If you run an eCommerce store, you know there’s a lot going on at the backend. From accepting and processing orders to initiating invoices, accepting payments, answering customer queries, updating new products on the site… and the list of tasks goes on.
Small businesses may be able to manage these tasks manually. But as businesses scale, it’s practically impossible to carry out tasks manually.
And that’s where task automation comes in.
So, what exactly is task automation and how can you apply it to your Shopify store?
Read on to find out!
What is task automation?
Task automation involves using digital tools and software to perform tasks without human support or intervention. With task automation, you can set up tools to perform repetitive tasks that would take up a lot of time if performed manually. Moreover, with task automation, you can ensure higher efficiency and lower errors.
For example, eCommerce stores often automate tasks such as sending order updates, answering customer queries, displaying web push notifications, etc. For scaling businesses, automation of repetitive tasks makes growth easier.
For example, Flits Customer Account Page app has capabilities to automate various types of tasks such as drive repeat sales via reorder button, display recently viewed products, collect data via forms with custom fields, etc.
What are the benefits of task automation for Shopify?
You can automate most of the tasks on your eCommerce store, if not all. And each task automation can benefit your business in specific ways. Here are some of the overall benefits of task automation.
1. More productivity
Studies reveal that more than 80% of employees think automation increases their efficiency. And more than 50% of businesses implement automation to boost efficiency. Automating tasks increases productivity in many ways. For example, it makes work more efficient, fast, as well as frees up employees’ time, allowing them to work on more strategic tasks that require human intelligence.
2. Reduced errors
Task automation involves lesser errors that are usually caused by humans. For example, clerical or mathematical errors. Automotive repetitive tasks can help eCommerce brands minimize the risk of inaccuracies and improve overall efficiency.
3. Improves job satisfaction
Repetitive and routine tasks can take up a lot of time for employees. As a result, a lot of employees end up just doing their jobs, lacking work satisfaction. But when you give repetitive and mundane tasks to automation tools, your employees can work on better, strategy-involving work, which brings more meaning to them. 85% of managers agree to this.
Tasks to automate for your Shopify store
Businesses can automate various tasks. Most commonly, eCommerce stores automate repetitive and tedious tasks that can be easily performed by machines, freeing up the time of employees. Here are some of the tasks that you can automate on your Shopify store.
1. Order management
As eCommerce businesses scale, it becomes almost impossible to manage orders manually. The sheer number of orders, complexities, and chances of human errors, could have a negative impact on your order fulfillment process.
Automating order management tasks can help you overcome these challenges. Here’s how:
- End-to-end automation of order reviews
- Move orders from one stage to another, for example, from ‘order packed’ to ‘shipped’
- Identify orders that require special attention
- Send order related notifications and updates to customers
2. Inventory management
Inventory management or inventory tracking is one of the most critical aspects of eCommerce success. It’s simple, if you don’t track what’s getting sold out, what’s remaining, and what items you need to restock, you won’t be able to fulfill consumer demand. And that’s going to lead to customers getting disappointed, leaving your site.
Automating inventory tracking helps:
- Assess inventory and stock
- Products that need to be restocked
- The quantity that needs to be restocked
- An understanding of dates and timelines
- Region specific details in case you have multiple warehouses
3. Sale/ discount schedule
Earlier, eCommerce brands had sales only annually or every six months. But now, to keep up with changing trends and consumer demands, eCommerce brands have discounts and sales frequently. To plan, manage, and execute online sales manually multiple times in a year can be a huge task. And that’s where automating sales related tasks comes in.
Here are the benefits of automating discounts:
- You can use Shopify data to determine discounts on items
- Offer real-time discounts and deals to boost sales
- Send automated marketing messages about sales
- Manage deliveries overload to ensure order fulfillment
4. Product rollout
New product and collection launches are critical for eCommerce stores. With so much competition in the online market, it is imperative for brands to keep adding and announcing new products in their store. And it involves a lot of tasks, which, if automated, can not only enhance customer experience, but also boost sales. Here’s how:
- Automating product rollout can create a systematic flow
- Automate promotions and messaging
- Send timely teasers and updates
- Automate deals and incentives
- Manage inventory better
- Monitor and optimize for better returns
5. Customer support
93% of customers are likely to make repeat purchases with companies that provide excellent customer service. And as your customer base grows, the only way to provide timely and efficient customer service is by automating it. Here’s how automating customer service can help:
- Provide prompt and timely support to customers
- Automate live chat prompts to offer help to customers
- Send auto responses for basic queries
- Automate follow ups
- Automate thank you messages and ticket closed messages
6. Fraud prevention
Global online payment fraud amounted to US$ 41 billion in 2022 and is estimated to reach US$ 48 billion in 2023. That is why, automation of fraud prevention tasks is a must. It involves the use of AI and ML tools to identify threats and fraudulent activities on eCommerce stores, and prevent fraud from taking place.
Here’s how automating fraud prevention helps:
- Identify threats in real time
- Block transactions to reduce eCommerce fraud
- Improve customer trust and confidence
- Improve brand reputation
- Avoid unnecessary costs related to problem solving
7. Welcoming and onboarding
As soon as customers sign up for something — customer account, newsletters, etc. — they expect to receive confirmation. In addition, they may also expect something more to engage them. It’s an opportunity for you to introduce your brand and tell them what they can expect. And this is where automation can help you.
