Ecommerce businesses have a lot of moving parts. The challenge is streamlining management and automating any time consuming tasks. Here are 5 must-have automation features for eCommerce websites so you can handle more customers and make more money.
First of all…what is what is eCommerce automation?
It’s tempting to spend all of your time on the front end of your business, talking to customers and prospects. But the reality is that behind-the-scenes matters are just as important when it comes to running a successful eCommerce business.
Automation helps execute routine processes for you and make them easier to execute. You can set up automated tasks such as follow-up emails, takeaways that are triggered based on customer behavior and responses, autoresponders that are triggered by specific events in your website (such as shopping cart abandonment) and many more. All of these tasks help keep your customers engaged with your brand and keep them coming back.
1. Monitor & Reward Your Most Loyal Customers
What makes customer retention valuable for an eCommerce site? The answer is simple: when you have repeat customers, it reduces your advertising costs and increases your profit margins.
Retention has a huge impact on revenue, especially in eCommerce. Reward your most loyal customers with discounts, free shipping and more. Using a tool like ActiveCampaign, you can automatically send a discount to customers who have spent more than $X in your store over their lifetime.
2. Sync Customers to a Mailing List
An integration with a platform like MailChimp or ActiveCampaign can automatically pass the email addresses of shoppers who show interest in your emails into a specified mailing list, so you can keep them updated with your latest products and offers. It’s ideal if you’re already using this popular email marketing tool to send your newsletters and email marketing workflows.
3. Streamline Inventory Management
Automate inventory management for low-stock items to avoid missed income and frustrated customers. With platforms like, Woocommerce, Bigcommerce and Neto, you can trigger low stock notifications (based on thresholds you set) so you know when to reorder from your supplies. Automatically reorder at the right time to avoid running out of products. Set up low stock alerts and out-of-stock alerts so you can quickly get in touch with your supplier for new stock.
4. Recover Abandoned Carts
Abandoned carts are a huge missed opportunity for eCommerce businesses. But with the right tools, automation, and integrations in place, you can send abandoned cart reminders to customers and bring them back to your site. When your customers put products in their shopping carts, but fail to check out, you’re losing money. The good news is that you can send abandoned cart emails to customers who leave without completing a purchase, and get them back on your site. According to the Baymard Institute and Adestra, 75% of shopping carts are abandoned when customers leave your website without checking out. This happens because they’ve overlooked something important or encountered an issue such as payment problems or forgotten passwords. A well-timed reminder can be the difference between you losing that customer forever or getting them back on track with their purchase.
5. Shipping Labels & Tracking Numbers Made Easy
With services like ShipStation and Shippit, you can easily create and print shipping labels for your orders within the same app. Mark all orders as complete, then generate those key tracking numbers with a single click. Sync your orders to streamline even more of your shipping workflow.
Ecommerce websites aren’t just about selling products and services. They must also be optimized to grow revenue and build sales funnels that convert visitors into customers. With the right e-commerce software, your website can do more than just drive traffic through advertising campaigns; it can transform your business by taking advantage of automation features. Contact me today if you need help to streamline your eCommerce website.
