Opinion article signed by Felipe Sales, Business Manager at KCS iT, published in the December (386) issue of Hipersuper magazine and on its online platform.

Online consumption in the Portuguese market is higher than ever. The numbers prove it, and for obvious reasons, the need is pressing.

Companies were forced to rush into digital, and, due to haste or lack of strategic planning, not all these ventures are going well.

At the same speed, the number of complaints and dissatisfied customers with online purchases is increasing. And the reasons are many: delayed deliveries, unavailable products that were purchased, high shipping costs, lack of after-sales feedback, and, above all, online stores with below-par usability and a disastrous user experience, especially for new digital shoppers.

Simply adopting an e-commerce solution, especially for traditional companies, definitely does not amount to a digital transformation process.

As is widely acknowledged, digital transformation begins with a shift in a company's cultural paradigm and its processes, with people being a crucial point on this one-way path that can take several years to complete.

Free or even "in-house" e-commerce solutions can work, depending on the size of the company, if the entire logistics operation is prepared for it. From suppliers, order picking, packaging, invoicing, and shipping - everything depends on the physical setup and on processes that are aligned and tested under the greatest possible stress. Yet even the most complex and expensive e-commerce solutions on the market cannot guarantee the success of this undertaking unless every area of the company is ready for it.

Staying out of this movement can lead a company to collapse, but facing this challenge without understanding the obstacles and the willingness to overcome them can be even more disastrous and bring major financial losses and damage to the company's image.

Before starting the search for the solution best suited to the business, you need to look inward and assess the maturity of your processes and make sure they fit the dynamics of digital.

Last, but not least, digital marketing is one of the main pillars for the success of an online store; you need to define and know your target audience. You have to attract them in the best way and develop a content creation strategy that increases customers' affinity with the brand and, consequently, online consumption.

Back to my original question: is e-commerce at any cost really worth it?