All eCommerce businesses, whatever be their size and the vertical in which they operate, are looking to boost their bottom lines. It is a fact that eCommerce businesses operate 24×7. But that does not mean you have staff taking orders and fulfilling them every hour of the day and every day of the week. eCommerce businesses are automating key processes and adopting technology wherever possible to streamline operations and reduce the dependency on people. Workflow Automation is one such step in the right direction.
When you run an eCommerce business, you come across many tasks that are repetitive, time-consuming, and prone to error. These tasks are handled better by technology, for example, Inventory management. Keeping track of inventory and updating the stock details as and when sales happen can be tedious, cumbersome, and prone to error. When stock levels don’t tally, there are instances of stock-outs and overselling. It can result in a bad customer experience and lost sales. So in workflow automation, you replace a human activity with a digital alternative. If done correctly, this minimizes errors and frees up your resource, who can then engage in more meaningful work.
Many repetitive processes like email marketing, purchase order management, and customer support can get automated. In this blog, we will explore the benefits of workflow automation and some of the main processes that are getting automated.
eCommerce business owners often find themselves strapped for time and resources. Any improvements in the workflow that will enhance efficiency are welcome. For example, the fulfillment of orders can be quite time-consuming and repetitive. For order fulfillment, the same order details need to get updated in multiple locations for updating the inventory data, the back-end ERP system, generating shipping label, sending an order confirmation to the customer, etc. It can be a drain on the resources. The best way to increase efficiency here would be to automate the entire order management process.
eCommerce businesses handle large amounts of data regarding customers, inventory, transactions, etc. Consider the scenario where you have to enter the same data multiple times in various systems. You can be sure that errors will creep in, resulting in lost sales and a bad customer experience. Workflow automation eliminates manual data entry and reduces errors.
Freeing your staff from doing repetitive jobs can help save time and enhance their productivity. They can focus on doing more important things that will help you grow your business.
With automation, you can complete tasks much faster and more precisely. For a small business with limited resources, workflow automation can help cut down on staff costs significantly.
So, in an eCommerce business, what are the areas in which we can use workflow automation?
All eCommerce businesses deal in hundreds of products. Keeping track of inventory and managing it plays a crucial role in the success of any eCommerce business. Adopting workflow automation in inventory management can be a lifesaver. There are automation solutions that connect the back-end ERP with the POS and the eCommerce store. It means that when you update the inventory in the back-end, it automatically gets updated in the POS and your eCommerce store. And, when a sale happens online, the information is captured, and the inventory gets adjusted in the POS and back-end. It ensures that inventory data gets updated in real-time and there are no instances of stock-outs and overselling.
Once your inventory management is automated, you can set alerts to get notified whenever an item in stock falls to a predetermined level. You can then use automation to generate purchase orders automatically. You can even set first choice suppliers for each item and have the purchase order mailed to them. It ensures that stocks get replenished well in time. You don’t have to sift through stock sheets, vendor agreements, and emails every time you need have to reorder a product.
eCommerce businesses deal with multiple vendors for every product on their product catalog. Identifying the vendors, forming a relationship, working out payment and tax details is a long process. To further simplify, businesses are developing supplier portals that automate supplier identification and onboarding. All information regarding a vendor gets captured in the supplier portal along with the transaction details. With such supplier portals, managing vendors become easy, fast, and more accurate.
Order Management involves all the steps in between receipt of an order and successful fulfillment. With workflow automation, you can automate many of these steps. Generating shipping labels is one of them. When you create shipping labels manually, errors are likely to creep in. Even a minor mistake can result in lost sales. Automating order management allows you to handle multiple tasks with a single click. You can send order confirmation emails, track the orders, and on successful delivery, the order gets marked as completed in the system.
You need to spend time and effort in getting customers back to your site even if they are loyal customers. Regular customer communication is required to make this happen. But how do you keep track of customers, their purchase history, and what relevant communication will you send that will ensure that they come back to your site for more purchase. Here automation comes to your help. Automation helps you keep track of products that customers regularly buy from your site and send out reminders to reorder right when they are running out of it. That’s an effective way to nudge them to buy from you again. Yet another way to reach out to customers is by automating abandoned cart emails. Very often, people add products to their carts but don’t end up buying them. Cart abandonment emails are successful in getting a few of them at least to complete the purchase process.
Product returns are part and parcel of the online business. What makes the difference is how you handle them. With automation, you can facilitate easy returns. You can mark products that can get replaced and those for which refunds will be processed. Automate the process for immediate action. How fast you respond to product cancellations will determine if the customers will return to your store for future purchases.
According to estimates, by 2021, 85% of customer service interactions will get automated. It applies to eCommerce as well. Today you can configure your help desk to do an array of tasks. We are familiar with chatbots who answer customer queries effectively. But, automation can do much more than that. You can prevent canceled orders from getting into the fulfillment stage. You can send out relevant canned emails immediately based on keywords identified from customer emails. For example, delivery not received, wrong product delivered, etc. An immediate response helps pacify irate customers to some extent while the customer support gets about solving the issue.
To know more about how you can improve your eCommerce operations with workflow automation, connect with Arizon Digital.
