How to Automate Tasks for Business Growth in E-commerce

For the rapid growth of any e-commerce business, it is necessary to accelerate and automate as many tasks as possible. The growing and cut-throat competition in the internet arena presents opportunities as well as challenges for e-commerce businesses worldwide. 

If you  too are planning on taking advantages of the various tools that are available for e-commerce businesses for automating day-to-day tasks, here are the top 5 things that you can begin with:

Automation in Email Marketing

Email Marketing has proven to be the most effective marketing strategy for lead generation, especially for e-commerce businesses. Regular emails, including your deals, offers, new launches, and news information, can help you get more attention from prospects, as well as repeat orders from your previous customers.

While this is a great strategy, to begin with, the number of emails to be sent per day becomes very time consuming when done manually. Hence, this is one of the most critical tasks that require automation 

You can automate these emails with the help of tools such as Mailchimp, Mailjet, etc. Such automation tools can help you to send automated emails in bulk, in case of:

• Abandoned carts

• Order Confirmation and Delivery reports

• Feedback Requests

• Deals, Offers, Sales 

• New Product Launches

• Events and News

Automation in Inventory with Inventory Management Software

Whether online or offline, inventory management is a more significant challenge in every business than anything else. This management can be made easier with the Inventory Management Solution by Unicommerce to accelerate and automate various inventory-related tasks, such as:

• Count of available products in inventory or warehouse

• Data entry of incoming and outgoing products

• alerts on overstocking and understocking 

• Order and shipping management

• Real-time data analysis through a dashboard and visual charts

Billing Automation

With each order, immediate billing is necessary. Gone are the days when billing was to be done manually. The need for automation in billing, i.e., invoice generation, is a crucial one. Such billing automation should come with the advantage of automatically maintaining customer records and other order-related data integrated with the central order management database. Such automation will save you many efforts and time, making things smoother for you, leaving space for spending time on more important things that lead to business growth and expansion.

Customer Support Automation with AI

Another critical aspect of business growth is customer satisfaction. While responding to customer’s queries, complaints, and requests is vital for building trust with your customer base, it comes with huge disadvantages. Imagine sitting in a room with five mobile phones ringing all the time simultaneously. This is what a customer care office looks like. While recruiting a team for this process is essential, it is always better to employ AI Bots to filter through calls that can be handled with just a database search. 

Most AI Bots work on keywords and multiple choice answers where they get automated responses based on their replies. These Bots help much to filter the calls that can be resolved without human intervention. This will be beneficial for you in two ways:

• It will reduce the burden and worthless calls for your customer care team

• It will make customer support response faster as AI Bots provide instant replies

Automation of Return Processes with Returns Management Software

Another hindrance in the growth of a business is the incoming products that hamper all the processes in a store or warehouse. Each returned product cab become a liability for a business if not handled appropriately.

This is where Return Management Software comes in handy. 

An example is the Return Management Software by Unicommerce, which automates the following tasks:

• Automatic alert and listing of Return requests

• Automatic courier allocation

• An organised listing with the cause of return

• Data from customer feedback forms

• Assigning next step for a returned product (whether the returned product needs to be repaired, reshelved, resold or perished)

Automation in the aspects mentioned above can help business owners to reduce manual work when it comes to small day-to-day tasks. These little things are essential for a business and cannot be avoided; however, they prove to be often very time-consuming.

Another thing to be considered is that tools that automate multiple tasks at once should be preferred over the application of numerous tools for automating singular tasks.

Hence, automation with the help of various tools and software proves to be beneficial for business owners. When automation is increased, there is more space for growth, and the focus can be shifted to marketing rather than micromanagement. On the other hand, automation also reduces the need for more workforce and saves a lot of money. Automation is all about playing your cards right when it comes to management.

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Why Omnichannel Marketing Is Essential For eCommerce?

Omnichannel strategy, even though a relatively newer marketing strategy in the e-commerce markets, is slowly becoming mainstream owing to its unique benefits and usability for businesses and brands. 

The omnichannel sales strategy aims at integrating all the sales channels together and providing the customers with a consistent and seamless shopping experience wherever they interact with your brand, whether it is online or offline. While it seems like a complicated thing to do, it is relatively more manageable than the multichannel order management strategy. It does not just create a consistent experience; it also creates a consistent database, which is easier to manage for business owners.

Benefits of using Omnichannel Marketing

Omnichannel marketing has become a necessity for every brand today, owing to the various benefits that business owners get while implementing it. In fact, the strategy barely has any disadvantages. Some of the benefits of using the omnichannel marketing strategy are the following:

1. Ensure enhanced Customer Experience

Integrated management allows for a consistent service on all platforms and sales channels. This greatly enhances your customer’s experience with your brand. This experience is further enhanced when advanced omnichannel strategies such as mass personalisation are used on various customer touchpoints. A personalised customer experience ensures that the customers will love your services and they are more likely to shop with you again.

