In a fast-paced world ruled by efficiency, ecommerce automation is a key driver that every brand can no longer ignore.

Put simply, ecommerce automation is the use of technology to put routine tasks on autopilot. This streamlines workflows and enhances customer experiences— all while allowing teams to channel all their focus into completing higher-level tasks. 

This post aims to break down the core benefits of ecommerce automation, explore high-impact automation strategies, and cover example use cases that industry leaders are leveraging. 

Let's jump into it.

Key Areas of Ecommerce that Benefit from Automation

Today, automation is widely used on repetitive tasks that don't require human logic or decision-making to pull off. 

Below are some of the main areas that benefit from well-implemented automation workflows:

1. Order Processing and Fulfillment

There's a reason why order processing and fulfillment are among the first post-purchase facets that ecommerce brands automate. 

In these stages, little to no human intervention is needed to ensure everything goes smoothly. But they're a big part of the customer experience that can make or break transactions. 

Some of the specific tasks you can automate here are:

• Sending order confirmation emails
• Sharing recipient details with logistics partners
• Posting or sending delivery status updates
• Logging and confirming delivery attempts 
• Handling and expediting return requests

2. Inventory Management

Keeping track of stock levels is one of the most time-consuming aspects of running a retail business — online and offline. 

Fortunately, most modern ecommerce platforms come equipped with built-in inventory tracking systems capable of sending automated stock updates. You could even deploy automated reordering protocols based on current stock levels or seasonal demand trends. 

3. Customer Service

Customer service automation is a branch of digital streamlining that permeates not just ecommerce, but every major industry worldwide. 

Not only does automation save time, it also enables businesses to reduce costs on important customer-facing processes. 

Some of the usual implementations of customer service automation are social media chatbots, automated FAQs or content suggestions, and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform integrations.

4. Marketing and Personalization

When it comes to marketing, automation can use pre-built workflows based on conditional triggers or AI-driven processes that deliver dynamic experiences based on real-time customer data (including fresh inputs).

Both can be extremely useful to ecommerce businesses. 

On the side of pre-built workflows, you can easily automate marketing emails based on customer actions — from recent purchases to shopping cart abandonment. As for AI-based automation, your options include presenting personalized product recommendations, predictive advertising, and rolling out image-based searches on your website. 

5. Accounting and Finance

Moving on to accounting, automating tasks like invoicing, transaction tracking, and tax calculations is already a huge win for ecommerce businesses. 

But the benefits don't stop there.

With a little help from AI, ecommerce businesses can also accelerate their data analytics efforts, extract financial insights, and make sharper decisions faster. 

If you're looking for real-world examples of ecommerce automation, look no further than leading brands like Amazon and Zappos.

Whether it's for order processing, inventory management, marketing personalization, customer service, or data analytics, these brands rely heavily on automation to handle an unreal volume of transactions per day. 

Popular Ecommerce Automation Tools and Platforms

The best thing about ecommerce automation is how accessible it is — even to startups and small online brands.

There are tons of ready-to-use ecommerce tools out there that come with turnkey automation features. Or, you could go with specialized automation software that can execute tasks across multiple platforms.

Let's take a look at your top choices:

1. Shopify Flow 

If you use Shopify, you can take advantage of Shopify Flow to visually create automated workflows without diving into code. It can help you launch targeted campaigns for your best customers, automatically reorder stock, pre-approve eligible orders, set up automated payment reminders, and more.

2. Klaviyo 

Klaviyo is a customer communication automation platform designed to empower your email and SMS marketing campaigns. It allows you to consolidate and incorporate your customer data into personalized messages, enhancing both engagement and conversion rates. 

3. Zapier

If you prefer building automation workflows DIY-style, Zapier has the flexibility and tools for the job. In simple terms, it is a dedicated automation platform that lets you string together multiple apps and services to execute automated tasks — be it through the drag-and-drop interface or with AI.

4. Gorgias

Gorgias is an ecommerce customer experience platform that can help you build a custom AI chatbot for providing delivery updates, answering FAQs, and even handling requests for changing customer information. It's designed to seamlessly integrate with Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento, PrestaShop, Klaviyo, and a handful of other ecommerce solutions. 

5. inFlow

inFlow is a more comprehensive ecommerce management platform that can enhance your operational efficiency in numerous ways. You can set up reorder notifications for low-stock items, synchronize product stock levels across multiple stores, automate accounting tasks, and more.

Before we go any further, here's a quick recap of the best ecommerce automation tools for ecommerce:

• Shopify Flow — A solid and reliable choice for Shopify users looking to automate a variety of tasks.
• Klavio — Great for launching and optimizing marketing campaigns through email or SMS. 
• Zapier — Design virtually any automation workflow you want through the beginner-friendly, no-code visual interface.
• Gorgias — Address customer service bottlenecks by deploying a helpful AI chatbot on your website. 
• inFlow — Useful for large ecommerce brands with more than one digital storefront. 

How Top Brands Use Ecommerce Automation to Their Advantage

At this point, you're probably beginning to form ideas on how you'll use automation to unlock your ecommerce store's true profitability. 

And, sometimes, the best way to learn is to look at successful campaigns and figure out what works in their ecommerce automation strategy. 

1. Amazon

It's only fair to say that Amazon is leading the ecommerce industry in terms of leveraging UI for ecommerce processes. 

Amazon automates its inventory management and order fulfillment processes to handle around 1.6 million packages per day. The company also uses automation to enable self-service customer support channels, send email notifications, provide product recommendations, and more.  

2. Sephora

Sephora is a popular beauty brand that utilizes automation to keep up with the massive amount of daily transactions. Its repertoire of notable features includes its AI-powered chatbot and personalized product recommendations.

