40 Ways to Automate Your eCommerce Business

In the USA alone, more than 2,5 Million businesses are selling their products online. How to effectively compete and increase profits in such a?saturated market?

In a competitive market environment, customer expectations are becoming more and more exorbitant over time. This is where?two challenges?arise.

• How do we deliver a customer experience that sets us apart from the competition?
• How to reduce the cost of doing business?

Interestingly, both challenges can be addressed in one strike.

That’s right: you can deliver more value to your customers while lowering your costs!

That solution is eCommerce automation. However, we are not talking strictly about marketing automation but about automating the processes that drive the entire business.

The global eCommerce market is already there:

• 76% of companies say they use automation?(HubSpot, 2021)
• By 2024, organizations?will reduce operating costs by 30%?by combining automation with process optimization?(Gartner, 2020)
• The pandemic?has accelerated the implementation of process automation and AI?in 67% of enterprises?(McKinsey, 2020)
• On average, managers spend?62% of their day on tedious and repetitive tasks?that automation can do for them?(Asana, 2022)
• 40% of small and medium-sized online retailers are automating order placements, 34% are marketing and sales, and 31% are accounting and payment processes?(Automate, 2021)
• 72% of successful companies?use online marketing and sales automation?(Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 2021)
• Sales process automation becomes?the most critical trend in B2B e-commerce?(Chamber of Digital Economy, 2022)

Hyperutomation has evolved from an option to a necessity for survival. - Fabrizio Biscotti, Gartner

What is eCommerce automation?

When you hear about performing tasks in autopilot mode, it can bring various associations to mind. You may first think of robots in factories or Tesla warehouses. However, today’s automation capabilities are much easier to adapt, and you can use them in your online store too.

For starters, here is a brief definition:

eCommerce automation?is the transformation of most or all repetitive human work, into self-executing processes and tasks using automation tools and programs.

This can save you hundreds of manhours a year, which you can devote to more engaging tasks that require creativity or strategic thinking. The potential of automation is best captured in the table below.

What does online store automation provide?

Most of the repetitive tasks and processes running in an online store can be automated, this automation?can be?expanded, and different systems?can?be linked together. You can create a business that primarily runs on autopilot.

This way, you can save time and money?by eliminating the need to manually manage your store and increase the productivity of your team. However, there are many more benefits of automation.

Key benefits include:

This can be achieved without the cost of developers and complex implementations. This is possible thanks to the low-code tools we use at Automation House.

At Automation House, we take automation to a whole new level

We use contemporary, lightweight, and fun tools?that increase the efficiency of teams and entire businesses so that you and your employees have more time to attend to what really matters.

Even if this is your first contact with automation and you are not a technical person, Automation House will bring real value to your work and automate your business for fair money in just a few steps.

1. You schedule a free Discovery Call with our Automation Heroes.
2. At the meeting, we look for processes, the automation of which will give you the most value.
3. We suggest how to improve existing processes and give you some automation options.
4. You select those areas which you want to automate the most.
5. Automation Heroes go into action, and your first automation is created within 1-2 weeks (depending on the scale of the project).

So, what do we automate?

The list of potential areas for automation is long, and we probably haven’t fully exhausted the topic (if you have ideas about what else can be given to digital robots – be sure to let us know!).

To make it easier for you to review your store’s processes,?we’ve created a checklist of 40 sample automation to?keep you in complete control of automating your eCommerce business.?You can find the file at?this link . You will find detailed descriptions of each scenario included in the checklist later in this article.

If the checklist is already in front of you, it’s time to get down to specifics.

1. Behavior-based segmentation of buyers

If you have the slightest interest in marketing, you already know that it is the customer that matters the most. Does understanding his needs, concerns, and behaviors? Modern tools can automate getting to know the customer at various points of contact – platforms, and channels. This way, you can get a complete picture of who the people interested in your product are.

Okay, you already know everything about your customers. Where’s the value in that and how do you use it?

It will sound like sci-fi, but good segmentation makes it possible, for example, to create personalized versions of your emails, websites, online stores, and even ads displayed to a specific person- only the messages and content that resonate best with them, improving the buying experience and increasing the chances of a sale. You can watch your customer’s path in real-time and optimize communications in real-time, bringing potential customers closer to purchase.

When analyzed and used, the data can strengthen every element of your marketing and sales. From social media posts and customer conversations to improving products and services and closing sales.

