10 Best Ecommerce Software Tools to Automate Painful Processes for Ecommerce Merchants

To become an Ecommerce pro, you need to be extremely hands on to make sure that your online store runs smoothly. But with so much to do, there are certain processes that can cause headaches and take up a lot of time.

So we've put together a list of 10 software tools that can help automate those painful processes, in order to save your time and boost efficiency....

1. Customer Support Software

Communicating with your customers is important, so by implementing a help desk on your site, you'll be able to streamline this process. Whether customers are reaching out with questions, you need to inform them that you've run out of stock, or your customers want to find answers for themselves, a help desk makes it so easy to provide exceptional customer service. Many platforms also include live chat, so your customers can ask you a question quickly, and you can provide better communication all-round.

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2. Task Management Software

Do you often find yourself starting a task, and then something else will urgently need your attention and you'll completely forget about what you were previously doing? Unfortunately a written task list doesn’t help, so what you need is a tool that helps you manage tasks effectively. Most task management tools will let you collaborate on tasks with other employees, integrate with your calendar, set reminders and stay organized.

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3. Bug Tracking Software

From time to time, bugs and errors can occur and you need to be prepared to fix the issue promptly. Problem is, if you nobody tells you there's an error then you may end up losing customers without even realizing why. That's where bug tracking software comes in. You'll be alerted to any bugs and errors in your system so the problem can be fixed without wasting any time.

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4. Email Marketing Automation

With 66% of consumers having made a purchase after receiving a promotional email, there's no denying that email marketing is one of the best tools you can have. When putting together your campaigns, you need to make sure that your emails are well designed to match your brand, plus they need to be responsive across every device.

The great thing about an email platform is that they will help you create templates without having to use code, test the email to make sure it's responsive, send the email out to your database, and provide metrics on how well your campaigns are performing.

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5. Finance Management

It can be quite time consuming to manage your accounts, billing and invoicing all together. But it's so important to the success of your store, because if you're not doing it right, then you won't get paid. Not only do you need to manage the billing side for your customers, but you'll also need to make sure you are staying on top of supplier invoicing, and your business accounts on a whole.

There's plenty of tools out there to help you manage and automate this process, with tracking, billing and invoicing templates, so you can track, dispatch and manage orders effectively.

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6. Website Analytics

Keeping track of metrics is at the heart of any Ecommerce store. You need to measure performance in order to succeed and where necessary, make improvements. A decent analytics tool will give you a detailed insight into your store, with everything from traffic and conversion insights, to which keywords you should be using and how well your campaigns are performing.

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7. CRM Software

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool is another great way to improve your relationship with your current customers, it will help streamline workflows and it can also help turn prospectives into lifelong customers. Using CRM you'll be able to collect data about your customers, so that you can provide each customer with a personalized experience when shopping at your online store. You'll also be able to make suggestions based on their shopping history, so that you can up-sell and increase your turnover.

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8. Inventory Management

It can be quite a task to manage inventory, especially if you sell a lot of various different products. Problem is, if you don't keep track of your stock, and effectively communicate with suppliers, then you could end up running out and ultimately lose out on sales. Inventory management involves overseeing the constant flow of units in and out of your business, meaning it takes up a lot of time.

Luckily there's inventory management software out there to help you automate this lengthy process. A good platform will help you improve the supply chain management and purchasing capabilities, give you insights into your key suppliers, and let you collaborate with those suppliers throughout the entire process.

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9. Marketing Automation

Marketing is a big part of running an online store. You need bring leads to you, nurture them and turn them into sales – and that's what marketing is all about. A decent marketing automation tool will give you the data needed, to effectively focus your campaigns to the right audience, and automate a lot of tasks that you may not have time for. For example, on Amazon when you purchase items, you'll notice the next time you log in the store will recommend similar items based on your history. That's all thanks to marketing automation!

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10. Social Media Management

With so many platforms out there, social media can be a painful process to many Ecommerce owners. The good news is that there are plenty of tools available that help you automate this process. A social media management tool will let view all of your social platforms in one place, so you can update your status across all sites at once. And a good tool will also provide you with analytics so you can learn how to effectively engage with your audience.

You should also look out for a platform that lets you set up various streams of content, so you can quickly find content that is related to your target audience, and share it on your social channels.

Platforms we recommend:

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If you're still planning to set up your online store, or you're not happy with your current Ecommerce model, then why not take a look at our Ecommerce solution? We've got so many ecommerce features included in our platform to make sure that you are fully-equipped to become an Ecommerce pro.