Whether you’re a full-time employee with limited time, or a globetrotter looking for a life of freedom, ecommerce automation tools can help you run your online store efficiently. Automation tools are software that complete processes with little to no manual work — the software essentially does the work for you. There are many affordable (and sometimes even free) ecommerce automation tools that’ll save you time and money while ensuring that the work is completed.
Post Contents
Why You Should Automate Your Business
There are numerous benefits to automating your business. It saves you time, money and creates a more efficient business.
Time is your most valuable resource, and it’s limited. Automation saves you time by doing things on your behalf. For example, with the ecommerce automation tool Auto Fulfill, order processing is automated. With the click of one button, your orders will be processed and sent to the supplier. Doing it manually would require hours spent each day and possibly the help of a team of employees, depending on the order volume you receive on a daily basis. When you automate this process you’ll save valuable time to work on other projects.
It also allows you to focus on money generating techniques. By automating processes via ecommerce automation tools, you have more free time to focus on growing your sales. Instead of getting bogged down by designing products, or having to remember to post on social media, send out an email or maintain a loyalty program, you can focus on what really matters: drawing customers and making them happy. With more time to devote to marketing, you can learn to master Facebook ads or write blog content to improve your search engine optimization.
Sometimes automation tools can do a better job than a person can, and I don’t mean in a robots are going to take over the world kind of way. When you’re busy building an online store, it can be hard to be consistent with your marketing. In the beginning, while you have fewer orders to fulfill, it’s easier to remember to post on social media several times a day, send out emails and more. However, as your workload increases (and it will increase over time), things start slipping. You no longer have time to post on social media four times a day. The day flies by and you realize you were supposed to send an email out to your customers at 11 a.m. With ecommerce automation tools, you can set it and forget it.
Next, ecommerce automation tools allow you to keep your current job. If you have a full-time job you love and want to grow an online store as a hobby, you can. You can automate almost every aspect of your business so that you can work on it on evenings and weekends without affecting your 9 to 5 job.
10 Ecommerce Automation Tools You Need
Ecommerce automation tools are also great for those looking for more freedom and a flexible lifestyle. If you want to travel the world, take vacations whenever you’d like, or create your own schedule, automation tools can help you create the life of your dreams. Here’s our list of ecommerce automation tools that can help you life the life you’ve always wanted:
Modalyst
Modalyst is one of the most popular ecommerce automation tools. It automates several parts of running an online store. First, it automates product imports. It allows you to do one-click product imports. Modalyst imports the copy, images, and product info directly onto your store. It also automates order processing in one click. When you wake up in the morning, all you need to do is press one button and all of the customer details will be sent to your suppliers. Shipping is taken care of by suppliers, which saves time and money on your end.
Store owners looking for an ecommerce automation tool should use Modalyst because it allows you to choose from millions of products, streamlines order processing with numerous suppliers, and allows you to run your business from anywhere in the world.
Buffer
Buffer’s ecommerce automation tool allows store owners to automate their social media posts. You can schedule up to 10 social media posts for free. Whether you post 10 times a day or once a day for 10 days, you can set the time and date for all of the posts in advance while being assured it’s sent out at the exact time. You can also view the Analytics of your posts to see how many people clicked the link. Buffer shows your top posts and allows you to re-buffer them to optimize your social media page.
Store owners should use Buffer for social media automation because it allows you to post on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest. Automating social media posts helps your brand’s voice remain consistent, as you have regular activity on your accounts. Many store owners eventually neglect social media posting, which makes some customers weary about whether or not your website is still active.
IFTTT
IFTTT is a great ecommerce automation tool, as you can automate various business actions. You can have the tool share your new blog posts on social media every time a new blog is written. You can add scheduled email campaigns to your Google calendar, or set up reminders for important dates. You can even use the automation tool for monitoring your store’s competition.
IFTTT is a great ecommerce automation tool as it has a diverse range of automation features. There are countless ways a store owner can use IFTTT to build, market, and grow their online businesses. The tool is free to use, making it a budget-friendly ecommerce automation tool.
Kit
Kit is a great ecommerce automation tool for those new to advertising. Store owners can have Kit create Facebook and Instagram ads on their behalf. Kit occasionally sends you texts which ask you what marketing actions you’d like it to run. You can use this Shopify tool to create and run retargeting ads, post updates on Facebook, send personalized emails, promote products to customers, and more.
