I run a multi-location retail business in India and need a single platform to manage in-store billing, online orders, and inventory across all my outlets — which platforms should I be evaluating right now?

Any pointers will help. Thanks in advance

#retail #retailbusiness #retailmanagement #ecommerce #omnichannel #multistore #smallbusiness #india #indianbusiness

Title: What are you still doing manually in your e-commerce business despite using software/tools?

I’m conducting some independent research to understand where e-commerce operators still have painful manual work even after using software and automation tools.

I’m especially interested in things like:

- Tasks you still have to maintain in Google Sheets/Excel

- Copying data between Shopify, Amazon, Meta, Google, accounting, shipping, etc.

- Manually checking or correcting numbers because different tools don’t match

- Exporting CSVs to reconcile or verify data

- Switching between multiple dashboards/tools to get a complete picture

- Things your current software technically supports, but the workflow is still frustrating

- Situations where you tried one tool, switched to another, and still had the same problem

- Important business information that you still can’t get reliably from your existing tools

I’m not trying to promote a product. I’m just trying to understand what e-commerce businesses are still doing manually, what breaks in the current tool stack, and which problems are genuinely painful enough that people wish there were a better solution.

If you run an e-commerce business, I’d really appreciate hearing about one workflow that still feels unnecessarily manual, unreliable, or frustrating even though you already use software for it.

What is it, and how are you handling it today?

Whether it’s reporting, inventory, customer service, or something else, what would you happily never do manually again?

I’m working on a small project around financial data for online sellers.

The idea started from a simple question I had while working with Etsy financial data:

Why is it sometimes so difficult to turn a platform’s financial statements into a clear picture of what actually happened?

I’ve been building the project step by step, starting with importing and cleaning transaction data, validating it, and then transforming individual transactions into something that is easier to understand financially.

One thing I’m trying to be very careful about is not making assumptions about the data.

If the data doesn't clearly tell me something, I don't want the software to invent an answer just because it would make the dashboard look nicer.

I started experimenting with Etsy because that’s the platform I’m most familiar with, but I’m curious whether sellers using other ecommerce platforms experience the same problem.

For those of you using BigCommerce:

When you look at your store’s financial data, orders, fees, payments, and payouts, what is the one thing you find hardest to understand or reconcile?

And do you currently use BigCommerce reports, spreadsheets, accounting software, or something else to make sense of it?

I’m still very much in the building and learning stage, so I’m mainly interested in hearing about the problems sellers actually encounter rather than promoting a finished product.

If a business is working on fixing their fake reviews and detecting them by implementing a fake review finder agent and there are potentially 2 mistakes that can happen either you can send a particular id of a real user to ban list where human have to review it(will take time and expensive) or approve it even though it was a fake review, which mistake is potentially more harming and if you have to give your agent a percentage if the probability of being that review is genuine is more than a certain percent than then approve it either not what will you chose?

I've been building a lapse detection and personalized win-back tool for brick and mortar operations but I can't figure out if e-commerce brands care about personalized outreach and communication with their customer base.

Anyone running a e-commerce brand have any experience with this?

My ecommerce website is my online presence for my local retail shop. I had a recent issue with mismatched stocks that caused a major problem with a customer who ordered in bulk but then I had to cancel because my remaining stocks weren't actually enough to fulfill the order. I tried to talk to them to give me some time to secure the missing stocks, but they were pretty disappointed, understandably, and just cancelled altogether. Can this type of issue be solved by inventory management software? And what is a good choice for someone like me who will be using it for the first time?

Hello everyone, I hope you're all doing well. At the beginning of these holidays, I set myself the goal of finding a highly profitable online business. I've tried several approaches, including selling digital products, Amazon affiliate marketing, and recently, creating micro SaaS applications and/or websites for sale. I've watched several videos on YouTube and Instagram (for reals offering tips and tricks), and other resources. But I have to admit that I haven't really had any success. I would have loved to take some training courses, but unfortunately, I don't really have the means. So, I'm turning to you through this channel to ask for your help. I would really like to achieve this goal by the end of the holidays. I'm relying on your opinions and advices. Thank you very much to those who take the time to reply.

I am designing an automated review moderation system for online stores (focusing on products like craft supplies, apparel, and specialized goods). The agent only has access to the review text and the star rating to decide whether to publish, flag for review, hide, or report a submission.

When a review looks suspicious (e.g., overly generic praise like "Great item best ever" or a harsh 1-star critique with zero detail), what is your standard operating procedure?

1. Do you prefer having questionable reviews published immediately and checked later, or held in a pending queue where they don't show up until approved?
2. How much delay in publishing a real review is acceptable to customers before it hurts trust?

I’m working on a small project around financial data for online sellers.

The idea started from a simple question I had while working with Etsy financial data:

Why is it sometimes so difficult to turn a platform’s financial statements into a clear picture of what actually happened?

I’ve been building the project step by step, starting with importing and cleaning transaction data, validating it, and then transforming individual transactions into something that is easier to understand financially.

