Are you tired of doing the same things over and over again?
Robotic process automation (RPA) uses cutting-edge technology to simplify business processes and streamline the following tasks:
- Extracting data
- Data transfer
- Filling out forms
- Moving files
- System setup and more
In 2022, the RPA market was worth $2.7 billion globally, and it is projected to grow to over $66 billion by 2032. Many e-commerce business owners and marketers are already looking at how this technology can boost customer experience.
For example, RPA can be used to enhance e-commerce order processing, customer relationship management systems (CRM), call center operations, data analytics, and more.
Every element of the customer experience can be enhanced with RPA, and a company providing RPA solutions can take care of the above-mentioned tasks at a must faster speed.
This will give management more time and energy to focus on growing the company and ensuring optimum services and products are provided to customers.
At the same time, e-commerce sales reached $5.2 trillion in 2021. By 2026, the industry is estimated to generate $8.1 trillion, with tremendous potential for more.
The popularity of e-commerce is buoyed by its convenience for buyers and sellers. And businesses must make the buying process as seamless as possible to remain competitive.
Here’s what RPA can do for the growing e-commerce business.
Price Management
The price you set for your products or services says a lot about your business. It can be tough to balance – you want to set competitive prices and attract customers without compromising the company’s fiscal health.
With RPA, your business can easily monitor your competitors’ prices and determine the appropriate pricing based on current market conditions.
There are two ways to do this:
- Data analytics – Consolidate sales history, competitor pricing, and market conditions reports that will provide parameters to come up with suitable pricing.
- Web scraping technique – This tool scours the internet to provide you with information that can help you optimize pricing.
Ever wonder why Amazon is always changing prices for its millions of products? The most popular e-commerce platform in the world uses web scraping techniques to ensure it showcases the best price on the market. Some prices change on a daily basis if it is in an especially lively niche.
ERP Management
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software supports the automation of business operations, such as finance, human resources, supply chain, and more. ERP is all about maximizing efficiency in the everyday operations of a company.
Combining RPA and ERP further increases efficiency, as software could help with accounting, inventory management, order fulfillment, and reporting. More importantly, tasks can be completed more quickly and with few to zero mistakes.
RPA also simplifies validation and the transfer between different ERP modules and systems. Another example of using RPA to optimize ERP is e-commerce businesses using Shopify as a platform. The system automatically reflects inventory changes, eliminating the need for manual processes.
Payment Processing
E-commerce businesses must be able to support different payment platforms: credit cards, debit cards, online payment systems, mobile wallets, and even cryptocurrency.
Setting everything up can be quite overwhelming, but RPA can handle such complex systems with ease. It can initiate payment processing within seconds and according to the method the customer has chosen.
More importantly, RPA also ensures compliance with industry and payment standards, like the Data Security Standard, which concerns the security in the use of cash card, credit card, and debit card transactions.
E-commerce platforms like Alibaba, eBay, and Etsy use RPA for payment processing. Shoppers know how much they have to pay for their orders, including shipping, currency difference, and other elements before they even confirm the order.
Inventory Management
Leveraging RPA to manage inventory saves staff from manual counting, which is prone to mistakes. Software can track all supplies and monitor any issues arising within the supply chain.
RPA can easily determine, maintain, and regularly update the inventory of every brick-and-mortar store, warehouse, and distribution center. When a certain store needs more products, it can prompt the storage center to send more through the RPA system.
Nike has tapped and acquired a predictive analytics company to integrate inventories with the company’s website and app. The result is much faster and more efficient inventory management that maximizes resources.
Automating inventory management is especially vital for a company like Nike, which has more than 1,000 stores worldwide and caters to millions of customers.
Supply Chain Management
The supply chain involves various elements; manually tracking them individually takes tremendous time and effort. RPA automates the process from the start, which is order generation. The purchase order is created in an instant, sent to the next steps (raw materials supplier, manufacturer, distributor, or retailer), and finally to the customer. Management can track every step and provide feedback to significant individuals.
RPA can analyze supply and demand so the manufacturing process will efficiently deliver products on time. It can also help manage supplies and inventory to prevent products from going past their expiry or “best of” dates.
Intelligent RPA also consolidates orders from different channels – phone calls, emails, websites, or apps—to simplify inventory needs. Instead of checking various records manually, staff can look at one dashboard to access all vital order data.
Long-term Business Growth
RPA can significantly boost efficiency, eliminate or reduce mistakes, and improve productivity. All of these improvements will lead to increased sales and conversions, as well as happier customers.
The customer experience is an integral part of branding, too. It solidifies the company’s credibility, and satisfied customers become unofficial spokespersons for the business. As RPA customer experience continues to improve, it ensures long-term business growth and success.
