What is eCommerce Automation?
Ecommerce automation involves leveraging software, technology, tools, and tools to optimize running your online store more effectively. This includes automating repetitive tasks and saving you and your team time. Here are some of the critical areas where eCommerce businesses implement automation:
- Inventory management
- Order processing
- Customer support
- Marketing campaigns
- Product data management
- Returns processing
- Analytics and reporting
Ultimately, as your business scales, so do your ambitions. However, business demands, complexity, and repetitive tasks build up. As a result, time-consuming fixes, not necessarily fit-for-purpose, become the norm. These tasks aren’t necessarily complex. But, when you add them up, you waste hours on them.
Instead, eCommerce automation works by setting up a series of triggers and corresponding actions. For example, when an item’s stock level falls below a certain threshold, a purchase will automatically be made and sent to the supplier. Or, you can integrate technology to generate automatic responses to common queries. This might involve sending automatically generated updates or sending a post-purchase follow-up email to a recent customer.
In the long run, eCommerce automation aims to create a more cohesive workflow capable of handling routine business activities at scale. As a result, you and your team can concentrate on more strategic initiatives. As you’re well aware, eCommerce is fast-paced and competitive. By leveraging automation, businesses can improve operational capabilities and enhance customer engagement, which is critical in the modernized digital economy.
1. Enhanced customer experience through automation
Your employees will thank you for making their working life a lot better. Your customers will, too!
Ecommerce automation technologies will significantly improve customer interaction with your online business, increasing satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Personalization
Leverage automated systems to analyze customer data, such as past purchases, browsing behavior, and preferences. Then, you can tailor the shopping experience to each individual.
Use this personalized data to provide customized product recommendations and targeted email marketing campaigns. This level of personalization makes customers feel valued and understood, leading to increased customer engagement. According to Forrester, 77% of consumers have recommended a brand that provides a personalized service. There’s no better reason to invest in eCommerce marketing automation!
Speed and convenience
This is the name of the game! Leverage automation to speed up aspects of the shopping experience. For instance, automated checkout processes, instant payment verifications, and address auto-filling streamline the purchasing process.
In addition, implementing AI-powered chatbots to answer general customer queries will help reduce wait times for customer support. Did you know, 69% of consumers prefer to use chatbots because they provide an instant response?
Ecommerce automation software to check out:
Each platform offers unique features, making them suitable for various aspects of automation. From marketing and sales to customer service and operations.
- Crownpeak (previously Attraqt)
- Klayvio (eCommerce email marketing automation)
- Zendesk
- Omnisend
- Advanced Commerce
2. Streamline product data management with PIM
As your commerce business grows and you expand your product range, so does the amount of product data. With a PIM, the process of managing product data becomes more efficient. A Product Information Management system saves you a ton of time, drastically accelerating your time to market.
Wave goodbye to spreadsheets
PIM systems provide you with a centralized repository for all product information. This includes product descriptions, specifications, pricing, and digital assets (images, videos, product data sheets, etc.). With a PIM system, you don’t have to rely on outdated and messy spreadsheets. With all your product data centralized, managing product data is much more streamlined.
By providing you with a central source of truth, you improve the accuracy of product data, ensuring everyone in your business has immediate access to up-to-date and reliable product data.
Enhanced collaboration with workflows
PIM systems like Pimberly provide workflows and data governance tools for management and collaboration. For instance, you can set up a workflow to notify the studio team if a product lacks product imagery. Or, you can use powerful data governance tools to standardize measurements or other technical details across your online store.
Customizable workflows allow you to tailor your product data to match the requirements of your online store. This way, you only launch a product with correct product information. And workflow rules ensure your product data is consistent across your online store and other sales channels.
Check out:
Each platform offers unique features, making them suitable for various aspects of automation. From marketing and sales to customer service and operations.
3. Increased Operational Efficiency
By leveraging eCommerce automation, you streamline the overall operation of your business. This includes faster, more accurate, and cost-effective day-to-day operations.
Faster Processing
Automation streamlines order processing, payment authorization, and shipping when leveraged correctly. In addition, automated systems handle tasks more effectively than manual processing, reducing the time from order placement to fulfillment.
