The Right Way to Use Microsoft Excel and Scale Up Your E-Commerce Business

If you run an eCommerce store, Microsoft can lend a giant helping hand in bringing you on top of your industry. However, to fully enjoy Microsoft’s tools and solutions takes a piece of deep knowledge and understanding. This article will look into the ways you can employ Microsoft solutions in your business. We look into the powerful Microsoft tools of eCommerce businesses:  the cloud, AI, and business suites. Specifically, you’ll learn how to use Excel, one of its applications under the business suit, to scale your eCommerce business.

Let’s get started.

How is Microsoft Heading the Progress of ECommerce?

As mentioned before, Microsoft provides its users with a wide range of resources. To start an eCommerce business, Azure, AI, and Microsoft applications must be of serious interest to you. Let’s take a more in-depth look at these robust eCommerce solutions.

Microsoft Applications: Using Excel for ECommerce

Various Microsoft applications can do incredible work in your eCommerce. But then, Excel stands out as one of the best gadgets in practically any business. The best thing you can do is train your team to explore and adapt its functions to their work style and preferences.
So how does Excel work? A wide range of Microsoft training courses is available online for anyone to tap into this robust knowledge database. It is a matter of a short search to find the Microsoft course that meets your needs.

The first factor to consider is your skill level. If you have no prior knowledge, find a course tailored for beginners. It would be best if you aimed at getting a Microsoft certificate in Excel. Once you have it, it means you have the skills to work with Excel efficiently.
In the end, this app can help you scale your eCommerce business quickly. It will help you accomplish more than you’d think within a short time. For instance, you can use it to simplify accounting, scheduling, marketing, sales tracking, etc. We will discuss these and more later in this article.

Why Use Excel for Your ECommerce Business?

Excel has a wide range of uses that can benefit your eCommerce business. All you need to do is decide the area of your business that needs improving. Then, you should find the right tool to help you achieve your business goals.

Here are some useful functions:

ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE

Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool that you can use to smoothen your accounting processes. It is the best for accounting work, although alternatives like OpenOffice, Google Docs Spreadsheet, Zoho Sheet, etc. If you haven’t used it, you’ll be surprised by what it can do.
All you need to do to use this program properly is get excel training. Once you have the proper training, you’ll know the formulae and third-party templates to improve your business.

Excel can also handle more complex tasks like helping with financial projections. You can use it to test your model and project where your business will be in 10 years. You can also use it to test your model to do financial feasibility studies to help you make projections for your business.
It’s also worth mentioning that the spreadsheets created with Excel are easy to understand. You can create innovative and informative reports with the correct formulae and quickly share them with your team.

KPI TRACKING

Businesses use specific key performance indicators (KPIs) to track their performances. KPIs are features that can help you rate the growth of different aspects of your business. Besides helping you know your business’s successes, KPIs help you recognize its failures and improve on them.
Excel is an effective KPI tracking tool that you can use for your business. It can do the heavy lifting for you by helping you organize and manage data on various KPIs. For instance, you can use it to check your website traffic, social media numbers, and your campaign’s reach.

Besides, Excel makes it easy to compare statistics from different periods. You can also use it to put the data into charts and graphs that you can easily read. It makes it a perfect tool for creating presentations of the numbers in your tracked KPIs.
In the end, Excel helps eCommerce businesses save both time and money. You reduce the human input required to track data from your key performance indicators. With less required human power, you free some precious resources that can edge your eCommerce business into reaching higher levels.

STOCK AND INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

Your eCommerce business’s success depends on how well you manage your stock. Proper stock management makes it easy to track the flow of your inventory. You need to know how much stock you have left and what needs replenishing to ensure the continuity of your business.
However, tracking these numbers can be a daunting task. Fortunately, Excel is excellent when it comes to dealing with numbers. With it, you not only track your current inventory but also update your stock more effortlessly. In the end, that puts you in a better position to be in control.

You can also integrate Excel with tools like an inventory tracker. That will make it easier to know when your inventory falls low. Tools with functionalities such as these allow you to set alert levels. You’ll know when your stock requires replenishing if you combine excel with them.
It is possible to improve your business if you use Excel software. You can invest the time it helps you cut from stock and inventory management to improve other business aspects. It will be vital in growing your eCommerce business.

SALES TRACKING

Businesses survive by making sales, and eCommerce stores are no different. As an eCommerce business owner, you need to track your sales to ensure that your business is profitable. Also, sales tracking is the best way to track your business’s growth and improve where necessary.
One way to track your sales is by hiring a data entry professional to fill the spreadsheet you use to track sales. However, that’s one time-consuming process that you can avoid. You can download your sales reports with a few clicks from your Amazon or eBay seller’s accounts.