2. Personalized email marketing

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to reach, educate and sell. If you haven’t used it yet, you absolutely must start doing so. If the potential of email marketing is already known to you, we will help you take it to the next level.

Personalized welcome emails, promotion reminders, anniversary gifts on the anniversary of the first purchase, and automated product campaigns- these are just some of the ideas we can implement in your eCommerce store.

Personalization can be done in various ways. We can assign a specific tag to each person on your mailing list due to segments or actions performed on the web. Think about how your customer would feel if, after visiting an article on your blog, a tailored message was automatically sent to them asking how they liked the article they had read. Few stores use these tactics, so it’s a unique way to surprise the customer and establish a deeper relationship with customers, as well as an opportunity to gain valuable consumer insights.

3. Updating nonstandard audience groups and segments in advertising systems

Creating groups of nonstandard audiences allows your remarketing campaign to reach people who have already interacted with your brand. You can also create groups of similar audiences, i.e., based on your customer base.

With the help of automation, groups can update automatically without manually downloading and uploading the store’s customer lists.

4. Reporting the results of advertising campaigns

How often have you had to remind a freelancer or agency to send advertising results for the previous month? If you can access advertising accounts where campaigns are run, this activity should also be automated.

By doing so, you will save yourself the frustration and save your specialists the work time they would have spent preparing reports. You can go straight to analyzing the results, drawing conclusions, and making improvements. The benefit is on both sides.

5. Graphics and banners creation

Conceptual work on the graphic aspects of advertising campaigns is usually great fun. It’s an entirely different experience when you need to implement dozens of graphic formats, each looking the same. It doesn’t seem like a challenge, but it takes a lot of time, and even the slightest mistake can cost you massive frustration. Fortunately, you can also delegate graphics to robots.

6. Managing publication of content on social media

While talking about graphics, it is also worth mentioning the publication of content. We can automate the process to such an extent that once you complete the table with text and graphics (which can also be uploaded automatically from the previous example), the content will automatically be uploaded for publication on all your social profiles.

You’re probably already using tools like Buffer, Sprout Social, Agorapulse, or Content Studio. However, managing your publication with a table gives you much more flexibility and opportunities to expand your automation, as shown in the following examples.

7. Generate landing pages based on information about new products/campaigns

Let’s take the next step. Imagine that your landing pages are also created on autopilot. All you need to do is add text and graphics to the dashboard you created earlier and with a few clicks, your new page is ready for your upcoming campaign.

8. Creating marketing campaigns, e.g., for Black Friday or a new product launch

The best season of the year is ahead of you. You already know what your customers need, whom to reach, and with what message. You have automated the creation of graphics and the publishing of social media posts, and the landing page is ready to hold the crowds of customers waiting for your new product or promotion in awe. What can you do to take that automation to an even higher level?

Automate the creation of the entire campaign. We mean it.

Sometimes all it takes is a minor change to ready materials to create and send emails (on autopilot), chatbots, blog articles, 1:1 communication with potential customers, content distribution to Facebook groups, and much more.

9. Gathering feedback from customers

You’ve already had a successful campaign. However, your appetite grows as you eat.

Another element to use in a campaign on autopilot is to collect feedback from enthusiastic people about your product. Regardless of where the most precious customer feedback is, there is no need to do it manually.

A great tactic is to promise rewards to customers for giving feedback. We’ve been known to do this quite well, as one of our clients has achieved over 80% success rate this way. All it takes is the right incentive. It’s an excellent investment to strengthen your social proof, and new customers will be more likely to trust you.

10. Automatically rewarding the best customers

Another option provided by automation is the ability to score your audience based on their buying behavior and the actions they take in your marketing channels. This way you will increase their loyalty and commitment to your brand. It doesn’t always have to be material rewards or discount codes. Remember to be creative.

11. Reminding the customer to buy the product again

Automation will be beneficial for those trading in FMCG products and in those products that wear out quickly. If you have enough data, you can predict after what time a customer may need their favorite product again and send that person a reminder.

12. Generation of one-time discount codes

The one-time discount code has several noteworthy advantages.

• First, the code with a special discount can be used only once.
• Second, the code can be made personal by using the buyer’s name, for example.
• Third, the discount code prepared in this way, combined with email marketing, becomes a vital marketing tool for building customer relationships.

With automation, you can generate hundreds of such codes in the blink of an eye and immediately send them to customers in a personalized email, boosting sales.