- Send automated confirmation messages
- Send them information about what they can expect from you
- Introduce new products to them via automated emails
- Offer promos and discounts with thank you messages
- Send them questionnaires to know them better
8. Marketing
For eCommerce stores, marketing involves many tasks. For example, sending promotional messages and emails, or offering discounts, spreading awareness via pop up messages, etc. marketing automation for eCommerce has many benefits, for example, better customer insights, enhanced customer service, more leads, better campaign monitoring, and more sales.
And here are the marketing tasks you can automate:
- Generating leads
- New sign-ups and registrations
- Welcoming and onboarding
- Abandoned cart marketing
- Inactive customers marketing
- Customer feedback and reviews
- Product recommendations
- Store credits or loyalty programs
9. Acquire contacts
eCommerce automation can help you grow your contact list. And there are many things you can automate to achieve this.
- Automate content sharing via email, social media, and other channels
- Encourage social media followers to share their contact details via automated campaigns
- Automate surveys and questionnaires
- Automate saving customer contact details when they make purchases on your site
- Automate campaigns that encourage social login to grow your social media contacts
10. Order updates
One of the most important tasks, however insignificant it may seem, is to keep customers updated about their orders. It helps build trust, keep customers informed, increase transparency, and enhance customer experience.
Here are order related updates that you can automate:
- Order received
- Order processed
- Payment received
- Thank you messages
- Order packed
- Order dispatched
- Shipment details
- Shipment delay messages
- Order out for delivery
- Order delivered
- Request feedback messages
- Post-sales communication
- Post-sales help and assistance
11. Customer retention
One of the most important aspects of eCommerce stores’ success is to retain customers. Repeat customers bring 40% of revenue for brands. That’s one of the biggest reasons why you shouldn’t let go of customers. And automation can help you with customer retention while you’re holidaying or busy with other work for your eCommerce store. Here’s how it happens:
- Automating abandoned cart recovery campaigns can bring back customers to your store
- By automating inactive customer reviving campaigns, you can get old customers interested in your brand and products again
- Dunning management automation can help complete sales and retain customers, reducing churn
- Automating customer service can help attend to customers whenever they ask for help and increase retention
12. Reward programs
75% of customers prefer brands that have some form of rewards program.
Whether it’s store credits, reward points, or loyalty points, you can and must automate it. That way you can engage customers at all times, offer them a good customer experience, and boost more sales without manually doing anything.
Here’s what you can do to automate rewards programs:
- Automate offering reward points on various actions, such as purchase, sign up, etc.
- Automate renewal reminders for paid programs
- Send automated updates about reward points, store credits, etc.
- Automate reward program campaigns
Also read: How to use Shopify store credits to improve customer retention
13. Feedback and review collection
66% of customers say reading reviews builds trust and confidence in brands. Displaying feedback and reviews by customers on your eCommerce stores is crucial. It helps increase conversions, engages customers, builds brand reputation, etc.
But it’s also extremely hard to get customers to share feedback and reviews. Most times, customers only share them when they have a negative experience. One way to increase feedback collection success is via automation. Here’s what you can do:
- Display feedback and review request messages on various pages on your site
- Create and automate feedback collection campaigns
- Automate drip campaigns for feedback and review
- Automate incentivizing for feedback and reviews
14. Inactive customer revival
Many customers may stop engaging with your brand at different points in their customer journey. But that doesn’t mean you’ve definitely lost them forever. With a little effort, you can revive their interest in your brand and products. And you can easily automate this process. Here’s how:
- Use automation to segment inactive customers. For example, identify customers in your list that haven’t bought anything for a year or more
- Create promotional and marketing campaigns and automate campaigns
- Automate drip campaigns
- Automate real-time incentives offering for inactive customers
15. Abandoned cart recovery
Cart abandonment is one of the biggest challenges of eCommerce stores. With so many options, customers abandon carts in a blink. And it’s not possible to reach out to each customer in person or manually. And that’s where automation comes in.
- By automating cart recovery prompts you can send timely reminders to customers
- You can automate and space out cart recovery messages based on customers’ actions via automated drip campaigns
- You can automate incentivizing based on customers’ actions
16. Reorder reminders
Depending on the kind of products and services you offer, customers might make repeat purchases. Based on data, you can identify these repeat customers and encourage them to reorder products. Here’s how you can automate reorders:
- Identify customer repeat purchase patterns
- Segment customers based on their repurchase behavior
- Send automated reorder reminders
- Automate reorder campaigns
How to automate tasks for your Shopify store?
By automating tasks on your eCommerce store, you can provide prompt and efficient experiences to customers. Moreover, automation improves productivity, sales, conversions, and the overall reputation of your Shopify store.
However, for efficient automation of tasks, you require an intuitive app for your Shopify store that knows how to automate and scale your business.
Meet Flits Customer Account Page App designed for Shopify and Shopify Plus stores. The app has advanced automation features that help manage and grow your Shopify business.
Install Flits Customer Account Page on your Shopify store today!