Once you click to open the file, choose to open it with Excel. It will open as a spreadsheet that’s easy to read and understand. The good news is that all you need to achieve this is to have MS Excel on your computer. Otherwise, there’s no extra program required to view your sales reports.
It is also possible to analyze the reports further after opening them in Excel. You can also track your numbers more efficiently and predict future sales more effortlessly. Benefits such as these make the program an efficient and easy-to-use program that every eCommerce business needs.

CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT (CRM)

Trust and loyalty keeps eCommerce businesses going. That’s why it is vital to manage your relationships with customers well. Excel can play a critical role in helping your business nurture these relationships. There is a lot that it can help you track concerning your business’s CRM.
The template on Excel that helps you handle your CRM comes with various features. You can check your tasks in the setting section, enabling you to keep in touch with customers more efficiently.

Also, there’s a lot more you can do to improve customer relationships using Excel. It is easy too, for instance, to assign tasks using the template. You can also use it to communicate by updating the status of various functions, and everyone in your team will see the changes in real-time.
Tracking employee performances is also possible when using Excel for CRM. The best bit of it is that you do not need to use other tools to manage relationships. This tool gives you a good view of the whole system and makes managing customer relationships seamless.

SCHEDULING AND CALENDAR MANAGEMENT

It isn’t easy to meet your business goals if you do not have a schedule. If you work with a team, they could lose track of the business objectives if you do not help them plan. And, the easiest way to plan is to create a schedule ahead of time, which you can do using Excel.
You can decide how often to schedule tasks related to your eCommerce business. The MS app is excellent for keeping a record of your schedule in a single file. The Excel template is a time saver because it lets business people schedule their work.

It is possible to customize your schedule in Excel to fit your business needs. For instance, you can decide when your day starts and ends then enter that into your Excel schedule. You can also make the schedule portable by having it on your mobile devices for quick checks on the go.

PIVOT TABLES

Another excellent solution that you can use for your business is a pivot table. It is the perfect choice for you if you find entering your sales or other data into spreadsheets daunting. A pivot table does all the data processing for you, making your work more seamless.
You can use a pivot table to gather all the data you need from various platforms and websites and process and analyze it later. These summaries help with decision-making and are effective reporting tools.
Pivot tables are also easier to work with a team, and there are various options to consider here. For instance, you can share the reports with your team in tabular or outline form. 

MARKETING, ADVERTISING, AND SOCIAL MEDIA OPERATIONS

Microsoft Excel is an excellent asset when you need to market your brand. Digital marketing is growing, and its developers recognized this as an opportunity to boost their app for better online reach.
Excel can act as an email depository - store all your emails and other contact information on it. Update your Excel record and see the tasks you need to do to boost your marketing.
In addition, it is the perfect tool to use for tracking social media statistics. All you need to do is import the data you need to analyze. Enter it into Excel before generating graphs or charts.

FINAL WORDS

There’s no doubt that Microsoft has a lot to offer for the eCommerce industry. Businesses are using it to simplify processes while saving time and costs. As discussed earlier, it provides eCommerce businesses with the cloud, AI technology, and various tools in its business suite.
You can never go wrong with Microsoft if you are looking to scale your eCommerce business. In short, this company has become a key player in the eCommerce industry. It may be challenging to set up a successful eCommerce business blueprint in the future without using any Microsoft solution. You can use its business suites, robust cloud platform, or the artificial intelligence tools it provides to users.

But then, it will help to have the right skills to make the most of it. For instance, if your focus is on Excel, you can take the respective short course and learn how to use the program.
Once you master the art of working with tools provided by Microsoft Enterprise Solutions, growing your business becomes easy. You also get to invest the time and money it helps you save in other business aspects. Thus, it will help implement the tips shared in this article if you are an eCommerce business owner.

FAQs

Is it worth getting Microsoft Certified?

Getting certified in Microsoft comes with a boatload of added benefits. For example, you can bolster your resume or verify the skills you possess. This certification enhances your chances of getting a promotion or negotiating a higher salary for a new job.

What are the essential requirements for an ecommerce business?

• Having a mobile-friendly design is vital since most shoppers use a phone
• Having a quick and easy-to-navigate checkout process. Most customers dislike complications and will abandon their shopping cart for a better alternative
• A very captivating UI/UX design will go a long way
• The presence of a very trustworthy return policy will make sure shoppers will come back to you without any fear