When it comes to automation, many small business owners think that “Oh, that’s only for big corporations” or that it’s too expensive for their company. But that is not always the case. Now that the business industry continues to advance, embracing digital transformation, it’s crucial for any business to step up the game by optimizing strategies with the use of emerging technologies—automation software tools. These innovations may help small e-commerce companies reach new prospects, minimize errors, and boost productivity, which will then lower costs in the long run.
Although, the anxiety on the part of small business owners is understandable. It may seem like the risks are higher, considering the limitations in their resources. But you must know that while small businesses are less likely to automate their processes, they’re likely to have more success stories—based on a 2019 report by McKinsey. If you’re still hesitant about whether to adopt e-commerce automation or not, read on to learn more about its importance.
What is E-Commerce Automation?
E-commerce automation is the practice of using technology to perform tasks, processes, campaigns, or workflows within your business. Every smart system is powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) to make human-like actions and thought-out processes on every task at hand. And nowadays, these tools can already improve their intelligence by learning from the user’s previous actions for better decisions and more efficient work.
As the demands, complexity, and repetition of tasks increase for any company thriving in the industry, it’s crucial to automate some processes instead of hiring more people for those workarounds. Not only would it save you money from recruitment and training, but it would also ensure efficiency on repetitive tasks. The automation software and tools will speed up the process and let you focus on winning your customers and growing the business. For instance, if your business is in the crypto world and uses smart contracts, you can opt to use approval automation for smoother transactions.
What Can You Automate?
Automation technologies can help e-commerce businesses in many areas. Here are a few:
Content Management
Content is very important to any e-commerce business. It’s what people always look for to know if your business is legitimate. But, as you might already know, writing multiple engaging contents for your products can be challenging. And it takes too much time to process. But with ChatGPT and other content automation software, copywriting will just be an easy task for content managers and editors. Besides producing content, there are also various tools, like Shopify or Buffer, to schedule posts on social media.
Inventory Management
E-commerce platforms benefit from automation through automatic price adjustments depending on product combinations, volumes, or other variables. You can also be able to automate changes in the price and promotions of your products for specific periods. And when your stocks are already low or have reached zero, you’ll be notified through using automation tools like Woocommerce.
Order Fulfillment And Returns
When a customer wants a product but is already out-of-stock, they can set an automatic notification to when it will be in stock. They can also choose preferred communication channels for those. Also, they can receive alerts about their order status—if it’s still in the warehouse, already out for delivery, or even get canceled. Meanwhile, support departments will get notified when it comes to automating returns, and inventory data can be automatically updated.
Customer Service
Small businesses might not have human resources to answer queries 24/7, but by using chatbots, they might already get an answer to their queries. And aside from answering recurring information, they can also request initial information about customers’ issues before they reach your customer service employees. This can help streamline the process and avoid taking so much time with one customer only.
Benefits of E-Commerce Automation
Save You Time
One of the strongest selling points of e-commerce automation is its ability to take repetitive and time-consuming tasks off your plate. Instead of manually publishing social media content, invoicing, and more, you can have more time and focus on generating leads and sales by automating such processes and workflows.
Reduce Human Error
Manually doing data entry and other repetitive processes makes every company vulnerable to mistakes and risks. With the amount of business data present on your site, it’s only essential to automate such workflows to prevent human errors that may cause your business grave issues. With data backed by computer programming, you can rest assured that you’re receiving accurate information.
Boost And Streamline Collaboration
With automation, such complex tasks will be much simpler for the team. Integrating PIM and other systems into your e-commerce system lets you maintain information visibility across all systems. This can help your team see the status and progress of the projects you work on in real-time.
Lower the Risks of Non-Compliance
Complying with government and industry regulations can already be stressful, considering the great number of laws you must know. There’s PCI compliance, data compliance, and many more. But the good news is automation allows you to integrate those rules into your workflows and processes. For instance, managing and transferring data across systems—automating this process will avoid the risks of data leaks caused by human error.
The Bottom Line
E-commerce automation can help any small firm in many ways. However, you must avoid the common mistake of throwing money at costly automation platforms believing it would solve everything. It would only leave you in financial distress, having so many small business loans and debts.
Instead, you must first understand your needs by evaluating your business processes. Know which tasks to prioritize to achieve your corporate goals. Then find the automation tool that works best for you. Having the right mindset about automation will help you optimize your business in the best way possible without spending a fortune.