Ecommerce Automation Example
Imagine you’re an eCommerce director for an ambitious fashion retailer. Your inventory changes fast, catering to a diverse customer base. You have high order volumes, which only increase during season sales and other promotional events. However, you do everything manually, and your team often gets overwhelmed.
Furthermore, you experience errors in order fulfillment and customer dissatisfaction. Updating inventory in real-time and ensuring accurate stock levels across various platforms is a severe operational hurdle.
Automated customer communication
Implementing automated order-processing systems and real-time inventory management reduces the time taken per order and enhances customer trust and satisfaction. For the fashion retailer, this means their system now updates stock levels in real-time, both on their website and across other sales (such as Amazon, eBay, and other marketplaces).
Customers receive an email with their order details and a tracking number upon order confirmation. In addition, the new system updates customers on their order status, from processing to delivery, enhancing transparency and customer trust. The good news is that plenty of eCommerce fulfillment automation will help take your business to the next level (see below).
Check out:
4. Streamlined Returns Processing and Enhanced Post-Purchase Support
The customer experience doesn’t just end with the purchase. The post-purchase experience—including the product returns process—is crucial to customer satisfaction. Nevertheless, streamlining the process through automation will significantly benefit any eCommerce business.
Improved Customer Satisfaction
A hassle-free returns process enhances the overall shopping experience. When returns are easy and user-friendly, they will shop more confidently and be less likely to be satisfied when they need to return a product.
By automating tasks like return label generation, refund processing, and restocking, you’ll be able to handle returns more quickly at a lower total cost. By leveraging an eCommerce marketing automation platform, your business can grow from strength to strength.
Post-Purchase Experience
Beyond the returns process, you can use automation to generate follow-up emails, gather feedback, and provide existing customers with personalized product recommendations for future purchases and loyalty management. This way, automation allows you to develop long-lasting relationships with potential customers, turning one-time buyers into strong brand advocates.
86% of shoppers are willing to pay more if they have a positive customer experience. So, in an era where customer experience is king, automation is necessary to enhance the customer experience. You’ll see customer satisfaction and operational efficiency go through the roof.
Check out:
5. Improved Scalability and Growth
You can scale and grow with fewer headaches by successfully leveraging automation technology. Your business can handle increased sales and customer traffic without compromising performance or customer experience.
Efficient Resource Management
Automation provides eCommerce businesses with the tools to optimize their resources. For example, you will be able to manage more orders and customer inquiries without a proportional increase in labor. You and your staff can focus on broader strategic goals and growth.
Enhanced Customer Experience at Scale
Maintaining a consistently high-quality customer experience takes time and effort as your business grows. Powerful automation ensures consistent customer engagement, whether you’re serving 100 customers or 10,000.
Global Expansion
Automation will allow for easier expansion into new geographical markets. For instance, multilingual customer service chatbots, automated currency conversions, and international shipping and tax compliance can all be managed more efficiently through automation tools.
Check out:
Key Points
To conclude, automation is a catalyst for growth and scalability. By leveraging automation to help with common pain points across your business, you lay the foundation for sustainable and exponential long-term growth.
- Embracing automation isn’t just staying up to date with the latest tech. Instead, eCommerce automation is necessary to grow your eCommerce business.
- Effective automation provides personalized, efficient, significantly improving the customer journey from browsing to post-purchase.
- Implementing PIM systems ensures accuracy and consistency in product data across all channels. In addition, PIM systems provide automation to allow you to expand your product range and accelerate your time-to-market.
- Businesses can focus on growth and innovation by automating routine tasks and reducing errors and operational costs.
- A smooth returns process coupled with effective post-purchase communication will foster customer loyalty, encouraging customers to shop with you again.
- Ultimately, eCommerce automation increases efficiency and equips businesses to scale at ease. Efficiently manage the increased volume of customer inquiries and orders and adapt to market changes to ensure sustained long-term growth.
- There are plenty of eCommerce automation tools on the market to check out. However, it’s important to walk before you run. To choose the best eCommerce automation software, identify where your business is struggling the most, and you’ll see results more quickly!
A super-quick run through of the key features of Pimberly’s key PIM, DAM and automation functionality.
"With Pimberly we are able to get rich data, right the first time."
JD Sports