We are all familiar with these two words – B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Consumer). They are not new. They have been around for a long time and have been used to segment businesses broadly based on their customers. But we find a renewed interest in these terms lately. The reason for this is the growing online sales. There is a new word that has got added to them -which is eCommerce. And all discussions are happening around the growth witnessed, the differences and similarities in these two business models.
Now, smartphones have become an intrinsic part of our life. Internet access has reached all corners of the world and businesses are witnessing a sudden increase in their online customer base. The B2C businesses were the first to take advantage of this and make the transition into online retail.
We know that the eCommerce sector is one of the most rapidly-growing sectors worldwide, and today even the B2B segment is seeing a massive amount of potential in eCommerce. Building an e-commerce organization has become the top priority for many players in both B2B and B2C. In this blog, we discuss in detail the two business models, their key differences and similarities.
When two businesses sell or transact online, it is called B2B eCommerce. For example, transactions between wholesalers and their retailers or manufacturers and wholesalers all fall under this category. With exposure to the internet and online sales, B2B customers have also evolved.
Earlier, a large part of the B2B industry had people from Generation X or even before. Today, more millennials are working in the B2B sector. Studies show that there over 73% of millennials are involved in the B2B buying process. They have grown up alongside technology, and all their buying happens online. And, they have come to expect a consumer-like eCommerce experience in their B2B purchase as well. Hence, all the big eCommerce platforms come built with powerful features that help you meet and exceed your customer expectations.
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Increased Reach: Once you have decided to sell online, you are no longer restricted by your geographical location. The whole world can become your market place as long as you market yourself well, and potential clients can find you through the various search engines. This opportunity to sell to anyone anywhere makes it lucrative and worth putting in time and effort.
Enhanced customer engagement: Quick custom quotes, swift re-ordering process, order tracking, and online payments all focus on engaging with the customer and providing a first-class experience.
Mirrors the customer buying process from the tradition channel: B2B eCommerce has evolved to accommodate all of the complex buying processes and transactions unique to B2B selling.
Improved visibility and transparency: You can integrate your eCommerce store with back-end applications like ERP and CRM. It will help improve internal operations, efficiency, and customer relations.
B2C stands for “business to consumer” ie. in B2C eCommerce, products are sold to individual customers directly. Globally the B2C eCommerce market is anticipated to touch 6.2 trillion USD by 2027. The increasing disposable incomes, penetration of the internet and smartphones, and the ever-increasing online customer base are driving this growth.
Buying Decision: In B2C eCommerce, the decision-maker is an individual. While in B2B eCommerce, there are multiple people involved in the decision-making process. The book ‘Challenger Customer’ says that on an average there are 6.8 decision-makers involved in the B2B buying process.
Life time value of customers: In B2C, most of the purchases are impulse, they are one-off transactions, and hence the relationship is short-lived. With so many options available, customers are always on the search for the next big deal. In B2B, businesses are keen on building long-term relationships. Repeat purchases are common and businesses strive to provide personalized services to promote long term relationships.
Pricing – Fixes Vs Customized: It is one fixed price for all customers in the B2Cmodel. Also, in B2C, you will find the transaction value is a lot smaller while the transaction volumes are large. Compared to B2C, the volume of transactions in B2B is lower, but the value of each transaction is high. Studies show that the average order for a B2C is $147 whereas, for B2B, it is $491.
The purchase process is also very complex in B2B. Initial quotes are shared, negotiations happen, and prices are customized for each customer based on the quantities ordered, relationship history, location, etc.
Order quantities: In B2B, very often there are Minimum Order Quantities. The option of buying just one number of an item may not be possible on B2B sites. While it is just the opposite in B2C. Here, merchants often set a maximum order quantity barrier for items depending on the popularity of the product and inventories available.
Customer base – In B2C, businesses usually have a large customer base. While in B2B, the target market is mostly niche, and hence they have a smaller pool of customers. The customers are identifiable, and businesses can plan defined marketing activities to target them more effectively.
While there are significant differences between these two eCommerce models, they are not entirely different. The line between them is slowly blurring. There are B2B companies who are looking to sell directly to customers to expand their customer base. There are also instances where B2C companies are branching into B2B channels. Many B2C players are putting up their products on wholesale marketplaces that operate almost on the B2B model.
Also, the customers for both B2B and B2C sites are more or less the same. The sites they visit, the way they search the internet, the channels they visit for product information are all similar. In other words, there is a huge overlap in the way the players in both segments should market their sites and where they need to be present to be visible.
Grainger is one of the largest B2B industrial suppliers, and Quill is a site created by Staples to sell office supplies to B2B customers. HVACPartsShop.com is one of the best sources on the internet for HVAC repair parts and has been featured by BigCommerce as one of the most Innovative Ecommerce Brands of 2020.
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Arizon Digital is a technology leader in retail and eCommerce solutions. We offer innovative services and solutions for B2B and B2C eCommerce businesses. We enable them to run their store better and achieve success and growth. Our solutions power the sites with the latest designs and functionalities that will enhance the customer experience. Arizon Digital operates out of Sugar Land, Texas. To know more about Arizon Digital, visit: https://arizon.digital/
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