 

2. Boost Sales, Traffic and Publicity

A great customer experience means a lot of unpaid promotion by word of mouth or even through social media in the modern world scenario. This brings you genuine promotions and organic traffic on your website or marketplace. Moreover, customers are more likely to give you business when they find their desirable options while shopping, such as mode of payment, delivery method, return policy, etc. As an additional reward, genuinely boosted sales give you an opportunity to build a bigger customer base without having to spend any extra on advertisements.

3. Higher customer loyalty

When customers receive a satisfactory experience while shopping with you, they are more likely to come back and give you repeat sales, especially if your business if of daily-use articles or products. This will increase your customer retention significantly and help you to build achieve a higher percentage of customer loyalty. You can further increase this retention by offering various loyalty programs for your repeat customers.

4. Optimised Business Efficiency and Data Collection

When there is a single database for all your customers from all sales channels, data collection is accelerated and improved. Customer profiles become more effective. Secondly, managing orders, returns and queries from all sales channels on a single-window makes operations faster, smoother and more convenient for you, hence increasing your business efficiency.

5. Better Strategy Implementation 

Operating all sales channel son one system enables you to implement marketing strategies faster and more accurately. This could mean something as small as a price drop or something as big as a half-price sale offered on all your sales channels altogether. When operations become simpler, your strategy implementation becomes way better.

6. Enhanced Margins and Maximum Sales

When all your sales channels are integrated, it is easier to sell out products at specific prices since, if they are not receiving enough sales on one platform, they might receive more sales on another. For example, if a particular product isn’t doing good on the offline store for a specific price, the same product might get sold in quantities over your e-commerce store. Hence, you don’t have to cut down on your margins to assure plenty of sales.

Omnichannel Marketing for Retailers

When the omnichannel strategy is applied in a retail business, it makes the customer experience more impactful. Small techniques like a personalised message or packaging goes a long way in influencing your customers. Whether your business is online or offline, you can build a good customer base using the omnichannel strategy across your brand stores, website, web marketplace, or other sales platforms.

Omnichannel Marketing is not as difficult as it sounds, but if it still feels complicated to you, then you can use an omnichannel order management system to assist the implementation of the omnichannel sales strategy into your business.

A smart omnichannel retail solution such as the Unicommerce Order Management System can assist you in implementing your strategy hassle-free and assuring you to get maximum ROI out of it.

The Unicommerce Order Management Software is an advanced cloud-based software that simplifies, accelerates and automates various business processes for your business. It is a feature-loaded system designed to increase your productivity and business efficiency and boost your business growth in terms of profitability, scalability and sales.

Omnichannel marketing is a necessity for e-commerce businesses in this modern world of e-shopping and e-commerce. But a successful omnichannel marketing strategy is always backed by strong management, assisted by automation and AI using the advanced retailing solutions in the market, such as the Unicommerce Order Management System. 

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The Future of Retail in the Digital Era

In the recent coronavirus scenario, a major portion of retail markets has converted into e-commerce shopping spaces. The retailers have greatly shown interest in selling online, owing to the various advantages that it offers as well as the challenges faced by retailers in the digital era. Most of the technology-friendly businessmen have already set up their shops online, while those not very friendly have taken assistance from third-party providers that help them to sell their products online.

However, it has been well-established that the online and offline retail markets are interdependent; neither can survive without the other. Hence, the future of the retail market is forecasted as a deeply interlinked market, a mix of online or offline stores. Or we can put it like this — the sellers who use a mix of online and offline selling in their strategy will dominate the retail markets and succeed to build strong sustainability.  Hence, a multichannel strategy is sought, managed seamlessly with the assistance of an e-commerce multichannel software.

However, all the multichannel sellers are looking to transitioning into the omnichannel with time. Gradually, all the multichannel will convert into omnichannel strategies as the latter is a more sustainable and manageable version of the former one.

Future of Retail Post COVID: Forecasted Trends

Post-COVID, the retail market has been gaining momentum rapidly, both online and offline.

Here are some trends that are forecasted to dominate the retail markets in the coming decade:

1. Personalisation

When it comes to retail markets, personalisation is on the rise. People are loving personalised products, whether it is purchased for self-use or for gifting, and brands are increasingly taking advantage of personalisation to lure the audience into buying their products. Personalised experience with the packaging and delivery of products has additionally proven that people are more willing to pay higher prices when they receive highly personalised services while interacting with the brand.

