Every retailer works on many small tasks that can be automated and are sheer waste of time if done on an individual level. eCommerce automation gives retailers the time to do much more with extra time. It unleashes the teams you’re investing in and lets them work on better things.
Every business leader should know the difference between busy work and productive work. The latter lets the employees focus on producing profits for the company and are also more satisfying.
And to be honest, most workers would prefer to do productive work rather than doing meaningless busywork. Business Process Automation (BPA) is how companies transfer busy work to machines and empower the employees to focus on problem-solving and other essential tasks.
BPA is software that also includes mechanical technologies such as robotics. This can be a standalone software package or it can be integrated with other softwares as part of the features. The goal is to complete the manual and repetitive processes with minimal to no human intervention.
It is often a subset of Business Process Management (BPM) suites, which can be a component of infrastructure management.
Why Automate Business Processes?
All businesses want to do more with less workforce. BPA makes it possible to perform more and more work with few people and free up the time for people to create new products, become more innovative, and generate profits.
BPA also adds money and time-saving efficiencies, decrease human errors, and leverages company resources and assets.
What Is eCommerce Automation?
eCommerce automation is software that enables retailers or online sellers to convert tasks, processes, campaigns within the business to get what they exactly need. It’s how companies can do more than what they are currently doing.
Every business faces hurdles in scaling up as it demands and becomes more and more complex. Systems that used to work become increasingly inefficient and break down. In response, companies turn to time-consuming workarounds—time that could be spent on what’s essential is sacrificed for time spent on what’s urgent, even when that’s just pushing buttons.
Examples of eCommerce Automation
eCommerce automation enables host form tagging customers for segmentation and marketing, standardizing visual merchandising, streamlining tracking and reporting, and halting high-risk orders. The end goal is to simplify tasks –
Below are some examples of reduced manual tasks:
- Fulfillment– When a product is ready in the warehouse, send an email or SMS to the customer.
- Inventory levels- Unpublish out-of-stock products and send a Slack message or email to your marketing team so they can pause advertising.
- Best sellers- Re-add out-of-stock products to the online store when they’re back in stock.
- Customer loyalty– Automatically tag high-value customers for segmentation and notify customer service to send a personalized thank you message or apply discounts or specialized shipping rules to customers with email addresses or tags like “Loyalty Member.”
- High-risk orders- Instantly flag and notify internal security teams of high-risk orders, like if a bot quickly buys out all of your stock.
- Manage donations- Keep track of dollars donated via Slack and a spreadsheet
- Order tagging- Tag restricted shipping zones and hold payment from customers trying to ship to those locations. Alert staff to offer customers store credit to spend on their next purchase or a refund.
- Customer preferences- Show and hide payment options relative to customer criteria like order history, location, and device.
- Channel preference- Identify, tag, and segment customers who buy from specific sales channels, such as Amazon, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.
- Scheduled Sales- Price changes and promotions for predetermined periods.
- Discounts- Adjust prices at checkout based on product combinations, quantity, or customer location.
- Scheduled Product Releases- Preload new products and publish them simultaneously to your store, social media, apps, and sales channels. Rollout and rollback entire theme changes for seasonal promotions or product drops.
How Can You Automate Your eCommerce operations?
Shiprocket Engage is an Automated WhatsApp Communication Suite For eCommerce Businesses. It is a seamless post-purchase communication suite that is powered by AI-backed Whatsapp automation. Your business can reduce RTO losses and increase profits for your eCommerce business.
Reduce RTO Losses Upto 45% With Shiprocket
Take advantage of a comprehensive automation suite to take control of your orders and cut RTO losses by up to 45%. Automate manual tasks of order and address confirmation via WhatsApp to avoid non-delivery of orders.
Automated Order Confirmation: Indulge in a faster and seamless order confirmation by opting for WhatsApp-driven buyer communication. Capture order cancellations before shipping and minimize RTO losses.
Automated Address Verification & Updation: Uncover the power of an AI-backed engine that triggers an automated address verification and updation message to your buyers on WhatsApp.
Smooth COD to Prepaid Conversion: Convert cash on delivery orders to prepaid by incentivizing your buyers using customized offers on WhatsApp. Prepaid orders decrease the chances of non-delivery, and RTO, thus improving the business’s cash flow.
Flawless NDR Redressal: Capture buyer’s delivery time preferences on WhatsApp post each failed delivery attempt.
Frequently Asked Questions(FAQs)
eCommerce automation is a specialised form of BPA. Business Process Automation uses technology and logic to make repetitive and time-consuming tasks efficient and productive. eCommerce automation takes care of inventory management, order fulfillment, security, accounting, customer segmentation, and several more, making them efficient, error-free processes.
By applying eCommerce automation to inventory, shipping, and product movement operations managers have better visibility of activities at every stage. For example, it helps them to automatically tag products and send alerts to suppliers for reorders.
eCommerce automation offers significant support to marketing and advertising departments by enhancing various processes. These include immediate notifications to marketing teams about new product additions, seamless forwarding of product details, streamlined preparation of advertising campaigns, and more.
