5 Problems in Ecommerce that Process Automation will solve

The examples and data presented in the article are based on reports provided by the Chamber of Electronic Economy and Ceneo from 2023, which concern trends in the e-commerce industry, as well as the Digital Poland report on subscriptions.

1. Increase Customer Engagement with Automation Tools

Trust is one of the key aspects in the e-commerce industry. In the Ceneo report we can learn that:

Almost every 4 respondents point out that it is the positive ratings that affect the credibility of the store. Source: Ceneo E-commerce Report 2023

So, the main aspect related to building trust in e-commerce businesses is, of course, opinions. This is a reason that outclasses others such as returns and complaints policy or registration of a given business, which builds trust among potential customers.

According to the report, 50% of customers regularly leave feedback, regardless of experience, and 20% never do. About 12-13% leave negative reviews, guided by strong emotions after an unsuccessful transaction. The remaining 18% is a group that can be actively involved. Among them, 10% are customers who leave a review when their experience exceeds expectations. Another 8% requires additional motivation, such as rewards or discounts. The right strategies can increase the number of reviews and improve the brand image.

Automate Feedback Processes

Reach your customers effectively and encourage them to take action to get more positive feedback! With automation, your business can quickly build a positive reputation and increase user engagement. First of all, marketing automation allows you to offer customers various types of vouchers and discount codes generated by the automation system.

How does such a solution look like in practice? After completing the transaction, the customer automatically receives an email or notification with a thank you for the purchase and a discount offer in exchange for feedback. The automation system can dynamically match the value of the voucher to the value of the order or previous customer interactions.

If the client does not respond, after a few days he will automatically receive a reminder. Thanks to this, the store, without involving additional resources, increases the number of reviews, strengthens customer loyalty and improves its image.

Dynamically Personalized Content

Automation of e-commerce processes allows you to intelligently adjust communication to the customer at key moments of the transaction. The system can automatically send personalized messages after closing the order, informing about the available reward, discount voucher or voucher in exchange for leaving a review. In addition, customer service automation enables personalized product recommendations or freebies for orders — based on the customer's purchase history or current cart content — which increases customer satisfaction.

Automation of transactions in e-commerce and automation of order management allow you to fully optimize the interaction with the customer, increasing his engagement and tendency to leave a positive review.

2. Provide High Quality Information to Respond Effectively to Customer Needs

According to the report of the Chamber of Electronic Economy:

74% of Internet users are encouraged by online information to visit a stationary store. Source: Omni-Commerce Report 2023 Shopping Comfortably

This represents an increase of 9 percentage points over the previous year. In addition, 47.9% of companies use AI to create product descriptions. Automation of e-commerce processes allows you to generate both text and multimedia content, which affects the effectiveness of sales activities and the improvement of customer experience.

Marketing Automation: generating text content

Thanks to the automation of customer service and the use of artificial intelligence, it is possible to generate product descriptions based on their attributes. AI systems analyze technical specifications, usability features and sales context, creating attractive and SEO-optimized descriptions. Take advantage of AI and automation of marketing activities to speed up the operation of your online store!

Marketing Automation: generating multimedia content

Automation of marketing activities in e-commerce also includes optimizing the visual presentation of products. AI systems can automatically crop photos, apply filters, remove background, or perform quality control to ensure consistent and professional graphics. Implement marketing automation in your online store to reduce the cost of its operation.

Customer Service Automation: chatbots for 24/7 customer service

By implementing chatbots for 24/7 customer service, you can significantly increase the quality of customer service and the speed of response to inquiries. Customer service automation allows you to quickly answer frequently asked questions, help with product selection, and even support in handling complaints and returns. By integrating with e-commerce systems and analyzing customer purchase history, chatbots can send dynamically personalized content, which increases customer engagement and improves their shopping experience. The use of marketing automation in the form of smart assistants allows for more effective interaction management and improves the customer service process while maintaining the proper quality of customer service.

3. Prepare Your Store for Subscriptions and Loyalty Programs

According to the Ceneo report, customers are mainly motivated by two things: the lower price of the product (17.2%) and the fast turnaround and shipping times (13.5%). The same motivations appear in Digital Poland's report on subscriptions:

The vast majority of respondents cite convenience and comfort in their use and efficient payment processing as the reason for their decision to use subscription services (29%). Source: Digital Poland report on subscriptions

Accordingly, more and more e-commerce stores are implementing subscription models, offering customers more favorable prices while ensuring themselves a stable income.

