Today’s web users have short attention spans and want to be able to access whatever they need quickly with minimal clicks. They want to be able to register for an event, renew a membership, make a donation, etc. all through an organization’s website. But to be able to accommodate them while capturing all the necessary information needed by the organization to compile metrics and other information, it’s imperative that they have the necessary web tools connected directly to their association management system (AMS). We’ve identified four pillars we believe will contribute to the success of an organization’s commerce:
- Unified Web Part Engine
- Unified Shopping Cart
- Just In Time Content
- Business Rules Engine
Unified Web Part Engine
An easy to use Unified Web Part Engine can work with almost any Content Management System (CMS). Web parts are smart and sit inside your existing CMS. They can be assembled together to create a commerce “path” that has the ability to display forms and capture/confirm information that can then be used to sell services, registrations, products, memberships, & renewals. Web parts can query the data by example and display results and be extended by administrators using simple JavaScript.
Unified Shopping Cart
Like the Unified Web Part Engine, the Unified Shopping Cart can also work with almost any CMS. It inherits its functionality from web parts and is specifically designed to sell events, sessions, memberships, donations and products. Shopping carts can be saved, edited and finally purchased making it easy for the user to complete all their desired transactions quickly and with minimal effort. For the organization, due to the “intelligence” of the unified shopping cart, it can “up sell” by suggesting other services, programs, etc. For example, it knows that Joan’s cost is $35 and that Bill needs to renew so renewal is at the top of every product list. The Unified Shopping Cart contains a wallet to make purchasing easy and/or automatic.
Just In Time Content
Content that is out of date or irrelevant to the person using the website will dissuade them from coming back. It’s important that the right content gets pushed out to the right person at the right time. Also imperative is that content is easily disseminated to any device – mobile and desktop as more and more people are using their mobile devices as their primary mode of web surfing and commerce.
Business Rules Engine
A successful website needs to be able to push complex processes to the internet. Along with Just In Time Content, the Business Rules Engine needs to have the right content pushed out at the right time to any device. Website users have a limited amount of memory on their devices and they need their automated content to be efficient and quick. Ensuring your organization utilizes a Business Rules Engine will allow for it to have versions, start and end dates as well as allowing the rules to be tested, exported and imported in a SDLC scenario.
The best way to utilize these pillars is in the context of a robust CRM solution (such as Altai’s) since a CRM is designed to adapt as the organization’s web needs grow and change. The other advantage to using a CRM for web parts is that any changes that need to be made can be done without custom code.
To learn more and receive commentary from Altai Partner, Mike Frye, regarding web parts, click web parts. If you’d like to learn more about CRM and what Altai can do to assist your organization, email our Director of Sales Operations, Gary Francart, at gfrancart@altaisystems.com.
If you are interested in learning how Altai can leverage the Cloud to help your organization digitally transform and enhance your mission, click the link below:
