Ecommerce automation: Advantages and how to get started

In the ever-evolving world of ecommerce, automation has transitioned from being a bonus to a necessity. This blog post aims to rise above the buzzwords and demystify the real-world dynamics of ecommerce automation. 

We will break down its core principles and expound on its numerous advantages, ranging from increased efficiency and cost reduction to improved customer service.

So, buckle up as we embark on this insightful journey into the world of ecommerce automation.

• Ecommerce automation employs software to automatically perform routine business tasks, like sorting orders and tracking inventory, streamlining mundane processes and reducing manual labor.

• Automation in ecommerce increases efficiency, reduces costs, and improves customer service by automating tasks like inventory management, order fulfillment, and customer updates.

• When implementing automation, start with simple tasks, define clear objectives, select suitable tools, regularly assess and improve the process, and train your team to adapt to new systems.

• Key tools for ecommerce automation include chatbots, email marketing automation tools, inventory management systems, CRM tools, and supply chain management tools, among others.

• Brands like ASOS and Amazon demonstrate how automation enhances operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Ecommerce automation is the process where routine business tasks in an ecommerce business are carried out automatically by leveraging software. This could be anything from sorting new orders and keeping track of inventory to even sending out personalized email campaigns to your customers. It's effectively a set of ecommerce automation tools designed to streamline repetitive tasks and processes while eliminating manual involvement as much as possible. 

Automation is like having an extra pair of hands that never get tired and work round the clock. Any repetitive process or task that follows a specific set of rules can be automated. For instance, an email reminding a customer about items left in their shopping cart or an inventory management system alerting you when stock levels are low are examples of tasks that can be performed by an automation system. 

How ecommerce automation works

Now, at this point, you might be wondering: How does this all come together? Let's consider one of the most critical aspects of the ecommerce model - the process of order fulfillment.

Typically, order fulfillment involves multiple steps: receiving orders, processing, picking, packaging, and finally shipping the products to the customer. For most businesses, this process is time-consuming and prone to errors, especially when handled manually. This is where automation steps in. 

In an automated order fulfillment process, as soon as a customer places an order via your ecommerce platform, the details are automatically fed into the fulfillment system. The system then directs warehouse staff to the exact location of the ordered items, hastening the picking process. The details of the package including content, recipient, and shipping address are automatically printed on the shipping label, eliminating human error.

The system even compares shipping rates among different carriers, choosing the most cost-effective and efficient option. Finally, the customer is automatically notified that their order is on its way with a tracking number. This seamless mechanism greatly enhances the overallcustomer experience and operational efficiency.

Unleashing the power of automation could be a game-changer for your ecommerce business. Let's see how this tech-forward approach can transform your operations and deliver value to customers.

1. Enhanced efficiency

Automation accelerates business operations while reducing manual efforts. Imagine running an ecommerce store that processes hundreds of orders daily. If you rely on manual labor, the tasks involved—inventory management, order fulfillment, customer service, shipping, and returns—can quickly snowball into a logistical nightmare. Automation software can perform these tasks faster and more accurately, even during your off-hours.

2. Cost reduction

Automation essentially cuts out the middleman in your operations, making it a cost-effective solution. With automated systems, you can minimize factors like employee wages, manual errors, and wasted time. This increased accuracy and speed can lead to substantial financial savings. By automating tasks, you give your team the freedom to focus on more strategic initiatives.

3. Improved customer experience

Automation plays a critical role in elevating customer satisfaction and, thus, customer loyalty. From faster checkouts and personalized product suggestions to timely notifications on order statuses, it optimizes every customer interaction, ensuring satisfaction at every touchpoint. Automation can also use data to tailor future interactions and deliver a personalized experience that customers value.

4. Human error minimization

On a good day, human errors are inconvenient at best, causing delays or miscalculations that can affect business operations. On a worse day, they can lead to lost or unaccounted inventory, resulting in significant financial repercussions and a blow to your reputation. Thankfully, ecommerce automation helps to preemptively block this pesky domino effect, greatly reducing the chance of errors creeping in.

Automation streamlines and optimizes various ecommerce processes that are otherwise labor-intensive and time-consuming. Let's delve into these essential corners of your ecommerce business that can significantly benefit from automation. 

1. Inventory management: Automated inventory management reduces overselling incidents, promptly replenishes stock, and facilitates real-time inventory updates across all sales channels.

2. Order fulfillment: Automated order fulfillment ensures swift and accurate order processing, thereby reducing the risk of errors while enhancing customer satisfaction.

3. Customer service: Ecommerce businesses can utilize chatbots and AI to handle initial customer interactions, answer common queries promptly, and provide 24/7 customer support.

4. Email marketing: Ecommerce businesses can deliver automated personalized emails to their customers, such as cart welcome emails, abandonment emails, post-purchase follow-ups, and promotional emails.

5. Reporting and analytics: Businesses can rely on automation tools for collecting and analyzing data, offering valuable insights into customer behavior, sales performance, and overall business health.

Identifying areas of your online business that would benefit from automation is crucial to enhancing productivity and customer satisfaction. For instance, mundane tasks that consume most of your time and resources can be simplified using an ecommerce automation tool. This doesn't mean you should automate every aspect of your business processes, but identifying areas heavily laden with manual tasks can certainly offer you leverage. 

Marketing automation is a typical area where most ecommerce businesses can ensure remarkable efficiency. With marketing automation tools, you can classify your customers into different segments based on their buying behavior, demographics, or preferences. This customer segmentation can help tailor personalized marketing messages that resonate more with each group. Customer support is another area to consider for ecommerce automation. 

Equipping your customer support team with ecommerce automation software can help streamline customer service processes and assist in quick, accurate responses.

For implementing business automation for your online store, we've compiled a list of top strategies to guide you through the process.

1. Start small

You don't have to overhaul your entire store at once. Begin by automating simple, repetitive tasks like order confirmation emails or inventory updates. This practice allows you to understand the process and gauge the impact before moving to complex tasks.

2. Outline your objectives

Be clear about why you're automating. Is it to save time? Improve customer experience? Declutter workflows? By having a focused objective, you can strategically pick areas and tasks to automate that directly align with your goals.

3. Choose the right tools

Carefully analyze your requirements, compare different tools, and select the one that best caters to your needs. Factor in user-friendly interfaces, intuitive navigation, robust features, and reliable customer support when zeroing in on your automation tool.

4. Test, measure, and improve

The urge to automate everything may be high, but you must assess the effects of your automation efforts. Use analytical tools to measure performance and make adjustments as required. Remember, automation is not a set-it-and-forget-it process. It requires continuous monitoring, tweaking, and refining.

5. Educate your team

Automation substantially modifies your workflows, changing how your team works. Ensure everyone is on the same page and adequately trained to adapt to the new systems and processes. Consider organizing regular training sessions and workshops to familiarize your team with the nuances of the automation system and ensure a smooth transition.

If you're getting started with business automation, it's important for you to understand the different types of technologies and tools at your disposal. Let's delve into some of the key players in this space.

1. Chatbots and virtual assistants

These are the friendly faces of automation. Powered by AI, they interact with customers 24/7, answering queries, providing recommendations, and even helping with transactions. It's like having a helpful shop assistant who never sleeps!

2. Email marketing automation tools 

This category includes tools like Mailchimp and Sendinblue, which simplify the process of building, sending, and tracking email campaigns. Using these tools, you can automate email send-outs based on triggers such as cart abandonment, completed purchases, or user inactivity. 

3. Inventory management automation tools 

Tools like TradeGecko and Unleashed allow for the automation of inventory management. They eliminate the need for manual inventory tracking, thereby enhancing accuracy and saving considerable time and effort. Significantly, these tools also empower businesses to anticipate stock needs, manage orders, and avoid unsold stock or product outages, all while streamlining their operations. 

4. CRM tools 

CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools like Salesforce and HubSpot play a crucial role in managing customer data, segmenting customers, and implementing personalized marketing strategies. Furthermore, these tools automate email marketing and customer engagement tasks, substantially reducing manual efforts and enhancing overall business efficiency. 

5. Supply chain management automation tools 

Automation tools like SAP's Ariba and Kinaxis' RapidResponse drastically transform how businesses operate their supply chains. These tools enable efficient and effective supply chain management, from procurement to product delivery, thereby enhancing productivity and minimizing delays. Moreover, powerful analytics tools help foresee potential disruptions and make strategic decisions. 

6. Payment processing automation tools 

Tools such as PayPal and Stripe make payment processing seamless and secure. By adopting automated payment processing, ecommerce businesses remove the common hurdles associated with manual transactions. Fraud detection algorithms and customer dispute mechanisms provide an added layer of security, preventing losses and enhancing customer trust.

7. Reporting and analytics automation tools 

Ecommerce ventures must tap into the power of data-driven insights for lucrative decision-making. Reporting and analytics tools, such as Google Analytics and Tableau, aid in capturing, analyzing, and interpreting data. With these tools, businesses can understand customer behavior, monitor webpage performance, and assess marketing campaigns.

Automation plays a pivotal role in enhancing the scalability of ecommerce businesses by boosting growth and expansion without substantial increases in resource allocation or expenses. Automated workflows can easily accommodate increased order volumes, customer queries, and data discrepancies without necessitating a proportionate increase in manpower. 

In essence, they empower businesses to scale at an exponential rate by breaking away from the traditional linear growth model. For instance, automated inventory management can adapt to increased demand and ensure stock levels are maintained. Similarly, automated customer service can handle high query volumes. 

This operational efficiency and capacity for growth are critical contributors to the scalability of an ecommerce business.

One can't discount the power of real-life examples when it comes to appreciating the potential of ecommerce automation. Here are a couple of brands that demonstrate how automation drives success. 

ASOS 

This multinational, UK-based fashion and cosmetics retailer is a powerful testament to the effectiveness of automation. ASOS, boasting over 85,000 products and shipping to 196 countries, implemented automation in various areas of their operations. Particularly, they automated tasks such as inventory management, customer service, and email marketing, freeing their staff for more strategic roles while observing a lucrative ROI on their automation implementation. 

Amazon 

Amazon, the ecommerce titan, needs no introduction. However, it’s worth noting the key role automation plays in its operations. From warehousing to delivery, Amazon leverages automation to minimize errors, speed up processes, and reduce costs. The company’s high-speed, robot-powered warehouses handle heavy lifting, reducing manual labor and increasing efficiency.  By prioritizing automation, Amazon has set an unprecedented bar for customer satisfaction and speedy delivery.

Imagine running an ecommerce business where dealing with inventory and logistics doesn't feel like a constant battle. That's where Gelato's print on demand platform comes into play. It's a prime example of how automation can take complex processes, such as order fulfillment and shipping, and streamline them to the point where they almost run themselves.

By allowing sellers to automate their orders, which must be sent to the nearest printing facility, Gelato takes on the weighty chore of inventory management, simplifying the process significantly. This advanced level of automation doesn't stop there. By aligning itself with local printing facilities worldwide, Gelato also ensures prompt printing and shipping of products like t-shirts, mugs, phone cases, photo books, and wall art. 

So, order dispatch and delivery are no longer tied to your location or where your inventory resides. The result? Accelerated delivery without geographical limitations. To take full advantage of ecommerce automation, talk to our sales experts today about how we can help you leverage Gelato's cutting-edge automated workflows.