13. Generation and sending e-mails with information on product availability

If one of your products is sold out and you don’t currently have it in stock, it might be a good idea to collect a list of people interested in the product. When that product is available again, automation will automatically generate a message and send that information to eager customers.

14. Rescuing lost baskets

It was so close, yet so far away. Fortunately, we have a way to save your sales. With the help of the exemplary automation scenario, you can remind the customer about the products left in the basket. This can be done in many ways – through email marketing, SMS, pop-up notifications, and remarketing in ad systems such as Google and Meta Ads.

15. Scraping data from a competitor’s store

Monitoring competitors is the everyday life of eCommerce. Information such as prices, assortment, news, and promotions can be crucial in creating an online store’s strategy and determining its position in the online jungle. Collecting and analyzing this information manually can be mundane or impossible. Fortunately, the web scraping process can also be automated.

16. Transaction emails

You’ll probably agree that once you’ve paid for your order, there’s nothing worse than not knowing its status. It may seem obvious, but in many smaller online stores, this process is still inefficient and is limited to confirming the transaction only.

In the email confirming the transaction, it is also worth taking care of such elements as:

• Thanking for placing the order.
• Summary of purchased products with price and key information.
• Link to shipment tracking.
• Responsive messaging so that it displays well on different screens.
• Delivery details.

However, there are many more types of transactional emails, and it’s worth looking at them through the lens of building customer relationships. Design them in a creative way, characteristic of the store’s brand. This category includes, but is not limited to, invoice emails, newsletter subscription confirmations, welcome emails, reactivation emails, password reminders, information on abandoned shopping carts, and others triggered by customer action.

17. Information about the status of the order and shipment sent by text message to the customer

The scenario is similar to the example with transactional emails. However, in this automation, we send the message through an SMS gateway.

18. Ticket notifications in a messenger e.g., Slack, Discord

Nearly 60% of customers consider long wait times for a consultant to be the most frustrating part of customer service. Take advantage of this fact and respond quickly to your customer’s questions and needs so that they have the best possible experience with your store. Notifying your customer service team of the instant messaging services you use daily can help.

19. Generation of the shipping list

Employ digital robots to generate shipping lists and courier labels flawlessly.

20. Printing of shipping list

This is no magic just a viable extension of previous automation that we can help you implement in your online store.

21. Tracking shipments in the dashboard

If switching between tracking tools and dashboards is a hassle for you, we can combine them into one, giving you quick access to crucial information on orders and shipments.

22. Conditional ordering of courier, e.g., after reaching a certain number of orders or on selected days of the week

Automation can also eliminate the time you spend ordering courier services. It will do it only when you need it, for example, when you reach a certain number of orders or on selected days of the week. All to ensure that your shipments arrive on time.

23. Refresh inventory and offers

Updating the number of available items, prices, shipping times, product descriptions, images, and other important information in listings can be tiresome. Especially if you have many products sold in multiple stores or sales platforms. Automation can also be your solution. You will manage everything from a single, user-friendly dashboard, and the whole operation will take just a few minutes.

24. Adding/withdrawing products in the online store based on stock levels

Another example of automation is temporally withdrawing products when the number of items drops to zero. When these products reappear in your inventory, you can add them again.

25. Automatic delegation of tasks

When you want to delegate a task to an employee or organize your work, you can assign tasks on autopilot. A specific trigger is needed here. Imagine you are launching a new product. After completing a simple form, the tasks with descriptions and relevant files will be automatically assigned to the appropriate people and subcontractors in the task manager.

26. Flagging high-value orders

Have you ever had a situation where a “customer” bought out your entire assortment and you had nothing to sell? Ultimately, it turned out to be a dishonest competitor who wanted to direct your customers to his store.

Thanks to automation, you will identify the problem in time, reacting even before the payment is received. The order will be canceled, and the relevant people in the company will be informed of the fact. Your real customers will be able to continue buying the desired products, and you will save yourself losses and frustration. WIN-WIN situation.

27. Product management in-store and ordering of batches running low

Thanks to automation, you will never again forget to order products for your store.

How is this possible? The automated system independently determines the demand for a given product. It is based on the stock, which, reaching the designated value, automatically generates an order with the supplier. The system works based on designated rules, which, for example, allow you to send such a message when several products are out of stock. Thanks to automation, you will avoid constantly contacting the contractor and arranging further deliveries. Your store will do this on autopilot.

