for ecommerce growth.

The numbers don’t lie: Understanding the risks spreadsheet errors create

Entering spreadsheet data manually is time consuming and error prone. Staking your inventory management processes on any spreadsheet program is risky, even if you are experienced Excel user:

• A University of Hawaii study found that in a complex corporate-scale Excel sheet, the chance of error is more than 99 percent. Adding more cells, cascades, and formulas, as your operations expand, makes additional problems inevitable.
• One-third of these errors lead to "poor decision-making," according to an F1F9/YouGov survey about spreadsheet quality. They can also lead to financial loss, as reported by 1 in 5 large businesses.

Imagine you are in a warehouse, making sure orders are picked, packed and shipped with the right labels. Spreadsheet-based management is not your friend in this case. There’s not enough automation or integration with other systems for it to scale properly. Plus, all the mistakes will slow you down and make you miss critical FedEx/UPS cutoff times, leading to lost revenue and customers.

So, what about the good news? You can solve these headaches easily by upgrading to an all-in-one ecommerce platform, complete with features like built-in inventory management and real-time reporting.

One place for all your ecommerce management data

Switching between spreadsheets and disjointed applications can be like playing a game of telephone. It’s easy to end up with outdated or inaccurate information, leading to billing errors and a broader inability to react to shifts in demand - even as the correct data sits buried somewhere in your systems.

This type of manual management is an easy cycle to get stuck in. The familiarity and popularity of spreadsheet programs make them easy to pick up, but really hard to master as ecommerce management tools. In this case, though, "mastering" them isn't really worth the trouble. It might actually be counterproductive, because of the increased risk of error. A multi-channel solution is much more straightforward to learn and master and will set up your operations for long-term success.

Real-time updates, automated accounting and easy access to accurate, consolidated financial reports, all from a unified interface, ensure that you have a firmer base of operations. That way, you can reallocate your time and energy to important tasks - instead of always tracking down the correct numbers.

A solution that grows with your business

With Excel spreadsheets, upkeep costs rise over time as you enter more data, create additional tables and reconcile various workbooks to keep abreast of order volume. These activities increase the chances that one mistake will ruin a whole set of calculations and cause costly delays, often at the worst possible time.

Trying to expand your business while continually rejiggering your spreadsheets is a race you can’t win. No matter how much effort you expend, you will never keep up with the demand created by accelerating growth. Fortunately, automated and comprehensive ecommerce software, such as Jazva, gives you everything you need to move on from legacy tools, with features such as:

• End-to-end handling of everything from orders to shipments.
• Easy product listing across sites and marketplaces.
• Scalable management of more SKUs, larger orders, and kits/bundles.
• Technical services, such as returns management and warehouse automation.

Simpler infrastructure for your operations

Instead of struggling with a complicated combo of spreadsheets, multiple open tabs per sales channel and other applications, with Jazva you can ultimately simplify your ecommerce infrastructure. From there, you can focus on other tasks, such as taking on complex fulfillment processes, expanding to platforms such as Walmart and Jet.com, and developing a good returns system.

If spreadsheets are still holding you back, it might be time to pursue this new strategy. Jazva gives you a comprehensive view of your business, with a single system for managing the full spectrum of your operations. You gain the power to make better decisions, leave spreadsheets behind and win at ecommerce.