According to research conducted by IBM, 61% of businesses are already using automation and tools and 19% are planning to join them next year. This means that almost 80% of businesses will be leveraging automation by 2023. Even small to midsize businesses have started automating their email and social media marketing campaigns.
One of the primary reasons behind the rapid adoption of automation in e-commerce is that it can slash your business expenses and improve your business productivity. Not only that, but it can also help your e-commerce business generate more sales and increase your revenue.
Interested in learning more about e-commerce automation? You are at the right place. In this article, you will learn about how eCommerce automation can help your business grow.
What is E-Commerce Automation?
As the name suggests, e-commerce automation is about automating different business functions and processes of your e-commerce business to boost business efficiency.
Examples and Use Cases For E-commerce Automation
Let’s say, a visitor visits your e-commerce website and searches for a product. After finding the product they are looking for, they add it to their cart but do not complete the purchase. You can take advantage of e-commerce automation to send them automatic emails reminding them about completing the purchase.
Another use case of e-commerce automation could be the use of a chatbot for customer support and answering user questions. You can use a chatbot to answer user questions during odd hours when your customer support team is not present.
E-commerce businesses can also leverage e-commerce automation to personalize the shopper experience by offering them relevant product suggestions and recommendations. Moreover, they can also take things to the next level by offering them custom pricing, offers and discounts based on the customer.
Advantages of E-commerce Automation
E-commerce automation has many advantages. Some of them are:
- Saves time and money
- Increase employee engagement and satisfaction
- Boost overall business productivity and efficiency
- Enhances customer satisfaction
- Deliver a personalized shopping experience
- Ability to run hyper-targeted marketing campaigns
E-commerce Challenges
Just like every other technology, e-commerce automation also has its challenges.
- Inventory management
- Customer loyalty
- Order handling
- Marketing
How E-Commerce Automation Can Help Your Online Business Grow?
Here are some of the ways in which e-commerce can help you get over all the obstacles and guide your business on the path to success.
Streamlining Inventory Management
The best way to resolve all your inventory management issues is to automate your inventory management process. That is where eCommerce automation can come into play. Most e-commerce businesses use multiple systems servers to manage their operations.
It could be a warehouse management system, procurement management system, enterprise resource planning system, customer relationship management system and your eCommerce platform. When you integrate all these systems, you can get a unified view of your inventory in real-time. This makes inventory management more convenient as you clearly know how many products are left in your inventory and when you should place an order for procurement.
Improves Customer Satisfaction and Builds Customer Loyalty
E-commerce automation can help you deliver a more personalized shopping experience by offering relevant product recommendations and offers to the right customer at the right time. This sends a clear message to customers that your business not only knows about their preferences but also cares about them.
This will automatically improve customer satisfaction. When your business consistently delivers an amazing shopping experience to your customers, it will boost your customer loyalty. This will turn them into brand advocates as they will spread the word by sharing their positive experiences with your brands with their friends and family members.
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Smart Order Management
Order fulfilment is an integral part of any eCommerce business. In fact, it could make or break your e-commerce business. The credibility of your online store and the future growth prospect of your e-commerce stores depends heavily on how quickly you are fulfilling the orders you are receiving. If your customers are not receiving their orders on time due to any reason, this will make them think twice before ordering from your store in the future.
If your online store is receiving hundreds and thousands of orders every day, it will be difficult to fulfil them manually. It is better to use automated delivery software to manage orders efficiently. This will also minimize the risk of shipping the wrong order to customers.
With an order management system at your disposal, you can also track orders in real-time. If the order has not been shipped to customers, you can expedite the delivery process by contacting the concerned authority to prevent delays. This is equally important if you are offering same-day delivery or next-day delivery.
Targeting and Segmentation
E-commerce automation gives you access to actionable insights about customer behaviour and preferences. You can use this data to break down your customer base into smaller segments and then target those segments with relevant and personalized messaging and offers.
Businesses can also track how users are interacting with their websites and what products they are buying the most. More importantly, you can retarget customers who exit your eCommerce website without making a purchase with highly targeted marketing campaigns.
With useful customer data at your disposal, you can easily convert website visitors into paying customers. You can also go at a deeper level and improve every interaction your prospects have with your brand and every touch point they go through. This will increase your chances of generating more sales via your e-commerce store.
You can also schedule and automate your email marketing campaigns so the right buyers get the right email at the right time. For instance, if a buyer has not completed the checkout process and left mid-way in the process, you can send them emails reminding them about the incomplete action. Add in a voucher or discount code to persuade them to take the desired action.
Have you implemented automation in eCommerce? If yes, how did it impact your business?
