eCommerce Challenges And The Automation Solution
Each online merchants executes over a thousand small tasks every day. If not managed effectively, these tasks could hinder productivity and stampede growth. In other words, operational management is one of the biggest challenges for any eCommerce store. Instead of focusing on incremental changes, businesses should focus on improvements, changing how a company operates. Today, eCommerce automation is giving stores an optimal solution for their challenges. It unleashes the time needed to invest in crisis communication, working climate, dealing with new suppliers, retraining staff, sales, marketing, and HR challenges. What is eCommerce Automation? Running an eCommerce store comes with a lot of challenges. Automation is the use of software in the replacement of human agents in certain work. In this sense, eCommerce automation is software built to convert campaigns, processes, or tasks within your business into automated workflows that execute when needed. It entails how businesses can do more without human intervention. eCommerce challenges that automation can conquer eCommerce stores always have to face up multiple problems. As the business expands, the complexity, demands, and repetition increase. Previous systems that used to work effectively become inefficient and eventually break down. In trying to alleviate their current issue, they turn to time-consuming works, affecting the overall business. Meanwhile, the most powerful resource of any business is their time and energy. Let’s look at the challenges that automation can conquer if you want to start a new eCommerce store. Complex and time-consuming manual processes working with multiple systems Several eCommerce sales reps spend half of their time communicating with customers. Nevertheless, paperwork is no longer effective these days. It is hectic, especially if it’s a repetitive process as it takes a lot of time to complete. If you want to operate faster and easier, you need to automate your system to reallocate time, money, and human capacity to other aspects of the business. Lack of data and insight Once your business grows, the time and operational costs increase accordingly. The same goes for data generated in your inventory, operations, and finance. In this case, the right eCommerce automation tool will help you leverage data processing and make wiser decisions. Once you have accurate data, you can create relevant and contextual reports. This allows your staff to stay ahead and provide a better customer experience. Lack of personalization and transparency in customer experience When it comes to online transactions, customers want as much control over their data as possible. Transparency is also an important factor. They want access to every piece of information about their order and the freedom to change it when necessary. Furthermore, they expect responsive interaction from customer service. With automation, it is easier to allocate resources that will better understand your customers and improve their satisfaction. In the end, it helps boost sales in your store. Overcome challenges with Atom8 Atom8 is the workflow automation platform that can be integrated into BigCommerce and Shopify. The app optimizes your business by automatically reorganizing tasks, streamlining processes, and feeding data to other customer-facing applications such as Mailchimp, Google Sheet, or ShipStation. It empowers you to be more productive and fosters time-saving work. Some of the app features are: Auto-categorize orders (based on value, locations, etc) Auto-segment customer (based on demographics, spending, the total number of order, etc) Auto-tag customers on CRM, email marketing, and delivery platforms Auto-generate reports & lists on Google Sheet Auto-publish products Auto-notify of low-stock items, abandoned cart, or high-value orders Auto-detect and halt high-risk orders
Common causes of backorders
As a retailer, what action do you take when your store goes out of stock? What do you do when the demand for your product surges? How do you meet the demand when you have limited stocks? What if there is a sudden surge in your backlog? If you can provide relevant answers to the questions above, then you know how to control your inventory. However, what if the demand increases beyond what your stock has? Once you can’t fulfill your customers’ demand, they will shift their focus to your competitors. It means you will lose sales, and it will affect your overall revenue. In this situation, you need backorder features when faced with an increase in demand. It requires careful planning to ensure the orders are fulfilled in a timely fashion. What is Backorder? The meaning of backorder is a process where a supplier or retailer takes orders for a particular order that is not available in your inventory. Businesses must deal with backorders when out-of-stock issues arise. However, what causes backorders? Understanding what causes backorders is a key to dealing with the issues of backorders. Causes of backorders Inventory miscount Inventory miscount can happen when there is a stock inwarding. Most times, it is because of human error why we experience inventory miscount. For instance, a store owner might mistakenly miscount an available product only to discover it is beyond the estimated amount. Delayed inventory sync Delayed inventory sync also contributes to backorders. For instance, you sell products through several channels while keeping a central inventory through channels. Expired and damaged products not updated Damaged or expired products can cause backorders; when a product with an expired shelf life with the information not updated in the system, it causes backorders or shortage. Furthermore, it inflates the inventory count in your store. System outage or error Another significant reason why you might experience backorder is due to system outages or errors. It occurs when the inventory doesn’t get updated frequently as required. Once the inventory doesn’t show currently available stocks, it causes extra orders to show in the store. Other causes of backorders Besides these, damaged products cannot be counted in inventory, and once the system doesn’t update such information, it affects the number of items in-store. Furthermore, offline product billings might not be updated in the inventory on time. Another reason for backorder is the issue of employee theft. When an employee illegally takes an item out of the inventory, they hardly update such information on the system because it can be noticeable. In such a situation, you might have a shortage from what you can see in your system. Inventory misplacement is another common cause of backorders. For instance, when an order comes into the warehouse, once the staff cannot find the complete item in the warehouse, it creates a backorder situation. Additionally, an increase in order velocity during the festive and holiday period can cause a backorder once the system isn’t updated regularly.
