Article By: Nicola Reid

If you run an ecommerce business, you’re already very familiar with the benefits of technology and how apps and digital services can make your life easier. But are you making the most of these tools? Digital technology can improve all areas of your business, from tedious administrative tasks to complex client onboarding processes.

Not sure where to start? Connect with a branding and marketing professional like My Creative Pixel to learn where you should focus your tech upgrades to better meet your sales goals. For now, let’s dive into some impactful ways you can use technology to elevate your business!

Use Data to Optimize Processes

Today, data is king. To an ecommerce business owner who operates entirely online, data is your single most important resource. Data will tell you what your customers want, how they make purchase decisions, and exactly what steps you can take to increase sales. Analyzing your customer data is key to improving customer satisfaction and staying ahead of your competitors.

You can also use data to optimize your internal business processes. By reviewing performance metrics like your lead response time or how long it takes to onboard a new client, you can identify in efficiencies and optimize business processes to better serve your customers and improve employee satisfaction. This practice is called business process management (BPM). Typically, BPM involves a combination of outsourcing and automation to streamline time-consuming tasks. As a result, BPM will free up time for projects that require the specific skills of your employees. Improving productivity, reducing costs and errors, and saving time are the future of business process management.

Automate As Much As Possible

Next to data, time is your second most valuable resource as a small business owner. And because time is finite, it’s important to dedicate your time to tasks that actually require your skills and abilities. Even if you have time to tackle all of your daily business tasks right now, you won’t be able to keep up with everything as your business grows.

Fortunately, it’s incredibly easy to automate an ecommerce business. HubSpot explains that there are several types of ecommerce automation software designed to save business owners money and time. For example, you can sync your customers with email marketing software to trigger automatic marketing email flows based on customer purchases or other actions taken on your website. You can also use automation to gather feedback from customers after a purchase, reach out to negative reviewers, and segment customers based on behavior.

When it comes to order fulfillment, shipping, and inventory tracking, automation is a no-brainer. Look for software that integrates with your ecommerce platform to automatically create shipping labels, send out tracking numbers, and update your inventory when a customer purchases products on your website. Beyond saving time, automation can also reduce your risk of costly errors. With automation, the possibilities are truly endless!

Take Advantage of Cloud Computing

Cloud computing can save your business both time and money. One of the major benefits of cloud computing is scalability. When you host your ecommerce business on cloud infrastructure, you will always have the option to scale up your resources along with the growth of your business. This means you won’t have to spend vast amounts of money on bigger IT infrastructure—or the maintenance that comes with it.

Stability and security are two other good reasons to opt for cloud computing. Cloud computing provides a stable hosting environment during website traffic spikes without compromising on page load speed. And because cloud computing stores your data in multiple distributed data centers, your risk of downtime is virtually zero. At the same time, hosting your ecommerce store on the cloud provides advanced security features to protect your sensitive data from cyber attacks.

Move to a Dedicated Ecommerce Platform

Running your business on a dedicated ecommerce platform will give you access to powerful automations and integrations. An ecommerce platform is essentially a software application designed to host ecommerce websites. These platforms are designed to give business owners full control over their online stores without requiring advanced tech skills or coding experience.

There are many ecommerce platforms to choose from. Some are better suited to big businesses while others are designed for small stores. For example, Wix is best suited for simple websites and businesses selling just a few products. Shopify, on the other hand, offers robust ecommerce functionality for bigger brands with large product catalogs. You can also find ecommerce platforms dedicated to certain business models, such as Pattern by Etsy, a platform designed for people selling handmade goods. Learn about different ecommerce platforms so you can find what’s right for you!

Explore Different Digital Marketing Strategies

Marketing is key to the success of your ecommerce business. However, it can be difficult to decide which digital marketing strategies you should use to increase traffic and conversions. Shopify lists several marketing ideas that can grow your business. Take a look at this list and pick out strategies that align with your most pressing sales goals. For example, investing in search engine optimization (SEO) is ideal if you want to bring more organic search traffic to your website. Influencer marketing, on the other hand, is great for building brand awareness and reaching new audiences. Test out different digital marketing strategies until you find what works best for your business!

Build a Mobile App

To take your digital marketing one step further, consider building a mobile app. With 35% of US consumers using mobile apps to make online purchases, the benefits of building your own mobile app are clear. Creating an app can enhance the customer shopping experience, increase your conversion rates, and help you build long-term relationships with customers. Plus, you’ll be able to use your app to extract even more valuable data from your customers. Your app doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, simple apps are best if you want to maximize usability and create an effortless shopping experience for your customers.

Personalize the Customer Experience

Apps offer incredible functionality to personalize the customer experience to each individual shopper. You can do the same with your regular ecommerce website. As long as you have data on your customers, you can personalize your website or app to better meet the needs of each individual consumer. For example, you can display specific products or promotions that perfectly align with the interests of your shoppers.

To get started with personalization, you’ll need to use your data to segment your website or app traffic into distinct groups. For example, segment your traffic based on whether they’re new visitors, returning customers, or returning visitors who have yet to make a purchase. This will allow you to target specific groups with copy and product images that are likely to resonate. You can also segment your visitors based on geolocation or the channels they are arriving from. For example, you can show different content to visitors arriving from Facebook ads, referral links, organic search, and email links.

Offer Ecommerce Subscriptions

Offering subscriptions is a great way to boost your customer lifetime value and reduce the amount of money you spend on advertising. Because return customers are worth more to your business than new ones, finding ways to encourage repeat business is key. And digital tech makes subscription-based business models easy to implement. For example, you can install apps on your website to offer automatic reordering of favorite consumable products or provide member-only perks to paying subscribers. Building your website on a good ecommerce platform will make it easy to implement subscription models without hiring a developer.

Keep Your Employees Happy

Optimizing your use of digital technology isn’t just about delivering an exceptional experience to your customers, but to your employees as well. Digital tools make it possible to offer freedom and flexibility to your valuable team members. As a result, you can reduce your employee turn rate, boost employee engagement, and encourage your team to work harder for your business. Use digital tools to offer remote work options and enable effortless collaboration on team projects.

Your employees want access to tools that will help them work more efficiently. Outdated tech can be frustrating, especially for employees working remotely. Now is the time to replace old systems and implement faster, more efficient processes. The best way to do this is to ask your employees what they want. Your employees want to be able to choose the tech they used to complete their work, so talk to your workforce and listen to their concerns.

Digital technology can do a lot for your ecommerce business. Beyond using technology to accept orders online, look for tools that will expand the functionality of your ecommerce business and take it to new heights. By optimizing your business and offering exciting new features to your customers, you’ll be able to compete with the likes of big business giants like Walmart and Amazon!

Do you need marketing help? My Creative Pixel offers logo design, graphic design, branding, email marketing, and more. Fill out the contact form on our website to get in touch today!

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