{"id":8215,"date":"2023-01-30T13:47:33","date_gmt":"2023-01-30T13:47:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/?p=8215"},"modified":"2025-05-21T09:43:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T09:43:02","slug":"e-commerce-strategy-2023-automate-these-8-processes-to-save-time-and-scale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/e-commerce-strategy-2023-automate-these-8-processes-to-save-time-and-scale","title":{"rendered":"E-Commerce Strategy 2023: Automate These 8 Processes To Save Time and Scale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keeping track of the many moving parts of a growing e-commerce business might seem plausible at the start, but before long, you\u2019ll be responsible for more manual tasks than you can count. This includes the physical elements of business such as packing and organizing stock, as well as the data-handling side; spending hours in spreadsheets and external systems which will gradually lose accuracy as you introduce more channels and orders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Automation is the magical solution, and the most successful and resilient e-commerce retailers are using it to transform the way they run their high-growth businesses. Automating your processes<\/a> means you can fulfil orders at a higher volume, sustain good customer service<\/a>, organize your supply chains and boost marketing efforts – all without breaking a sweat. Consider using automation for the following processes as part of your smart e-commerce strategy for 2023…<\/span><\/p>\n

1. Fulfil a higher volume of orders, fast<\/strong><\/p>\n

In this evolving e-commerce climate, customers want their deliveries yesterday, so speed is king when it comes to fulfilling orders. Automation can be <\/span>weaved into your entire order flow<\/span><\/a> to improve efficiency; from order routing to the nearest warehouse<\/a>, to warehouse tasks such as barcode scanning, picking and packing; through to setting delivery rules such as choosing the right shipping partner for certain geographic limits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When your operations are set up in this way, a spike in order volume or in order complexity (such as dropshipping<\/a> or wholesale orders) doesn\u2019t have to cause backlogs, grind things to a halt and keep your customers waiting. Demand can peak unexpectedly at any time – knowing you\u2019ve set up your processes to withstand the heat is key to keeping your business on top.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Create purchase orders in a few clicks<\/b><\/p>\n

Creating purchase orders manually can mean going blurry-eyed over reams of data, as you try to calculate what is selling well and which of your items need reordering soonest.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With intelligent <\/span>inventory planning software<\/span><\/a>, however, you can automatically receive stockout warnings ahead of time, as well as get replenishment recommendations based on your historic sales patterns – saving you and your staff hours of time. When you receive replenishment recommendations, you can easily create a new purchase order<\/a> and send it straight to your suppliers in a couple of clicks.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. Offer slick customer communications<\/b><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s e-commerce customers expect to be filled in on every stage of the order process, post-purchase – knowing that their order was received, that their item is on its way, where it is via order tracking, and how to leave a review or make a return once that product has arrived. Automating these email streams is an easily actioned task – and syncing your orders with email marketing apps such as Klaviyo or review sites like TrustPilot will pay off big time in customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Automated email comms can also serve as a key marketing tool, as you can inform customers of promotions, send reminders of cart abandonment, and offer suggestions for products related to their recent purchases. Boost customer service, too, by setting up automatic chatbot services – or being automatically notified when someone has left a negative review so you can quickly swoop in to rectify. <\/span><\/p>\n

4. Auto-invoice your partners and suppliers\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

In the UK at least, 73% of SME decision makers admitted they\u2019d <\/span>rather lose money than chase late payments<\/span><\/a>. Don\u2019t lose valuable revenue by ignoring late-paid invoices – and sidestep the awkward money chat by using <\/span>automation software<\/span><\/a> to send invoices and reminders automatically.<\/span><\/p>\n

By setting up conditions based on shipping and payment status, you can make sure you only invoice suppliers once orders are paid for and shipped. You can also add other channel-specific or product-specific conditions. One more task off the manual to-do list that ensures payments aren\u2019t forgotten or delayed, and your cash flow stays healthy.<\/span><\/p>\n

