Retail Outsourcing: Delegate These Tasks to Run Your Retail Business More Efficiently

Running a retail business means knowing a bit about—and doing a lot of—everything. But at some point, a “master of all” becomes  a “master of none.” 

As a bustling retailer, it may be time for you to start delegating and outsourcing some of the tasks that are keeping you busy and away from growing your business.

That’s where outsourcing, or offloading some tasks off your to-do list, can come in handy. In this post, we’ll discuss a handful of tasks and projects that you can (and should) outsource in order to run your business more efficiently—and give yourself a break.

Outsourcing in the Retail Industry

Outsourcing is the process of hiring an external expert, agency, or business to provide goods or services as opposed to hiring someone to do the work in-house.

Sure, you can always hire retail positions to handle some of your workload and delegate more of your tasks to trusted employees. But entrepreneurs who run their business entirely by themselves—or aren’t yet able to afford full-time help—can outsource some of their more tedious or time-consuming jobs to contracted, external helpers.

The first step to outsourcing is to figure out what tasks are the most important use of your time. What parts of your to-do list must be completed by you? As the boss, you’ll know best what tasks need your attention and which ones can be the responsibility of others.

Here’s a helpful framework. Consider outsourcing tasks that are:

• Commonly delegated, as there are entire industries created around helping small- and medium-sized businesses free up more of their time
• Cost-effective to outsource, as opposed to those that would cost heavily to delegate
• Simple for others to do

It’s easy to take for granted how well you know the ins-and-outs of your retail business, so be sure to create handbooks and process documents help external staff get acclimated your business and needs.

Here are a few outsourcing ideas to help you streamline your to-do list and stay focused on actually running your business.

1. Content marketing

Many businesses use content marketing to drive traffic and leads to their website and retail store, and content creation is an industry with an abundance of freelancers and companies ready to help you.

Each retail business has unique content needs. The majority of business content is writing, but you can also think about outsourcing photography, design, social media, and paid marketing when the need arises.

While content marketing can be an effective way to drive traffic, build thought leadership, and turn browsers into buyers, retailers often don’t have the time to dedicate to creating these kinds of assets. A seasoned freelancer or content marketer can create blogs, infographics, whitepapers, and other assets quickly and effectively.

2. IT and web development

It’s doubtful that you got into retail because of your passion for fixing point-of-sale systems or managing the backend of an ecommerce website. However, IT and ecommerce are an undeniable part of running a successful, omnichannel retail business. 

Retailers often choose to handle IT themselves because it typically involves small upkeep here and there. But what about when something goes wrong, needs to be scaled, or needs a major update—and affects your business or customers?

According to Retail Dive, “…as the digital transformation has taken hold over the last few years, a growing number of retailers are beginning to rethink the role of in-house IT. These teams have had to wrap their heads around how to effectively harness an endless stream of emerging technologies — and for many in-house IT teams, it’s become too much to handle.”

When something needs repair on your site, with your POS system, or with your support center, everything grinds to a halt until it’s fixed. Broken IT equipment costs you time, money, and potentially customers. The peace of mind and security of outsourcing your IT and web development needs takes away that stress and means that your business can grow without the fear of running up against the confines of your capabilities.

Because your POS and ecommerce hosting systems are such an important and confidential part of your retail business, look to bring in someone trustworthy to help, such as a Shopify-approved web developer. Alternatively, ask your network for references, look for reviews, and be sure to do your due diligence with background checks, proper contracts, and nondisclosure agreements (if necessary) for anyone you bring in.

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3. Warehousing and fulfillment

Have you been handling, packing, and shipping your own orders? Self-fulfillment can quickly become overwhelming. 

You might find yourself spending more time packing boxes and printing labels than working on marketing, sales, and other important parts of your business. This isn’t to mention all the space in your store or warehouse that you need to allocate for inventory and packing materials.

Outsourcing warehousing and fulfillment is an effective way to grow your ecommerce business without increasing the burden on you and your team. A good fulfillment partner will store your goods, quickly ship out orders as they come in, and even manage returns.

The benefits to your business extend beyond simply taking over the work. For example, Shopify Fulfillment Network, Shopify’s own third-party logistics service, offers two-day delivery across most of the US—a major factor in attracting new customers and getting them to come back. 

As a high-volume shipper, Shopify Fulfillment Network also gets preferred rates from major carriers like USPS and Canada Post. These are savings you can pass on to your customers, by offering them cheaper or even free delivery to increase your sales. 

We even manage the distribution of your inventory across our network of warehouses to ensure your goods are always close to your buyers. This further increases shipping speed while reducing costs. 

4. Admin tasks

Finally, outsourcing administrative tasks is a quick way for any retail business to free up resources and time. Virtual assistants are a huge help with all your day-to-day office needs, and finding the right virtual assistant is fairly simple with marketplaces like Upwork or Freelancer.com. 

Depending on your needs, a VA can help with emails, light marketing work (deploying email or social media campaigns), blog/website management, HR, managing payroll, and many other tasks.

For help with hourly tasks, including handing out product samples as brand ambassadors, and setting up and tearing down at conferences and events, check out online neighborhood boards like TaskRabbit.

How can outsourcing help your business?

Outsourcing is a great way for you to find the time and resources to focus on big-picture issues in your retail business, and hopefully also free up time for a healthy work-life balance. 

By hiring external experts, you can get back to what you love best: growing your retail business.

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