The Key to Successful Supplier Relationship Management on BigCommerce
BigCommerce, a leading e-commerce platform, provides various tools and features that can significantly enhance how businesses manage their supplier relationships. This article explores the fundamentals of Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) on BigCommerce, strategies for effective supplier management, and best practices to ensure that your supplier relationships are productive and beneficial. Understanding the Basics of Supplier Relationship Management on BigCommerce Key Components of Supplier Relationship Management How BigCommerce Supports Supplier Relationship Management Strategies for Effective Supplier Relationship Management Building Strong Partnerships Effective Communication and Collaboration Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Best Practices for Optimizing Supplier Relationships Continuous Improvement and Adaptation Negotiating Better Deals Managing Risk in Supplier Relationships Atom8 & BackOrder – Solutions for Supplier Relationship Management on BigCommerce Atom8 and BigCommerce BackOrder, created by GritGlobal, are two powerful solutions that can enhance your supplier relationship management on BigCommerce: Building Strong Partnerships Atom8’s Workflow Automation: Atom8’s automation capabilities streamline processes related to supplier management. By automating routine tasks such as order approvals and inventory updates, Atom8 helps build trust with suppliers through consistent and reliable interactions. This consistency fosters stronger, more dependable partnerships in supplier relationship management. BackOrder’s Inventory Alerts: BackOrder provides real-time inventory alerts, ensuring that suppliers are promptly informed about stock levels and potential issues. By keeping suppliers updated about inventory needs and order statuses, BackOrder helps in managing expectations and building a collaborative relationship. Effective Communication and Collaboration Atom8’s Integration with Communication Tools: Atom8 integrates seamlessly with communication tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams. This integration allows for real-time communication and collaboration with suppliers directly from within your BigCommerce environment. You can manage conversations, share updates, and address issues promptly in supplier relationship management. BackOrder’s Supplier Portal: BackOrder’s supplier portal feature provides a centralized platform where suppliers can access order details, inventory levels, and performance data. This transparency facilitates better communication and collaboration, as suppliers have immediate access to relevant information and can respond quickly to updates. Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Atom8’s Performance Metrics Automation: Atom8 automates the collection and reporting of key performance metrics related to supplier performance. By integrating with BigCommerce’s data, Atom8 provides detailed performance dashboards that track metrics such as order accuracy, delivery times, and fulfillment rates, facilitating effective evaluation. BackOrder’s Real-Time Performance Tracking: BackOrder offers real-time tracking of supplier performance metrics related to inventory and order fulfillment. By providing up-to-date data on how suppliers are meeting their commitments, BackOrder helps you monitor performance and make informed decisions based on current information. Conclusion Tools like Atom8 and BackOrder further enhance your supplier relationship management capabilities, offering solutions to streamline processes and improve efficiency. Embracing these practices and tools will help you build a robust supply chain that supports your e-commerce goals and fosters long-term growth. Contact us for more.
Drive eCommerce upsell with automation
Do you think eCommerce is a better way of doing business today? Is eCommerce cheaper and better compared to offline shopping? Honestly, no everyone will agree to these questions because eCommerce is not different from our offline world. The only thing that makes eCommerce groundbreaking is the fact that you can stay anywhere and buy anything. Like offline stores, eCommerce companies apply various techniques to increase their sales and revenue; some of these include price anchoring, bundling, upselling, and cross-selling. To drive sales, most business owners use automation in their online store along with other strategies. In this write-up, we will look at how you can drive eCommerce upsell with automation. What is upselling? Upselling is a technique where you provide your customers the opportunity to upgrade to a product they already bought or get a more expensive version of the product to maximize their purchase. The main reason is for a customer to spend more than they intended to spend on your store. While many think this technique is spammy or unethical, it is allowed in the eCommerce industry. The secret to upselling a product is to offer a product, which adds value and improves your customer’s well-being. In other words, the product should have something that customers value. How to drive eCommerce upsell with automation Segment your customers by behavior The first step is to segment your customers using various criteria. With automation, you can segment them based on their behavior, repeated purchases, first-time purchase, or specific category. For instance, a customer who loves buying a particular product can use the upsell technique to suggest the benefit of opting for a higher product. Furthermore, segmenting your customer behavior allows you to understand them better when it comes to suggesting newer products. Send emails to nurture new customers You need to nurture new customers through email. Here, you should ensure to begin with a personalized greeting and show the product they previously purchased. Furthermore, provide recommendations or an enticement to upsell to a more expensive or newer product. While doing this, ensure to get feedback from your customer about which product they would like to see. Moreover, the email should contain means of reaching back to your store peradventure they need any assistance. Some customers might feel caged in; therefore, provide an opt-out option. Create loyalty program At times, you need to create a loyalty program or free shipping program that allows you to ship items. Over 89% of customers believe that free shipping is a huge incentive to shopping more. Here, you can remind the customers to spend more or buy particular products to qualify for free shipping. Personalize recommendations and highlight past purchases Recommendations work better if you personalize them when sending them to your customers. A recent study shows that more than 76% of online shoppers will buy from a retailer if they know their previous purchase history or get a recommendation based on that history. Furthermore, when making a recommendation, address them by their name. Choose the right automation app Find out which features you need from an automation tool by analyzing your eCommerce upsell plans. There are various types of automation app in the market, hence the option to use a number of apps for different purposes or one comprehensive workflow automation. If you are looking for BigCommerce automation or Shopify automation, don’t forget to give our apps a try!