Shopify store owners should use Kit as their ecommerce automation tool as it integrates well with other Shopify apps like Product Discounts, SEO Manager, and more. The automation tool costs store owners $10 each month, making it an affordable app to install.
Loyalty Points
Loyalty Points by Bold is a great ecommerce automation tool for those looking to retain customers with a loyalty program. Retaining customers is cheaper than finding new ones. Fortunately, this app automates customer retention by rewarding customers points for their purchases, registration, and more. You can choose to increase the point reward on less popular items to increase purchases on other items on your store. You can even turn off your loyalty program on big sale days like Black Friday.
Store owners should use Loyalty Points as an ecommerce automation tool to avoid neglecting the customers you already have. Rewarding customers for their loyalty to your brand allows you to build strong customer relationships that last. By building strong customer relationships you build loyal fans who will promote your brand to their friends, spend more money than new customers and keep your brand in business. The app is also free for under 50 loyalty members making it great for those starting a loyalty program for the first time.
Google Alerts
Google Alerts is a great ecommerce automation tool as it allows you to do market research, competitive research and monitor the web for articles on your brand. You can choose to set alerts for specific keywords, public figures, or brands (your own included). Whenever new content appears on the web for your keywords, you’ll receive an email from Google Alerts with a link for you to view.
Store owners should use Google Alerts as an automation tool so that they stay informed about what’s popular in their niche, what their competitors are doing, and what people are saying about your brand. With countless new articles appearing in search engines every day, it can be hard to stay on top of what other brands are doing. Google Alerts allows you to stay informed by emailing you as new content is published without you having to monitor the web every day yourself. The ecommerce automation tool is free to use.
Product Reviews Addon
Product Reviews Addon is one of the best ecommerce automation tools for collecting reviews. The app automatically asks customers to leave product reviews after they’ve received their product. Customers can rate your product from the convenience of the email they receive, simplifying the process for the customer. By automating review requests, you give your brand a better chance at gaining customer trust and generating sales, as reviews can help improve customer conversion rates.
Store owners should install this automation tool on their store because ecommerce product reviews help assure customers in their purchase, are highly trusted, and can help boost sales. Trying to manually track when to ask customers for reviews can be a challenge, and manually emailing each customer to leave a review may be less effective. With this app, customers can review the product directly in their email which makes it easier for the customer which makes it more likely that they’ll review it. The ecommerce automation tool is also free for under 50 reviews each month.
ZenDesk
ZenDesk allows store owners to automate parts of their customer service. They’re currently building an Answer Bot that allows customers to have their customer service taken care of by a bot. Customers who experience common issues can be guided through to a solution with the help of an AI. Complicated issues or unresolved issues can then be taken care of by a person, easing the workload of overburdened customer service teams.
While you might not want to completely automate your customer service, as it’s an important part of customer relationship building, but automating aspects of your customer service allows you to help your customers more efficiently. Having hundreds of customer inquiries to answer each day can delay customer response times and leave customers feeling frustrated. By using an ecommerce automation tool customers have the option of receiving support immediately through an Answer Bot. You can also hire agents at ZenDesk to respond to your customer inquiries on your behalf with pricing starting at $5 a month per agent hired.
Consistent Cart
Consistent Cart is an ecommerce automation tool that automates abandoned cart recovery, push notifications, and add to cart popups. By automating abandoned cart emails you improve your chances of converting those who’ve abandoned their cart. Store owners can set the app to contact customers via email or text. The app is fully automated, as store owners only need to set it up once.
Store owners should use Consistent Cart to ensure that they’re maximizing their sales by recovering abandoned carts. Sales can grow drastically by regularly sending out abandoned cart emails to remind customers about the products they almost purchased. Manually contacting customers can be time consuming depending on how many abandoned carts your store has each day. The tool is affordable as its only $4.99 a month after the free trial has ended.
Using various ecommerce automation tools can help you build a strong, sustainable, and easy to manage online store. Even if you only have an hour to work on your online store each day, a combination of the automation tools listed in this article will offer you a chance to build a lasting and successful online business without compromising your lifestyle.
Want to learn more?
- What Tools Do You Need To Start an Ecommerce Business?
- Free Slogan Generator
- 50 Ecommerce Tips for New
Have you tried any of these ecommerce automation tools? Which are you interested in trying out? Leave a comment to let us know!