2. Digitalisation

Another trend noticed in the retail markets is that of digitalisation, whether it is in terms of selling or managing. Everything is turning digital. From the internal processes to selling methods and shipping procedures, the entire businesses are transitioning into machine operated businesses very fast. All the major processes are now accomplished on machines rather than doing them manually.

3. Automation

Heavy digitalisation calls for better management capabilities and opens the scope for heavy automation. Businesses are increasingly showing interest in business automation for processing, manufacturing, fulfilment, packaging, data entry and even managing inventories with advanced management software such as the Unicommerce eCommerce multichannel order management system.

4. Customer Relations

The future retail markets are forecasted to show more inclination towards enhancing the brand-customer relations owing to studies and researches that prove that the customers are more likely to engage with a business or brand if they are fond of their experience with them. Hence, an attempt to improve brand-customer relations might be seen through better customer care services, mass personalisation, loyalty programs, etc.

5. In-store Experience

The physical stores in the retail industry are suffering as they are outdated. This is a popular myth in the current world scenario. The physical stores in the current world are being lavished with advanced technology to enhance the customer experience as they shop in-store. The future of the retail stores depicts an enhanced customer experience with the application of advanced technology for assistance towards product trial, inventory display, and many more. The use of sound, lighting and visuals for a memorable in-store shopping experience is expected to revolutionise the retail markets in the coming decade.

6. Omnichannel Approach

Owing to the fact that businesses and brands in the coming decade are more likely to follow a two-in-one selling policy, which enables them to sell online as well as offline, a complete omnichannel approach is favoured to provide a consistent, seamless purchase experience to the customers across sales channels as well as reduce the time and efforts while doing the same. More and more businesses are likely to adopt the omnichannel strategy laying more emphasis on the consistency of service, short delivery times, and great customer care services.

Unicommerce: Taking e-commerce retail brands one step closer to the future

Unicommerce has been serving 10,000+ businesses, brands, suppliers, vendors, wholesalers and retailers across the globe. The SaaS-based service provider has been simplifying, accelerating and automating e-commerce operations for their customers with advanced technology and smart cloud-based software.

The omnichannel order management software by Unicommerce allows businesses to enhance their services highly as well as manage their operations more effectively. The user-friendly interface allows for a lower training curve, while a fast implementation time assures that the business is not hampered during the implementation process.

The software solutions by Unicommerce have additionally demonstrated excellent ROI in terms of business growth, scalability, increased profit margins, decreased order fulfilment time and reduced manual labour requirement.

If you are looking for effective business solutions to step up your business strategy, Unicommerce is the way to go!

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What is ABC Inventory Management? And How is it Beneficial?

Business owners these days follow various inventory management methods to maintain their business inventory levels and make the most out of them. While there are numerous inventory management techniques, ABC Inventory Management still remains a common one used by many stores, warehouse and business owners.

ABC Inventory Management Technique focuses on the value of the products, their market demand and the relative cost and risk data. The method involves categorising the products into three categories – A, B and C. The categorisation is also based on the product's sales volume and profitability.

The three categories are separated as follows:

Category A — Products with Low quantity but High value

Category B — Products with medium quantity and medium value

Category C — Products with High quantity but low value

or vice versa.

The Pareto Principle

The ABC Inventory Management Technique works on the Pareto Principle, which states that the major part of Results comes from only 20% of the right direction efforts. In comparison, the other 80% contribute less to the final result. ABC Inventory Management applies this 80/20 rule on products in the inventory, categorising into the 20% products that deliver high results, and the rest 80% barely contribute to it.  

Categories in ABC Inventory Management
Category	Dollar Value	Inventory Percentage	Annual Consumption	Accuracy of Records	Control
A	High	10% - 20%	70% - 80%	High	High
B	Medium	30% - 40%	15% - 20%	Moderate	Moderate
C	Low	50%	5%	Minimal	Basic

Observing the above table carefully will help you to understand how the Pareto Principle fits in ABC Management very well. It is evident that most of the company's revenue comes from the 20% stock of high value and greater annual consumption.

Benefits of Using the ABC Analysis Method for your Inventory System

Using the ABC Analysis Method for Inventory control can prove to be very beneficial for some business owners who struggle to keep their inventory costs in check. Some of the major benefits of using this technique are:

1. Increased Optimisation

The ABC Analysis helps business owners to identify high cost and low-cost products and accordingly plan their storage and repurchasing schedules based on their demand and stock availability.

2. Improved Forecasting

When you monitor and analyse category-specific data over a period of time, you can make better predictions related to the dip and surge in demand. This would help you make better financial decisions and avoid risking your budget and warehouse space on the wrong products.