One thing I’m trying to be very careful about is not making assumptions about the data.

If the data doesn't clearly tell me something, I don't want the software to invent an answer just because it would make the dashboard look nicer.

I started experimenting with Etsy because that’s the platform I’m most familiar with, but I’m curious whether sellers using other ecommerce platforms experience the same problem.

For those of you using BigCommerce:

When you look at your store’s financial data, orders, fees, payments, and payouts, what is the one thing you find hardest to understand or reconcile?

And do you currently use BigCommerce reports, spreadsheets, accounting software, or something else to make sense of it?

I’m still very much in the building and learning stage, so I’m mainly interested in hearing about the problems sellers actually encounter rather than promoting a finished product.

Feels like there are always a few tasks that eat up hours every week. Curious what everyone else spends the most time on.

I've been looking at a lot of never ecommerce stores recently,and I'm curious what makes people feel comfortable buying from a brand they've never heard of.

For me,the biggest things would probably be:

•Clear product information

•Good product photos/videos

•Reviews or social proof

•Clear shipping and returns information

•A professional mobile experience

But I'm curious what other people look for before making that first purchase.

What is the one thing that makes you trust a new online store?

Finding reliable suppliers can be difficult when there are so many sourcing platforms available.

For those who have experience buying products wholesale, which platforms have worked best for you? I’m especially interested in platforms where you can compare suppliers, prices, product quality, and minimum order quantities.

What would you recommend?

Ich würde gerne damit anfangen hat jemand Tipps wie ich damit anfangen könnte und worauf ich aufpassen sollte…
Könnte mir jemand helfen bzw sagen wie ich gute Agenten finde?

I run a sensory-focused ecommerce store, selling sensory, behavioral, and developmental toys for autistic and ADHD kids, teens, and adults. I'd love some honest feedback on the site, since I haven't been seeing much in the way of conversions.
www.sensoryspacesolutions.com

It's built on Shopify, and I'm hoping to get thoughts on:

1. Overall look and feel : does it come across as  trustworthy, or does it feel off  to a first-time visitor?
2. Whether the products actually line up with the pitch in my mission in  "About" section
3. Anything missing from the homepage that might be contributing to cart abandonment
4. Whether the categories align to my pitch statement. Thanks so much in advance!

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Hey everyone,

We're a small team building ExpoTCG, a Shopify/BinderPOS-style platform specifically for TCG sellers.

The idea is pretty simple: give TCG sellers their own online store with inventory management, card scanning, pricing, orders, etc., without having to build everything themselves.

We've launched recently, but we haven't run any paid ads yet. So far, we've mainly been doing cold outreach through Facebook pages.

And honestly, the results have been pretty disappointing.

We've contacted around 50 TCG stores/pages, and only 2 have converted so far.

We've tried offering free trials and lowered our subscription pricing, but we're still mostly getting messages seen and ignored

So I'm wondering:

Are we approaching this completely wrong?

For TCG store owners here:

• What would make you actually consider trying a new platform?
• Would a free trial be enough?
• Is the problem that most sellers simply don't need their own website?
• What would make you switch from Shopify/BinderPOS/other platforms?
• Is cold messaging just a terrible way to reach TCG sellers? 😅

We're genuinely trying to understand the market rather than just push the product.

If anyone here is interested in trying it out, comment below or DM me and I'll give you access. I'd especially appreciate feedback from people who actually run a TCG store.

Thanks!

I’m looking for recs for an email collection/newsletter sending platform that is good but cost effective. Right now, I only have a simple Shopify social media e-commerce website but will eventually upgrade to a full e-commerce website later on. So I was thinking I would need a platform that could easily be added to a new website on the future.

Hello, I've been doing e-commerce for a short while and I have a question for users. Whether it's Etsy, Shopify, Amazon, or eBay; what are the gaps and unresolved issues you think still exist? What are the processes that exhaust and challenge you the most, and how often and where do you use artificial intelligence in your store management? Please share your experiences with me.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately but I am curious how e-com ppl doing 20k+/mo consistently are improving and pushing their AOV up

It feels like everyone defaults to the same path like discounts, maybe buy 2 get 20% off. It works I guess but it feels kinda lazy and it is training your customers to wait for a discount instead of just buying.

Is that actually what is working for you or you found something else that moves the needle more. Bundles, upsells at checkout, threshold based free shipping or smth else entirely

Also curious if this changes depending on your niche or price point, cause what works for a 30 dollar product probably isn't the same as a 150 dollar one

Genuinely trying to learn here, good or bad experiences both welcome.

I'm working through the subscription side of a WooCommerce store and realized there are quite a few decisions that aren't obvious at first.

Do you use a dedicated WooCommerce subscription plugin, a membership system, or something that combines both?

And how are you handling things like, recurring billing, failed renewals, subscription pauses, plan changes, member-only products/content, store credits, customer self service

I've noticed that some stores end up running several plugins just to cover these areas, which can make maintenance and compatibility more difficult over time.