5. Personalize deliveries for different customer groups<\/b><\/p>\n

Automation rules mean you can offer special treatment to targeted groups of customers – such as including a \u2018welcome promotion\u2019 card for first-time customers, a free in-package gift for every VIP customer, or custom recipe cards for those who ticked \u2018vegetarian\u2019 in their sign-up form, for example. This is the perfect scenario for which automation allows you to provide a memorable level of service to your customers, without adding complications and slowing down the processing time it takes for them to get their items.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

6. Accurately predict future sales<\/b><\/p>\n

Forecasting for future demand can be an extremely time-intensive task. There are multiple factors that could impact sales, from seasonality to market shifts and unexpected trends – and manually calculating these figures is not only error-prone, but can even go out of date in the time it\u2019s taken to complete. <\/span>Automated inventory forecasting<\/span><\/a> takes this burden off the retailer – so you receive data-fuelled sales predictions alongside tons of granular inventory<\/a> insights, without getting bogged down in hours of Excel work. This means your time is freed up to focus on other areas of the business, while your inventory is optimized to always hold the right amount of stock.<\/span><\/p>\n

7. Receive consolidated, automatic updates on all systems and channels<\/b><\/p>\n

Having all your operational processes in separate systems means spending hours of time consolidating data between them, cross-referencing between spreadsheets and wasting staff time. Automate this process with a central source of truth, such as Brightpearl, which automatically provides <\/span>360 degree, real-time insights<\/span><\/a> across your entire business, without the need for manual checking or updating. This means time is spared and human error reduced, while any channels required for scaling the business can be easily <\/span>\u2018plugged in\u2019 <\/span><\/a>without disruption or fuss.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

8<\/b>.<\/span> Boost your returns processes<\/b><\/p>\n

Customers have big expectations for returns these days. Recent <\/span>research by Klarna<\/span><\/a> showed that a huge 84% of customers wouldn\u2019t go back to a brand after a bad returns experience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Automating returns makes it possible for your business to compete with the most successful retailers – as sorting incoming returns, redirecting them into inventory and refunding customers is a swift, streamlined process. With automation, you can process these returns quickly and conveniently, ensuring your customers are happy and brand loyalty is high, while still keeping costs low at your end.<\/span><\/p>\n

Intrigued by the potential of automation? Brightpearl\u2019s powerful <\/b>Automation Engine<\/b><\/a> streamlines and automates manual processes in inventory, orders, warehouse, shipping and fulfilment, reducing human error and freeing up your time to Grow Fearlessly. To try it for yourself, <\/b>book a free demo<\/b><\/a> today.\u00a0<\/b><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Keeping track of the many moving parts of a growing e-commerce business might seem plausible at the start, but before long, you\u2019ll be responsible for more manual tasks than you can count. This includes the physical elements of business such as packing and organizing stock, as well as the data-handling side; spending hours in spreadsheets […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":8216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nE-Commerce Strategy 2023: Automate These 8 Processes To Save Time and Scale - Brightpearl<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Keeping track of the many moving parts of a growing e-commerce business might seem plausible at the start, but before long, you\u2019ll be responsible for more\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/e-commerce-strategy-2023-automate-these-8-processes-to-save-time-and-scale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"E-Commerce Strategy 2023: Automate These 8 Processes To Save Time and Scale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Keeping track of the many moving parts of a growing e-commerce business might seem plausible at the start, but before long, you\u2019ll be responsible for more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/blog\/e-commerce-strategy-2023-automate-these-8-processes-to-save-time-and-scale\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brightpearl\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BrightpearlHQ\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-01-30T13:47:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-21T09:43:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.brightpearl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/maximalfocus-X3-vtq44WBc-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@BrightpearlHQ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@BrightpearlHQ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark Hook\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/blog\\\/e-commerce-strategy-2023-automate-these-8-processes-to-save-time-and-scale\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.brightpearl.com\\\/blog\\\/e-commerce-strategy-2023-automate-these-8-processes-to-save-time-and-scale\",\"name\":\"E-Commerce Strategy 2023: Automate These 8 Processes To Save Time and Scale - 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