3. Improved Pricing Decisions

A better sense of prediction can help you to set reasonable pricing for products while selling. A surge in demand can be an opportunity for setting high prices leading to higher profits. 

4. Better Business Negotiations

When you have a clear idea about the products that sell better and give you better revenue than the others, you will be more confident while negotiating deals with your suppliers as well as your buyers or clients.

5. Optimised Space Allocation

A clear knowledge of the better selling products will help you to prioritise the space and time for them in your warehouse. This will also help you make better decisions regarding buying new stocks, as you would prefer to save space for most selling products rather than the low selling ones.

6. Controlled Inventory Costs

When you have accurate control of the stocks of high-value products and low-value products, you are better able to keep the inventory costs in check through strategic decisions related to selling and purchasing stock.

7. Lower Inventory Cost Risk

When you identify low selling products, you will make sure you don't buy more stocks until the previous ones are sold out. This analysis will help you to avoid the risks of holding high-cost products with low demand in your inventory.

Automate the ABC Inventory Management Process with Unicommerce

To help business owners get a stronger grip on their inventory, Unicommerce has built a powerful cloud-based Inventory Management Software that assists in accelerating and automating the day-to-day tasks involved in managing an inventory.

Used by several renowned e-commerce brands and business today, the inventory management solution by Unicommerce has statistically demonstrated high ROI, contributing to:

• Increased Sales Growth by 20% to 30%

• Reduced Manpower Costs by 30%

• Reduced Inventory Costs by 25%

• Reduced e-commerce Returns by 20%  

The feature-loaded software automates various inventory control techniques, such as the ABC Analysis, FIFO, LIFO, Batch Tracking, Economic & Minimum Order Quantity, Safety Stock Inventory, and many more.

Unicommerce is the best Inventory Management Software and the ultimate solution for all your inventory woes.

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Tactics for Reducing Ecommerce Product Returns

Reducing returns is a big concern for all sorts of businesses, no matter how big or small. It is important to manage orders and returns in the world of online shopping.

The key is to assess the various reasons why your orders are being returned and enhance the customer experience on your website or online marketplace, so as to allow the users to make better decisions while placing their orders.

• Accurate Product Descriptions

It is important to put up accurate product descriptions next to each product so that your customers get a better understanding of what they are buying. Be it high-quality pictures from various angles, product size, weight, and measurement, or an accurate depiction of product quality. The description should set the right expectations in customers’ minds.

• Option for Product Comparison

A significant amount of returns are placed because the customers find better products after placing their final orders. Hence, it would be really helpful for them if they could see similar products and comparisons on the same page. This would help to reduce the returns significantly.

• Evaluate Customer Feedback

A smart thing to do is to ask your customers to fill a feedback form while placing their orders. This data will help you to analyze your mistakes and prevent orders that are coming back due to errors on your end.

• On-time Delivery

Always make sure that your orders are delivered on time. A lot of customers return their orders before they don’t receive them when they really need them. By the time the products reach them, they either don’t need it anymore or they have already purchased it from somewhere else.

• Cross-check order content before shipment

A lot of returns occur due to the mistake of the sellers as the customers end up receiving the wrong products, or damaged products. Some customers have even reported receiving empty boxes. This can be avoided just by being more careful and cross-checking the order content before dispatching the shipments.

• Consider your packaging material

Sometimes the products received by the customers get returned due to the product getting damaged during the shipment process. To avoid this, prevent this from happening, make sure you use good packaging material that actually prevents your products from being damaged during the shipment.

• Employ customer care team

A good way to enhance your services would be to make sure that your customers get their queries and complaints resolved. Their queries related to any products can be responded via emails, chat boxes, or even through calls. This will, to some extent, reduce a great number of returns that occur due to customers’ misunderstandings regarding the products that they order.

• Employ a good Return Management Software

Managing everything on paper is as difficult as trying to hold sand in your palm. It is crucial to employ return management software in your store or warehouse, to help you manage your returns effectively and analyze the major causes for future prevention. A return management software can greatly assist you in reducing the returns in your retail business.

The Unicommerce Return Management software is helping companies and brands across the globe to manage returns and cancellations effectively.  Its advanced features include:

• Auto courier allocation and tracking

• Automatic creation of Reverse pickup for all Returns

• Support for RTO, CIR, and Returnable Gate pass

• Alternate SKU creation for Replacement Orders

• Exchange and Return Order simultaneously during delivery

• Advanced Returns Dashboards and reports

The uniquely designed and ever-evolving returns management system of Unicommerce works on the business-specific requirements of clients to provide integrations and elaborate workflow through Unicommerce products and services that are supportive of business growth.

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