It’s safe to say that living in the ecommerce world of the present day is akin to trying to survive in the Amazon jungle. At least in the sense that juggernauts like this marketplace continue to set standards that are copycatted by nearly every other ecommerce store that desires surefire success.
Of course, small business is the heartbeat of the internet, even in lieu of big corporate contenders. And just because there may be monsters like Amazon and eBay lurking in the thickness doesn’t mean that smaller online entities are deprived their true chance at success.
What it does mean, however, is that in order to compete, online stores need to assure that they sustain an omni-channel presence that attacks every possible angle for measurable success.
The drawback, up until recently, with harnessing this advantageous approach is that it’s very difficult to compare analytics, mine customer data, expand customer relationships and, ultimately, know customer behaviors and patterns across broad sales channels and demographics.
Therein enters the possible solution. It’s being procured by leading services providers, and it has many bells and whistles. This newfangled SaaS is a cloud hosted ecommerce CRM software that connects all the dots. But just how does it help you succeed with your online store?
Secure Cloud Hosting
For starters, no more software install requirements. This drawback has previously hindered many providers and end users. With cloud hosting, not only is the level of privacy and security greatly enhanced, but usability is also rewarded with simple onboarding.
Client servers host the data and the software while user nodes merely connect and look at it while the host manages the bandwidth and functions. This equates to effortless onboarding and across-the-board compatibility and usability.
Integrated, Seasonal Analytics
Perhaps the greatest benefit of ecommerce CRM is that it has the ability to instantly integrate with all of the sales channels a retailer is using. This integration – typically via API – enables the seamless gathering and repopulation of all the analytics, metrics and trends.
Retailers can then instantly organize this data into meaningful breakdowns and charts. Shoppers’ patterns and tendencies can be quickly identified and harnessed to procure more substantial relationships, outreaches, sales events, etc.; resulting in healthier conversions.
Shipping & Returns
For far too long have smaller retailers been forced to work amongst numerous software sets just to accomplish their daily tasks. But with built-in integrations like shipping and returns software, this worrisome headache becomes a thing of the past.
Instead, newer CRM for ecommerce merges all of this into one robust, central hub. This means that as orders come into any sales channels, they are instantly imported into the CRM. They can be sorted, edited and managed, with the ability to compare rates and generate shipping labels as well as update customers.
On the returns side, the software enables an automated system that lets customers process a return and generate a return shipping label from the retailer’s website; just like Amazon allows. Serial returners can be identified and avoided in future sales events while loyal customers can be remarketed to and rewarded.
Social CRM
Of course, social CRM is a backbone, too. The ability to import your analytics, tailor campaigns and directly connect with customers to expand the relationship is essential to success.
But ecommerce CRM takes it a step further by allowing users to cater messages, track trending hashtags and products, and even find comments that relate to their demographic, amongst many other useful social features and functions.
Newsletters & Emails
Naturally, CRM that’s designed for ecommerce will include the standard fit and fare of traditional marketing tools. Things like an email and newsletter designer can be expected.
But the main difference here is that you can take the analytics from your sales channels and market your products to customers who are the most likely to convert and the least likely to make a return, with aftermath analytics that you can use to improve your sales events even more in the future.
Live-Action Networking
Since it’s cloud based, newer CRM allows you to connect your entire team in real-time. You’ll likely have to purchase additional licenses once you reach a specific user threshold. But the connectivity is there and is powerful.
Imagine sharing a task list that’s complete with live chat with tagging and a team calendar that connects your entire back office. Now accountability is no longer in question. Being able to know that your entire team can access your operational data, and communicate in real-time with file sharing is a priceless addition to any ecommerce business.
These are but a few of the very many features that newer, groundbreaking ecommerce CMR solutions have to offer. Such usability can enable store operators to improve revenue, reduce returns and increase productivity exponentially. It’s truly must-have in today’s Amazon jungle.