Such a business model was also chosen by one of our clients, for whom we realized as Sagiton custom subscription implementation project. Users could receive new contact lenses every month to test. The problem was that the standard plugins for e-commerce platforms (in this case Shopify), did not support such custom cases. Thanks to the application of order management automation, we created a customized system for handling subscription orders, which allowed our client to easily manage the cyclical demand.

Automation of Subscription Orders

Thanks to the automation of e-commerce processes, we can implement subscription management systems that perfectly adapt to the specific needs of stores offering regular deliveries of products. Subscription order automation includes both order handling and the order fulfillment process. Thanks to the integration of tools, the automation system independently generates recurring invoices, processes payments, and coordinates deliveries. Automatic management of subscriptions, payments and renewals reduces manual labor and thus increases operational efficiency.

4. Avoid Out-of-stock Status and Ship Products Faster with Order Management Automation

According to the Ceneo report, for 13.5% of customers, fast turnaround time is the second most important purchasing aspect. Efficient logistics can therefore be a key element of the success of your e-commerce store. When all products are available in stock, the shipping time is entirely up to us. Problems arise when we receive the product from contract manufacturers. Inventory monitoring is crucial especially in the case of sales in many marketplaces, where the status of “out-of-stock” can quickly cause a decrease in our position, and it takes much more effort to rebuild it. So how do we ensure that our products never end up in this situation?

Efficient Order Management by Automating Activities

Automation of processes in e-commerce allows you to predict the demand for products, thanks to which your store will be able to place orders to manufacturers in advance. Thanks to the automation of order management, this process can be fully automated, minimizing the risk of shortages in the warehouse. If the manufacturer does not meet the deadlines, the automation system can send automatic notifications or send an employee to take appropriate action in the framework of order processing. Such solutions allow you to effectively manage inventory, maintaining the liquidity of sales and avoid situations in which products will be unavailable, which consequently affects the improvement of the order fulfillment process.

5. Online Store Automation — sell your products on multiple channels

According to the report of the Chamber of Electronic Economy:

74% of surveyed consumers buy the same brand or product across multiple channels. Source: Omni-Commerce Report 2023 Shopping Comfortably

In the age of social media and marketplaces, the automation of marketing activities and store management in e-commerce becomes crucial to effectively manage the publication of products across multiple channels. However, keep in mind that separately updating offers on Allegro, eBay, Amazon, your own online store and social media profiles can be time-consuming and prone to errors.

For companies selling construction products, furniture or electronics, it is crucial that product data is always up to date in all sales channels. In the case of an extensive offer and multi-channel sales, the lack of consistency in descriptions, dimensions or technical specifications can lead to serious problems. If the customer receives a product with different parameters than those he saw on the website, this may result in returns, complaints and dissatisfaction, which will negatively affect his shopping experience. In addition, managing a lot of product data across different platforms, such as marketplaces, online store or social media, requires a huge amount of work and increases the risk of discrepancies that can damage brand reputation and affect sales decline.

What are the benefits of automating product publishing?

Thanks to automation systems, all product data is stored in one place, and any change — price, description or photos — is automatically updated across all sales channels. This solution eliminates the risk of discrepancies in offers, which translates into fewer returns and complaints. In addition, automated offers can be dynamically adjusted based on the customer's purchase history and product availability, which increases the effectiveness of product recommendations. The use of marketing automation allows online stores to effectively scale sales without additional labor, while increasing conversion.

In conclusion — what can automation of processes in e-commerce help you with?

Using BPA (business process automation) is a key element of scaling a business, increasing operational efficiency and improving the quality of customer service. Implement modern automation systems in e-commerce to ensure the acceleration of order fulfillment, personalization of communication and optimization of logistics and marketing processes. With these solutions, retailers can avoid out-of-stock status, better manage subscriptions, and more effectively publish listings across multiple sales channels. Automated listings and smart product recommendations increase conversion, and 24/7 customer service chatbots improve the quality of the shopping experience. In addition, the implementation of marketing automation tools allows not only to segment customers, but also to optimize marketing campaigns and analyze data in real time. If you are interested in using e-commerce automation in your online store - contact us! We are happy to help you automate your processes!