eCommerce Productivity Tools You Should Use
As a company owner, you’re being pulled in a thousand different directions that it’s difficult to know where to concentrate on. That’s why many eCommerce companies need productivity tools to keep track of their work. The best productivity apps ensure that you use your time wisely, removing tasks from your plate that you don’t need to do and automating tasks that aren’t worth anyone’s time. You can start boosting efficiency through the entire team once you’ve mastered your time management. Use these eight free productivity apps to ensure that everyone in your company can access the resources needed to get their work done as quickly as possible. Trello Trello is the perfect project management software for teamwork. The app helps handle tasks that need to be passed through different members or teams before completed. With Trello, you can: Build different blocks for each stage in your project Transfer tasks from one block to another as they are completed Assign tasks to the people in charge Assess the status of each outstanding job at a glance Trello is suitable for workflows involving authors, editors, graphic designers, and hiring and recruiting, where there are many people that are responsible for particular tasks at various stages of the process. Slack Slack is a real-time chat app that allows teams to connect. When email’s asynchronicity isn’t quick enough, individual team members can send instant messages to each other. What makes Slack outstanding among eCommerce productivity tools is that it has a place for full-team discussion and collaboration. However, Slack’s most outstanding feature is its usability. You can also connect the app with other platforms to do things such as: Create help tickets from Slack conversations Save attachments directly to Dropbox or Google Drive Add to-dos received in Slack to your to-do list, etc Slack also simplifies obtaining knowledge from your colleagues. For example, you may add an app that gathers updates for a regular standup, takes food orders for a catered lunch, or automatically sends weekly employee engagement polls. Some of these apps are free, while others are charged, but the Slack app store has a wide selection to choose from. Wave Accounting Wave is a free, feature-rich business accounting platform that allows owners and finance teams to collaborate on revenues, invoices, expenditures, and earnings. You get unlimited bank account transfers, invoicing, and receipt scanning with Wave’s free plan. Thus it is much simpler to capture and consolidate all of your business expenses and revenue. Add the employees’ company credit cards to charge their costs and use Wave’s mobile app to upload pictures of receipts. You can also accept payments via Wave (though transaction fees apply) and have revenues in foreign currencies automatically converted. Finally, add your accountants and bookkeepers to your system so that you’re all operating with the exact details. Remember to set permissions to ensure that only the information you want them to see is visible. Atom8 One specialty among eCommerce productive tools is Atom8. This is a workflow automation platform that allows for converting repetitive tasks into workflows that execute according to predetermined rules. You can set up a process to publish products, pages, and themes whenever you want. In other words, you don’t have to wait until midnight or until the business day opens to upload them. You can also tag customers and orders based on their characteristics such as location, order value, total spending, and many more. Furthermore, the app can be integrated with email marketing platforms such as MailChimp or Sendgrid and delivery management tools like ShipStation to streamline your operation. For example, Atom8 will trigger an automated campaign on MailChimp whenever there is a change in the order status. By taking over repetitive tasks, the app free time and resources worth spending on more impactful business activities. We’re running a free forever plan for the Shopify store. Check it out now!
Inventory Management Process: What and How
Working in procurement means handling responsibilities that cover both different and related tasks. A complicated aspect of these tasks is the supply chain, where you have the inventory management process. Notably, the approach you take in recording, tracking, and managing your inventory can have a significant impact on your critical business processes. Every aspect can either deplete or enhance your business, depending on how you manage it. Therefore, an effective inventory management process is very important for the success of your business. Luckily, working to create a detailed understanding of your inventory management process and applying the right techniques can optimize your inventory processes for productivity, efficiency, and profitability. Steps of an inventory management process Receive delivery These goods can include raw materials for manufacturers, finished goods for resale, and indirect materials to provide support for the daily operation of a business. Review, sort, store goods In the review process, goods are checked, sorted, and stored on shelves. For small businesses, they might not have a separate receiving department compared to big companies. However, you can use the warehouse as a place to sort and store goods. Furthermore, it is essential to assign goods with unique stock-keeping unit codes and tag with barcodes to track them easily. Monitor and update inventory level Under this process, inventory levels are consistently monitored, with physical counts conducted occasionally. Furthermore, an automated inventory system can aid the updating. The monitoring and updating allow you to ensure you know the available inventory and help reduce deadstock, stock out duplicated orders, or fraud. Purchase goods when inventory level is low Customer places orders, so it is natural for your inventory level to become low. You can use automation solutions to create low stocks level alerts when inventory falls to a certain number. Supplier relationship management is crucial for effective stock purchase. In times of supply shortage, you can allow backorders if the restocking status is clear. Inventory management process best practices Despite the risk of having short inventory, most business owners haven’t find the best way to grow their revenue and improve customer experience. If you still have a challenge with your inventory management process, you can follow inventory management process best practices to streamline your business to the next level. Analyze, plan, optimize The heart of every good inventory management process is knowing what you have and managing it properly. When you implement the right inventory best practices, you can optimize your level to boost efficiency and meet customers’ demands. Customers won’t hesitate to drop their negative experience if you dint meet their expectations. However, analyzing, planning, and optimizing your inventory can help improve your business and customer satisfaction. If your inventory is not being effectively managed, you might need to look for a way to reduce inventory holding cost. Use a suitable system and solution One of the best business solutions you can implement is using an inventory management system. Today, we have a cloud-based inventory management system that allows you to work seamlessly. You have to pay a subscription to enjoy the full benefits of inventory software that suits your business. Importantly, cloud-based inventory works in the background, running everything smoothly. However, the software needs trained staff to operate it. During training, you can ask any question as you understand how the software works. Using an automated inventory management process saves your business cost, manpower, and resource as you improve on customer satisfaction
