We work faster: how to automate the business processes of an online store

Online trade opens up many opportunities for selling goods and attracting customers. But in order for trade in ecommerce to be as productive as possible, all processes of the online store must be correctly configured, optimized and debugged among themselves.

According to the experience of users of the Shop-Express platform, rational automation allows you to unlock business potential.

Specificity of processes in ecommerce

As in an offline retail outlet, such processes as marketing, supply, organization of staff work, optimization of daily tasks, etc. are being adjusted in the online store. The peculiarity of online business is that the processes should be as fast as possible. It helps:

• speed up the execution of all tasks;
• simplify and debug interaction between company departments;
• simplify work with clients as much as possible.

Automation of business processes gives an important result — improvement of service. In turn, this increases customer loyalty and business competitiveness.

One of the most important processes of an online store is the purchase of goods. It should be as simple, fast and convenient as possible for the buyer, who sees it in this way:

• product search in various online stores;
• comparison of prices, reviews, terms of delivery and payment;
• selecting a product and adding it to the cart;
• placing an order and choosing a payment option;
• receiving a purchase;
• feedback

This process looks completely different for the seller. He sees the following sequence of actions:

• attracting buyers through advertising channels;
• buy incentives right here;
• a call to add the selected product to the cart;
• offer to complete the order with related goods;
• ordering;
• detailed information on payment and delivery options, as well as terms of cooperation with the online store;
• order confirmation and payment;
• sending the ordered goods to the client;
• maintaining contact with the client and encouraging him to repeat purchases.

This is how the same process looks from different angles. Therefore, all types of business processes are conventionally divided into two corresponding directions.

1. External is a set of processes visible to buyers. They include all actions aimed at attracting, serving and retaining customers. These are advertising and other promotional campaigns, interacting with customers through consultations and calls, as well as working with feedback from customers and encouraging them to return to the store for the next purchase.
2. Internal is a set of processes with which the seller works. These include the formation of the assortment, reception, confirmation and processing of orders, assembly, delivery, payment, work with returns, processing claims from customers, cooperation with delivery services.

Both directions can be automated for quick interaction and timely service of all orders.

Tasks solved by process automation in ecommerce

Automation and optimization of business processes should contribute to the achievement of the goals set by the business.

Attracting buyers

In order for an online store to sell, you need to bring customers to it. Attracting customers is possible with the help of social networks, contextual advertising, SEO, placement of goods on large marketplaces, such as Rozetka or Prom.ua. Automatic integration of the online store with large trading platforms significantly expands the circle of potential buyers, while the process of registration and payment of the order is as simple and convenient as possible. The seller, in turn, saves time on updating product items, prices, and content.

Service

The automation of service processes consists in the delegation of tasks related to the initial appeals of potential buyers, answers to the most frequent questions, order support, etc. Chatbots, voice bots, and generative AI are most often used for this.

These tools simplify and speed up call handling and payment processes. In general, a clear algorithm of working with the client is formed, and the process itself becomes easy, fast and frees up the manager's time to perform other tasks.

Repeat sales

Keeping customers is no less important than attracting new ones. Formation of a circle of regular loyal customers stabilizes profits and makes business promotion much easier. In addition to all available advertising tools, there are also referral programs and recommendations from regular customers. Retention of existing customers requires significantly less financial investment than advertising and promotion. For this, it is enough to implement promotions, discounts and loyalty programs. Brands with profitable loyalty programs are much more attractive to buyers.

An automated loyalty program that not only calculates cashback and bonuses, but also notifies the client about the state of his account and the points he has, allows you to increase the number of repeat sales without using additional tools and personal contact.

Processing and delivery of orders

Automation of logistics processes will not only save time for staff and customers, but also significantly reduce the risk of errors in orders. Optimization of the processing of applications, calls and requests simplifies and speeds up the formation of orders.

For fast and error-free delivery, the online store must be integrated with postal services. Automatic formation of TTN and notification of customers about the status of their order increases loyalty and trust in the online store.

Conclusions

Automation of business processes is necessary if you want to develop an online store, increase sales and scale your business. Simplifying and speeding up processes makes it easier for the store to process more orders, assemble and ship parcels faster, automatically form ready-made databases and work on their basis. In turn, this contributes to the growth of the company's turnover.