6 benefits of an Integrated eCommerce Marketing Platform

Eliminating human errors and duplicate data entries

The very first challenge of sustaining a vast ERP system for eCommerce ventures lies, expectedly, in human error. Processing large quantities of orders manually lends itself to oversights and mistakes such as the following;

• Duplicate data entries
• Transposed numbers
• Wrong or misspelled data entries
• Lost orders

While such mistakes may not incur immediately visible damage, their effect and quantity only scale with size. As one’s backlog expands, the room for such errors naturally increases as employees struggle to manage the added strain. Furthermore, potential mismanagement of data and orders can deteriorate brand loyalty and jeopardize growth in the context of eCommerce. Online avenues and retail sites offer public, visible customer reviews as a testament of quality – which can conversely amplify even the slightest imperfection.
As such, an integrated eCommerce marketing platform can overcome this challenge by automating data entry. It can process any volume of orders with the same efficiency and swiftness while providing a nearly error-free process. While it may not be absolutely infallible, as no software solutions truly are, it can certainly offer more confidence than manual data entry.

Automated order cycles and timely data updates

By the same token, manual order cycles and data updates also offer room for error. Moreover, they become increasingly inefficient in terms of time investment on a scale. On both accounts, manually updating data can be inefficient, error-prone, and needlessly time-consuming. An integrated eCommerce marketing platform can address both through similar yet distinct functionalities.

An integrated eCommerce marketing platform can automate order cycles
Traditionally, sizeable volumes of orders may require manual management, exporting and importing them into back-end accounting systems. The massive potential volume of eCommerce orders can encumber employees regarding this task, slowing down order processing speed and shipping. In response, such platforms can automate this process and enable seamless data entry.

An integrated eCommerce marketing platform can update customer and inventory data in a timely manner
Similarly, manual data updates can present a challenge and entail errors. One needs to update inventory after each incoming order, and customer data changes fairly regularly. Needless to say, errors on either front can damage operations and one’s image. Furthermore, both of those processes can demand unreasonable effort and precious time that one could invest elsewhere. As such, these solutions address this challenge by automating data updates; bi-directional integration can keep inventory and customer data synchronized and up-to-date.

Data integration and customer segmentation

Moreover, still on the subject of data management and analysis, data integration is an irreplaceable asset. Siloed data inaccessible by specific employees or departments can hamper internal cooperation and thus jeopardize the final customer experience. Additionally, fragmented data can prevent proper lead analysis, which can, in turn, lead to multiple shortcomings;

• Poor lead acquisition and profitability analysis
• Disjointed marketing efforts
• Lower ROI across marketing and sales endeavors

An integrated platform can address such challenges by providing centralized, cross-channel data accessible by multiple devices. Additionally, it offers powerful insights into customer behavior, interaction history, and specific touchpoints. Thus, brands and businesses can use such data to segment customers according to their demographics and other characteristics, behavior, and profitability. In turn, they can provide highly personalized marketing campaigns and purchase funnels, which yield significantly better results.

Improved customer experience and customer service

With the aforementioned benefits of consolidated data and optimized internal cooperation, another benefit of an integrated eCommerce marketing platform lies in customer satisfaction. In the digital age, customers expect a seamless experience and impeccable customer support. A consolidated, detailed database can facilitate both to a significant degree.

In terms of customer service, swift access to customer interaction history and past inquiries can expedite the process. Common and frequent inquiries can be identified more easily, and the appropriate agents for each incoming communication can be notified more effectively. By the same token, such a trove of valuable, actionable data can significantly improve customer experience. Consider the following data-driven initiatives;

• Optimal lead acquisition and conversion through well-timed communication
• An increased volume of user-generated content, such as public comments and reviews, through post-purchase requests
• More engagement and loyalty incentives, such as tailored content, loyalty points programs, and referrals

An integrated eCommerce marketing platform can facilitate the above, and more, to holistically improve operations. In turn, such efforts can unclog the back-end of any brand or business, and by extension, improve the customers’ final experience.

Reduced operational costs

Furthermore, automated accounting processes can help reduce operational costs. Eliminating human error can be beneficial by itself, as outlined above, but it also has the byproduct of reducing labor costs. As such, fewer employees and administrators need to take up the burden of manual data entry and management.
Simultaneously, outside of accounting automation, data-driven choices can reduce marketing costs as well. With more data in hand to inform focused marketing decisions, one can reduce the costs of misplaced or mismanaged marketing efforts.

Time efficiency

Lastly, the data, automation, and overall operational efficiency that an integrated eCommerce marketing platform can offer can only conclude with time efficiency. Time is a vital, valuable resource that can dictate growth rates and even sustainability. From reducing the administrative burden of accounting to streamlining data entry and collection, automation can indeed streamline one’s time investments.

In turn, time saved from redundant, automatable tasks can be invested in more productive activities, such as producing high-converting marketing content. Lead analysis can highlight the most valuable marketing platforms, content types, and lead generation strategies for one’s intended audience – equally time-intensive but arguably far more productive tasks to focus on.