Did you know that you can automate many aspects of your online store, in order to save a lot of your precious time, and boost your sales? You don’t need to look any further! In this article I will give you a complete overview of automation in e-commerce… and much more. Take advantage of these advantages and take the performance of your online store to a new level. The future of your success is in your hands – automate to prosper!
Indeed, when you have an online store, be it a new project or an established eCommerce, we also have a huge amount of daily activities to carry out. There are small and large tasks, but each of them is essential to making the business successful.
Doing everything manually takes a lot of time and energy. It’s exhausting to do all the work manually! Believe me… we’ve been through this!!! And, it was because we went through this that we tried to use process automation and develop our knowledge in this area. It was the best we did!
Automation is a fantastic gift that technology gives us, and it helps us save a lot of time, money and maintain productivity.
This article has two parts! In both, we will address some benefits of automating your online store, including:
- In the 1st part, we will review some automation tools to use in your online store; and
- In the 2nd part, different ways to automate your business, through case studies and practical examples.
First, let’s look at why it’s really important to adopt automation in online commerce…
Automation in Electronic Commerce
Well, firstly… what is this about automation? Well, very briefly, automation is, essentially, the process of reducing human work, through different technological systems (software, processes, workflows, etc.).
And why is it essential to use automation? It’s easy to make mistakes when there’s a lot of work to be done. Right? Now… the adoption of automation allows us to carry out monotonous tasks much more efficiently, with minimal effort, and a very small margin of error (sometimes even zero). Obviously, the margin of error always depends on the efficiency of the workflow, and who implements the process. But once the flow is optimized, the work is carried out very efficiently.
Thus, the main objective of the automation process, whether in e-commerce or in any other field of activity, is to save time (which is the same thing as saving money).
The Advantages of Automation
Automating processes is also a way to overcome challenges, which is why it offers several advantages that help a business grow. For example, among some of these advantages, we can highlight:
1) Significant time savings – If we take the case of eCommerce as an example, managing an e-commerce business can be challenging. Especially when you are starting out, you need to perform several functions at the same time. Automation can save precious time, making work more efficient.
2) Reduces the chances of errors – Automation, through well-implemented processes, radically reduces the margin of common errors that can occur when performing repetitive tasks, ensuring precision and quality.
3) Increases employee satisfaction – Automation makes your employees’ work easier, making them much more efficient. This can help reduce stress levels and increase productivity.
4) Improves customer satisfaction – It’s not just your employees who will thank you! Automation can help make your processes faster and more efficient, resulting in happier customers with faster, more effective responses.
Software for eCommerce Automation
The central objective of automation, for example in e-commerce, is to help you easily achieve your goals. To achieve this, we can count on the help of several modern tools and technologies. Well, what are these tools?
Well… currently there are countless automation applications. Next, let’s check out some of these applications. All of them are well known and highly effective, particularly for e-commerce stores. Furthermore, quite importantly, they are all relatively easy to use.
1) ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is the right choice to automate your marketing and sales process. You can create more than 500 automations with workflows, ranging from receiving customers on your website to completing purchases. Main features:
- Automatic contact management
- Automatic lead nurturing
- Automatic sales tracking and tracking
- Website tracking
- Automatic sending of emails
- Pipeline automation
You can see all the available packages here, and you even have the option to customize your own packages.
2) Mailchimp
Mailchimp is widely used by companies to automate email marketing campaigns. Furthermore, it is a great platform to help you create and maintain a database of all your customers. Main features:
- Automatically sync customer data with MailChimp after purchase
- Email marketing automation including abandoned cart reminders, post-purchase follow-ups, and product recommendations
- Presenting performance data on the dashboard
- Automatic tracking and segmentation based on purchase history
Mailchimp offers a free version, but also offers paid versions with varying prices for different types of packages. Check it all out here!
3) Zendesk
Remember we said that automation is also important for improving customer satisfaction? That’s exactly what Zendesk does! It is an automation tool specially designed to provide high-quality customer support. Main features:
- Options available for live chat and messaging
- Ticketing options to answer customer questions and resolve customer issues
- Integrated voice solutions for complex situations
- Reply bot option available
You can check all available packages here!
4) Hubspot
Hubspot is a very popular choice! It is a complete solution that automates various marketing activities. From social media management, to sending emails, content creation, CRM, or any other important business activity, Hubspot can help you automate them all. Main features:
- Contact management
- Lead generation and management
- Pipeline management
- Email Marketing
- Tracking potential customers
The Hubspot starter pack is a bit expensive! However, if you’re on a tight budget, you can always use the free version (which also includes a WordPress plugin)!
In conclusion, automation is a great choice to boost your business in many ways. From automating marketing and customer support to efficiently managing contacts and leads, there are many tools that make operations more efficient, save time and, most importantly, contribute to customer satisfaction.
Consider your goals and budget when choosing the tool that best suits your business, and start reaping the benefits of a more efficient, customer-oriented approach to ecommerce. Oh, and don’t miss the 2nd part of this content, where I show you, through practical cases, how you can automate your online store!