How Reducing Costs Helps Your Ecommerce Business Grow
Cutting Costs for Shopify Brands
Running a successful E-commerce business with an international presence presents unique challenges, especially when managing costs and operational efficiency. One of the most impactful strategies for cost reduction is store consolidation. While this approach offers substantial benefits, it also requires careful consideration and planning. Let's explore how consolidating your Shopify stores can streamline operations and cut costs and what factors you need to consider before jumping.
The Benefits of Store Consolidation
Operational Efficiency
Managing multiple stores can be a logistical nightmare. Each additional store means more complexity in managing deployments, themes, inventory sync issues, and customer databases. By consolidating stores, you can focus your management efforts on a single account, simplifying your development environment. This streamlined approach can significantly improve your operational efficiency.
Cost Reduction
One of the most compelling reasons to consolidate stores is the potential for cost savings. Maintaining multiple stores involves paying multiple plan fees, app fees, and resourcing costs for in-house teams and service providers. By reducing the number of stores, you can cut these overhead expenses and reinvest the savings into your primary store or other growth opportunities.
Sustainable Growth
Consolidating your store instances can lead to more sustainable and manageable growth. In dynamic markets, over-investing in market expansion can be risky. Shopify Markets provides a more flexible solution than creating fully localised expansion stores. However, this streamlined approach also means balancing the benefits of simplification against the need for localised content and customisation.
The Drawbacks of Store Consolidation
Managed Markets
The latest Shopify editions feature Managed Markets, which offer granular single-store tax and legislation controls—particularly important for regulated industries like alcohol. However, this feature isn't universally available, as we discovered with our client Hawkstone. UK merchants, for instance, may still face challenges with single-store versus expansion-store approaches.
Tech Reliance
Brands with highly customised tech solutions for each store may find consolidation challenging. Integrating these layers of customisation into a single tech instance might not be feasible, potentially limiting the functionality that each store currently enjoys.
Content Localisation
While the theme editor allows for some localised content, achieving advanced personalisation across different markets often requires third-party tech solutions. These integrations can drive up costs, counteracting the original cost reduction goal.
Optimising Your Tech Stack
Efficiency is crucial, and your tech stack plays a significant role in achieving it. The tech stack is often a bloated cost and an underutilised asset for many Shopify brands. Here are some steps to streamline your tools and boost your tech ROI:
Audit Your Current Tools
Identify which tools are essential and which can be consolidated or eliminated. At Pluro, we work with brands to effectively uncover these opportunities and implement cost-saving measures.
Integrate Smartly
Choose tools that integrate seamlessly to avoid data silos and improve workflow. Integration is critical to maintaining a smooth and efficient operation.
Prioritise Usability
Ensure your team is comfortable and proficient with the tools you select. Usability drives adoption and efficiency, making it a critical factor in tool selection.
Stay Updated
Review and update your tech stack regularly to adapt to new challenges and opportunities. Embrace new tech demos to stay ahead of the curve, and pay attention to native Shopify tech expansions, such as Checkout Blocks.
Conclusion
Store consolidation offers a pathway to streamlined operations and reduced costs, but it's not a decision to be made lightly. By weighing the benefits against the potential drawbacks and optimising your tech stack, you can position your Shopify brand for sustainable growth and improved efficiency. Whether you're a global brand or looking to expand internationally, consolidation can be a powerful strategy for long-term success.
Ready to streamline your operations and cut costs? Contact us to learn how we can help you achieve your goals through strategic store consolidation and tech stack optimisation.
Guide to reducing your Shopify app fees.
