The Smartest Checklists to Manage Your Online Store
We make lists for everything – from weekly lists for groceries to annual wish lists for birthdays. These checklists help us stay organized and leave nothing out. This is why we created the smartest checklists to manage your online store. We’ve compiled a list of tasks that are truly important for running an online business then divided them by how frequently they should be completed. These downloadable lists will help prioritize your daily activities to effectively run your online business.
These checklists are broken down by frequency – daily, weekly, and monthly. We then went a step further by organizing the lists by business function. They are listed in order of importance below:
• Operations (keep your online store running)
• Customer Service (addresses any problems / issues from customers)
• User Experience (UX) (update your site to be more user friendly)
• Collect Data (actively gather information)
• Plan (schedule for upcoming events)
• Analyze (draw conclusions from the data you've collected)
The PrestaShop Smart Daily Checklist:
The daily checklist should be completed... well every day. They should also be completed in the order listed below. Although collecting data ranks lower in importance than operations and customer service, these tasks are relatively easy to complete. Get to them first thing in the morning, or you probably won’t get to them later.
| √ Read Industry-Related News | COLLECT DATA |
| √ Read News About Your Online Store | COLLECT DATA |
| √ Jot Down Any Ideas / Problems With Site | COLLECT DATA |
| √ Manage Logistics (Fulfill, Process, Package, and Ship Orders) | OPERATIONS |
| √ Read And Reply To Customer Service Emails | CUSTOMER SERVICE |
| √ Participate / Post Content on Social Media | CUSTOMER SERVICE |
| √ Read / Address Customer Comments (on Social Media) | CUSTOMER SERVICE |
The PrestaShop Smart Weekly Checklist:
The weekly checklist should be completed on the day you experience the slowest sales. If you operate from Monday – Friday, aim for any day midweek. This way, you allow yourself plenty of time that day to complete both the weekly and daily checklists.
| √ Fulfill Orders From Other Marketplaces | OPERATIONS |
| √ Track Your Shipments | OPERATIONS |
| √ Process Returns / Exchanges | OPERATIONS |
| √ (If Multi-currency) Update Exchange Rates | OPERATIONS |
| √ Restock / Reorder Inventory & Supplies | OPERATIONS |
| √ Balance Books / Accounting Tasks (Trust me, don’t put it off) | OPERATIONS |
| √ Follow Up with Referrals | CUSTOMER SERVICE |
| √ Test Checkout Process (All Payment Processors) | UX |
| √ Test Product Filters (Should Produce Accurate Results) | UX |
| √ Test All Links (No 404 Error Pages) | UX |
| √ Test Search to Improve Intelligent Search | UX |
| √ Test Responsiveness on Mobile Devices | UX |
| √ Test Ecommerce Store on All Browsers | UX |
| √ Test Each Product Category (Should Have Products) | UX |
| √ Review Sales | ANALYZE |
| √ Review your Marketing / Sales Initiatives | ANALYZE |
The PrestaShop Smart Monthly Checklist:
The monthly checklist should not be completed on a specific day but instead distributed throughout the month. When distributing tasks, group them by function – this way you’re completing similar tasks. The most important function on the monthly checklist is planning. Also important this month is analyzing sales data – which helps you plan.
| √ Plan Upcoming Sales (include Important Shopping Dates) | PLAN |
| √ Plan Advertising / Marketing (for month) | PLAN |
| √ Outline Social Media Posts (for month) | PLAN |
| √ Review Sales | ANALYZE |
| √ Define Best Sellers | ANALYZE |
| √ Define Poor Sellers | ANALYZE |
| √ Forecast Sales | ANALYZE |
| √ Note Top Customers | ANALYZE |
| √ Update Newsletter Subscription Email List | OPERATIONS |
| √ Check Competitor Pricing | COLLECT DATA |
| √ Subscribe to More Competitor Emails | COLLECT DATA |
| √ Ask for Feedback on your Site | COLLECT DATA |
| √ Test your Site Speed | UX |
| √ Ensure Each Page has a Clear Call to Action (Add to Bag) | UX |
| √ Test Email Subscription Banner | UX |
| √ Update Banners to feature Current Sales | UX |
Download and print the daily, weekly and monthly checklists to start organizing your ecommerce schedule! Share other tactics that help you organize your schedule in the comments below. Also let us know of any important tasks we may have missed.
_________________
Not an online merchant yet? Demo PrestaShop to get a feel for the best shopping cart software or Download the best ecommerce software and start selling today!