28. Automatic issuance of invoices and receipts

Mechanical clicking of Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V being one of your nightmares? Instead of manually issuing invoices and receipts, you can have it automated. The data for the documents will download automatically from your database, and the invoices and receipts will be saved in the place of your choice.

29. Sending an invoice to a customer

One of the most straightforward automation. Once you create an invoice, the document can be automatically sent to your customer.

30. Save issued and received invoices in a selected folder

One of those tasks you probably don’t like and spend dozens of minutes a month on. Digital robots can collect all your invoices and save them in a folder of your choice, such as Google Drive.

31. Sending invoices from a given month to an accountant

It seems like nothing, but it is essential to remember to do it. Once all your invoices have been flawlessly issued, sent, and collated, something else is missing. It’s time to send them to your accountant. You don’t have to do this manually either.

32. Recording transaction information in a spreadsheet

On autopilot, you can also create a spreadsheet to organize and summarize data on transactions from various sources.

33. Create dashboards with critical indicators for the business

You no longer have to click through tables to understand what’s going on in your business. All of your key metrics can be tied together in a single, visually friendly dashboard. With adequately designed data architecture and automation, you can access this data in real time. In this way, you gain priceless information for creating strategy and growth plans for the years to come.

34. Reminder of payment deadlines

I think your reputation may depend on whether you pay your obligations on time. Based on the information from your expense invoices, you can always create notifications to pay them on time. This will build trust with your contractors because the receivables will always be paid on time.

35. Graphs with financial data updated in real-time

Thanks to automatic data visualization, you can not only have an up-to-date view of the financial health of your business but also quickly assess which products and sales channels are generating the most profit and which may not be worth investing in or need improvement.

36. Collection and analysis of costs/revenues in a friendly dashboard

There is nothing worse than manually collecting information on income and expenses. Of course, such statements can be prepared for you by your accountant, but they usually do it the following month, when it may be too late to react.

37. Cash flow calculation

Can you imagine a situation where at any time, day or night, you can see how much money you currently have in your business? Gathering information from all sources could take ages, and you don’t have that much time to do it anyway. With automation, you get a constant view of your cash flow, no matter how many stores or marketplaces you operate. By connecting the systems, results are generated without participation, giving you a complete picture of cash – all its inflows and outflows in your business.

38. Generating, signing, and archiving contracts with contractors and employees

Smooth and hassle-free contract management sounds like a dream. And yet, it is a reality of automation. Using particular forms and contract templates, we can design the entire process on autopilot. The contract will generate itself automatically, taking data from the form. Then, without your participation, it will be sent for signature by authorized persons to be saved in this form in your archive.

Moreover, your digital robots will remind you when your contract expires. This will give you time to sign a new one, giving you time to evaluate your cooperation, negotiate terms and conditions and possibly sign a new contract.

Is automatic contract generation something very complicated?

Nothing could be further from the truth. You can find out for yourself right now.

Step 1. Access the file with our?contract generation demo

Step 2. You will notice that the file consists of three tables:

• Contract templates – here you can preview the contract template.
• Customers – a structured customer database with the most essential information.
• Customer contracts – a table that is used to generate contracts.

Step 3. Go to the last tab and click the orange “Generate Contract” button.

Step 4. Done!

As you can see, the contract was generated in just a few seconds. Your data is organized in clear tables, and the whole process happens with minimal human intervention.

39. Notifications on your phone about important events in the online store

With this type of automation, you’re always up to date. Notifications can exceed the information on new orders. Site monitoring messages are of particular value. If something terrible happens in your store, the automatic monitoring system will catch the event and immediately send information about it to your phone.

40. Making appointments

You may be surprised to learn that making appointments can also be automated. Zencal will help you with this, in which it is your caller who chooses a convenient appointment from among those available in your calendar. The application has many additional options, such as integration with payment systems, accounting systems, or CRM.

It’s worth using it, as it can save you a lot of time you normally have to spend going through messages with meeting proposals. This automation is straightforward, and you can set it up by yourself. Just create and configure your account at?Zencal .

Is this the right time to hire digital robots?

Each of the above-mentioned automation offers several benefits, creating further competitive advantages for your business. There’s a good chance that at Automation House we can set up similar automation scenarios for your online store as well. In each of them, you retain complete control. You can decide when you want the automation to run or activate it manually with a single click.

If you have doubts or questions, schedule a free consultation by filling out the form on our?Automation House ?page.

You are not risking anything, so I guess there is nothing to wait for?