For example, using the "Beauty Preferences" tool, customers can specify important details that may indicate the types of products they'll be interested in. This includes their skin type, ingredient preferences, hair type, existing skin concerns, and eye color.

3. Nike

One of the most noteworthy things Nike has done with automation is laser-focus their marketing audience. 

Nike also uses heaps of customer data from their mobile app, Zodiac (Nike's own analytics firm), and connected Internet of Things (IoT) devices to push hyper-targeted product recommendations through their mobile app. 

4. Walmart

Walmart is yet another global retail brand that embraces AI and automation as fundamental competitive advantages. This covers their inventory management, fulfillment operations, marketing personalization, and customer service. 

What stands out is their grocery subscription service, which is a solid value proposition for customers who already know what they need prior to walking in-store. 

With the help of automation, Walmart makes it easy for their customers to keep their household necessities in stock — all while securing recurring revenue and maximizing Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). 

5. ASOS 

Aside from the typical automation workflows, the ASOS mobile app also uses a clever implementation of AI to supercharge the user experience. 

Using the "Style Match" feature, customers only need to upload or snap a photo of any piece of clothing. The app, in turn, pulls up a list of similar-looking products — great for customers trying to piece together their outfits, and even better for ASOS's sales.  

Notice a pattern? 

While the top ecommerce brands tend to have a standout AI or automation-driven feature, they all focus on three things: enhancing the customer experience, optimizing operational efficiency, and achieving scalable growth. 

To capture these benefits, you need to approach ecommerce automation strategically and purposefully. 

Steps to Get Started with Ecommerce Automation

Here are five important steps that will ensure you reap the full benefits of ecommerce automation:

1. Identify Areas for Automation 

Before you take a stab at automation, it's crucial to identify inefficiencies in your internal and external processes. 

Start by looking into repetitive tasks and productivity bottlenecks, like inventory management, accounting, marketing, or customer support. If possible, read industry benchmarks to learn what's seen as "average performance" in these areas. 

Otherwise, consider running your own survey or gathering feedback across channels — be it social media or your own feedback forms.

Once you have verified an area with efficiency problems, you're ready to move on to the next step.

2. Choose the Right Tools

Different ecommerce automation tools are meant for different objectives. 

For example, if your main bottleneck is customer service, go for a tool like Gorgias. But if your accounting team is shorthanded, consider investing in a more comprehensive solution like inFlow.

Refer to the tools above (or ask around for alternatives) to find the perfect tool for your needs. 

3. Start with High-Impact Areas

Aligning your tool choices with your actual objectives prevents you from overspending on software you don't need. 

Remember, implementing ecommerce automation may save time and money in the long run. But you still need to cover the initial costs and time commitment required to start automating. 

Here's a tip: start automating the area that has the biggest impact on your ecommerce store's bottom line. 

For example, if you're losing a lot of money on abandoned carts, look into your conversion metrics or set up automated cart recovery emails to cash in on your customers' interest. 

4. Test and Optimize

Just like with every other area of ecommerce, there's no such thing as a perfect blueprint for successful automation. 

Understanding the best practices can put your business in a more favorable position from the get-go. But at the end of the day, your resilience and ability to adapt will decide how far your ecommerce brand can go. 

Whatever you do, keep track of relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) like conversion rate, customer satisfaction, and repeat purchases as you experiment with new strategies. Figure out what works, find out what doesn't, and look for ways to improve what can be better.

5. Scale Gradually

Slow and steady win the race — not taking reckless leaps that could lead to more harm than good. 

From an ecommerce standpoint, this can be applied by focusing on a single automation strategy at a time. 

If the strategy worked, keep the workflow running and move on to the next. Otherwise, decide whether to scrap it or come up with optimizations that could lead to different outcomes.

Common Challenges and How to Overcome

• Over-Automation — Relying too much on automation, especially in a sudden and drastic manner, could effectively dissolve the "human" side of your brand. Strike the balance by only automating low-level tasks while letting real people handle more urgent, customer-facing activities. 
• Integration Issues —  For most non-technical ecommerce founders, automation is only practical through readily-available integrations. You can easily work around this issue by learning cross-platform tools, like Zapier.
• Data Privacy Concerns — Lastly, don't forget to comply with digital security and privacy regulations like the GDPR. Modern automation tools have this covered, but you need to be extra careful especially when working with sensitive customer data.

Want to make the most out of ecommerce automation?

There's one surefire strategy that's pretty much guaranteed to get positive results: improving your website performance. 

Improving your website’s speed starts a ripple effect that can elevate nearly every aspect of ecommerce that we covered in this guide — from conversion rate optimization to customer satisfaction. 

Best of all, it only takes roughly 30 minutes and very minimal work to get noticeable improvements. Book a demo here to learn how our Edge Delivery Network can supercharge your ecommerce store's performance.

Conclusion

It's clear that automation — be it traditional or AI-based — is the future of the ecommerce industry. It is a vital tactic with a wide range of benefits, such as boosting your marketing, keeping customers happy, and improving your internal team's productivity. 

We suggest focusing on one particular ecommerce task or area that's costing you a lot of efficiency. Once you start seeing positive ROI, that's when you can explore new ways to inject more automation into your business. 

Want to learn more about ecommerce automation and recovering lost data? Check out this Nostra webinar, How to Double Shopify Sales Using Smart Automation and Enrichment Data Strategies. In this webinar, David Dokes (Polar Analytics) shares how you can recover as much as 37, 54, or even 70% of missed abandonment events with the right data-finding tools, and the know-how to use that information.