Member Article

Can you automate your way to higher e-commerce conversions?

Customer service and sales are a constant battle. Whether you run an ecommerce store or a retail chain it is the same series of challenges. Customers want new, interesting experience, great service and affordable prices. Retailers, both off and online, are competing against each other for every pound customers spend.

It has always been tough, but with the advent of e-commerce giants like Amazon, it has got harder. Two things Amazon does really well is search and automation.

There is a lot even smaller e-commerce operations can learn from the way they do automation. There is also social media listening technology which can be used as a plug-and-play solution to your CRM, as a way of strengthening your e-commerce abilities. All you need on the e-commerce side is WordPress and a simple plugin, like Jigoshop - but put that together with automation and social media listening tools and you will have the ability to listen to what your customers want and respond accordingly.

In order to do that you need to have built an email database which is large enough to invest time in doing email marketing campaigns. Another one of Amazon’s core revenue generating activities.

Social media listening tools fill the gap where larger retailers use powerful backends and algorithms. This is quick road to demographic data which you can actually use. Once you understand the keywords which customers are using then you can create campaigns which can be rolled out once keywords trigger alerts indicating action is needed.

This can be in the form of targeted adverts, content marketing, social media updates, direct messages, sponsored content or special offers. Closing the gap between when a customer is thinking about a product and you, as a retailer, suggesting they buy it, increases the chance of higher conversions. Pushing these campaigns at the right time for the relevant demographic, like sending special offers too busy working mothers on an evening not long after payday is more logical than sending the same email when they’re trying to cook dinner for three hungry children.

It all comes down to understanding what customers really want and reinforcing that message in the right way, at times which are better for them. Gradually this builds an impression of a brand which actually cares, rather than one which just keeps firing out the same generic email marketing campaigns.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Benjamin Kerry .