How to turn shoppers in to loyal customers
New customers are a must for a business to be successful. The new buyers must be turned into lifetime buyers as loyal customers. Focusing early on generating leads is an effective way of running a business profitable. Ensure to keep your customers happy so that they become repeat customers. If you find your strategy is less effective, rethink and work on it. Repeat customers are the best, regardless of their order is for 1 or 10 numbers. The acquisition of repeat customers turns into evangelists as they are the happiest customers happy with your brand. They also introduce new customers. A business needs customers conveniently and to transform the new customers into repeat as a loyal customer is a task. Preserving customers and improving their experience calls for some tactics. Path to customer retention into loyal customers Excellent shopping experience Do not miss this golden opportunity. Provide an excellent shopping experience, so that the process is seamless and smooth. It is the real driver to gain customer loyalty. It is an overall feeling that the consumers experience during the buying process on reaching your site. Give them choices, an easy payment process, and the delivery date should never miss. Above all offer free returns, if essential. Exceeding the expectations of your customers will make them your loyal customers. Capitalize on personalization Collect data and use it to earn your shopper’s attention. You may create offers targeting to personalize. Customers visiting your store online will be pleased to see an ad surfing. You may use social media sites or Google tools to run the ads and grab your customer’s attention. Remember, it should pique their interest. Also, get their email address and send personalized messages on their special days, such as birthday or wedding day offers, free gift cards, etc. Email communication Email is a way of reminding your customers to stay in touch. You may send coupons, extra offers, etc. Introduces yourself and send via emails: Special offers only to loyal customers such as discounts or coupons. Receiving the best deals is always tempting and triggers them to revisit your site. Useful tips including product usage quick tips or links to new products information. Customer stories as to how a product of yours can simplify their lifestyle or its benefits. Announcement of a new product and invite with a comeback message saying it is been long and they should visit your store for more varieties. It will surely entice them for more shopping. Send videos or GIFs relating to your business. Educate through emails or send helpful blog posts. The advantage of using emails is that you can plan ahead and utilize various automation tools. Therefore, you can save a considerable amount of time and effort to ace this channel. Customer service A shopping experience is a way you feel special during the purchasing process. Shoppers receiving a helpful and quick response are sure to become your loyal customers and fans. Make the service responsive and fast. Provide customer support 24/7 by phone, email, or live chat on the website. To retain customers on your site and to make them revisit your site, listen to their calls. If something goes wrong, place your sorry with some coupons, discounts, or gift cards. Use this chance to transform a complaint into an opportunity. If you do it right, you enjoy a win-win and long-term relationship with loyal customers.
Backorder Management Strategies for Peak Seasons
Not only in the festive period do we experience peak seasons in online business. Many retailers see a high volume of sales before Christmas or summer, whereas sports vendors get higher demands during sports seasons. This has urged businesses to leverage their backorder management strategies to keep up with expectations. No matter what time the peak season is, the importance is whether you are ready for it. The eCommerce industry is fully competitive, and you need to understand the best backorder management strategies to employ during high seasons. Here are a few tactics that might effectively assist you during peak seasons. Staff training Your staff poses a significant issue for your value chain every day, let alone during the peak seasons. Therefore, you need to prepare your staff for every unexpected situation with sufficient training and cross-trainings. Furthermore, have a distinctive plan for temporary staff so that you don’t waste so much time while still making the best out of your people. Nevertheless, you need to invest quality time to train your staff if you don’t want a negative review on your performance Most eCommerce businesses cross-train full-time associates through all departments, especially those involved with using equipment like forklifts. Review and Revise Sometimes, it is hard to address every order during peak seasons as you will be rushing all over the place. Nevertheless, once the volume decrease, you can review and revise the performance across departments. The goal is to identify your weaknesses to improve in the future. One of the worst situations is being out of stock, especially for hot-selling items. This not only drives your customers away but also devastates your credibility. To avoid this, review your backorder management strategies with your team to point out challenges and how to address them. This will enable you to improve sales later. Evaluate outsourcing Think about your business equipment and facilities, whether there’s sufficient room for more product during the high season. At times, you might need additional storage. One solution is to sell large inbound shipments, increasing warehouse spacing levels. Another option to consider is dropshipping or leasing additional storage for your products. After all, you have to ascertain if you have the necessary equipment to accommodate increased inventory stock. Keep customers updated about order status The delivery time is one of the most important factors affecting customer satisfaction. Therefore, don’t forget to keep an eye on the delivery status during peak seasons. Try to provide as many delivery options as possible, making it more convenient for your customer to purchase in your store. If you’re using multiple distribution centers, analyze the route so that the order would arrive at the fastest pace and the minimized costs. Use automation Managing backorder has never been easy, especially while having tons of orders that need to be fulfilled constantly. Hence a lot of businesses have relied on automation to work on the inventory. Through workflow with predetermined rules, the system will tell you when an item is low on supply. Then you might consider reordering if the demands are still high. This way, you don’t have to keep an eye on the inventory every time. What’s more, you can integrate this backorder system into your currently used workflow automation platform. This combination allows for centralizing your management, saving you the time and efforts to invest in more impactful activities. Conclusion Being out of stock is an absolute nightmare. Strategizing for a peak season for any eCommerce business is essential if you want to retain and improve your revenue. The key is to find out the backorder management strategies that work best for your store.