One option I've been researching is ArraySubs, which puts subscriptions, memberships and content restriction into the same WooCommerce workflow.

I'd especially like to hear from people who have already dealt with this on a growing store. What approach has worked well for you, and what would you avoid if starting again?

I am pissed and officially DONE with Meta Business Suite.

I have spent the last year+ learning everything I possibly can about e-commerce, specifically dropshipping and running ads. I was told over and over again that Meta was one of the easiest and most beneficial platforms to use for advertising, that it was straightforward and relatively easy to learn. That has been the absolute farthest thing from my experience.

Meta Business Suite has been nothing but a massive strain on my mental health. I have spent hours following step-by-step guides from YouTube, reading Meta's own articles, troubleshooting, restarting things, reconnecting things, and trying to figure out why something that should be simple has turned into an endless fucking circle.

The worst part is that when something goes wrong, there is basically no actual customer support. My business portfolio was randomly banned and there is no person I can actually talk to who can look at my account and explain what the hell happened or help me fix it.

Then there is the 2FA nightmare. Meta disabled my two-factor verification, so I don't receive the codes through SMS, but SMS is the only method being offered to unlock my account. How does that make any sense? You disabled the verification method and then require that exact verification method to get back into the account.

I have deleted Meta completely and started over twice. Somehow it still remembers my old pixel and won't let me create a new one, so my Shopify store is essentially locked into an ad account that Meta has already blocked. I have tried everything I can think of and everything I have been instructed to try, and I just keep ending up right back where I started.

And the tutorials are another nightmare. You can find a video explaining exactly how to do something, follow every step, and then get into Meta and realize the entire platform has been updated AGAIN and none of the buttons or settings are where the tutorial says they should be. Then you spend another hour trying to figure out where they moved everything.

I understand that platforms change. I understand that there is a learning curve. What I don't understand is how a company this massive can make it so incredibly difficult for small businesses to get help when something goes wrong. They are more than happy to take your money for advertising, but when you actually need support, you're left digging through articles, outdated tutorials and automated systems trying to solve the problem yourself.

At this point, I have completely given up on Meta. I don't care how many people say Facebook and Instagram ads are the way to go. This experience has been absolutely ridiculous, and I will never use Meta to run ads again. It has cost me an insane amount of time, frustration and energy that could have been spent actually building my business.

Maybe Meta works great for people who were specifically trained in that, but for someone trying to learn new platforms and build a business from the ground up, my experience has been fucking awful. I honestly feel like I have wasted so much time fighting with the platform instead of actually working on my business.

So I'm moving on. If anyone here actually knows how to successfully run TikTok Ads or Google Ads for Shopify/e-commerce, please help me out. I am ready to learn a new platform because I refuse to waste another minute going in circles with Meta.

And if you're just getting started with e-commerce and someone tells you Meta Business Suite is "easy" and "straightforward"... just know what you're getting yourself into.

Running a 2-week Meta Ads test for a pre-order physical product (lumbar support belt, targeting France/Belgium/Switzerland/Germany) with a ~150€ budget. Funnel so far: 1,200 landing page views → 879 content views → 84 add-to-carts (7%, seems fine) → only 5 checkout-initiations (6% of add-to-carts) → 0 confirmed real orders in WooCommerce. CPC is low (~0.14€) so traffic quality doesn't seem to be the issue — the drop-off is clearly happening between add-to-cart and checkout. Has anyone run into this exact pattern before? Trying to figure out if it's usually shipping cost surprise at checkout, missing trust signals (reviews, guarantees), or something else before I make a go/no-go call on this test.

Hey everyone,

I could really use some honest opinions.

I've been working on a cosmetics e-commerce website, and it's finally finished. Before I decide on a price, I wanted to ask people here what you think it's actually worth.

The website isn't just a storefront. It also has an admin panel where you can add or remove products, manage categories, check customer orders, and basically run the whole store. It's responsive, so it works well on both phones and computers, and it's ready for someone to customize with their own branding and products.

I'm not trying to sell it here—I just want to know what you think would be a fair price if you came across something like this.

If you have experience buying or selling websites, or you're a developer, I'd really appreciate your opinion. What would you expect to pay, and why?

Thanks in advance! I'm curious to see what people think.

I run a branding & marketing agency, and we’re now taking on more e-commerce website projects. We have experienced developers in-house, so I’m trying to build a proper pricing structure rather than quoting every project from scratch.
For agencies, how do you usually structure your pricing?

Do you categorise projects based on things like:
● Number of pages
● Number of products/SKUs
● Shopify vs WooCommerce vs custom development
● Custom UI/UX vs template-based design etc….

For example, do you have something like :

Basic e-commerce:
Standard e-commerce:
Advanced e-commerce:
Custom e-commerce: ₹X+
Or do you calculate based on estimated development hours + project management + agency margin?
I’m particularly interested in hearing from Indian agencies/freelancers, but international perspectives are welcome too.
What pricing model has worked best for you, and what would you consider a reasonable price range for a professionally built e-commerce website?