Running an online store requires you to wear many hats – from marketing to tracking customer engagement, to managing inventory and designing web pages.
That said, it used to be much more difficult 15 years ago. Today, online infrastructure has vastly improved, and there’s a wide plethora of software to help you become more efficient with day-to-day running.
In this article, you’ll learn about four types of software that will make your life much easier.
Order Management Software
For anyone running an online store, order management software is essential. Just as is the case in a physical store, one thing that customers get very irritated with is any difficulties when they get to the till – and this is even more so the case with an online store.
We’ve all fallen victim to a poorly optimized payment process, and by utilizing order management software, you can ensure that payment processing, the delivery of items, and any returns, are taken care of as seamlessly as possible.
Alongside the core stuff, most modern order management software can consolidate your sales across multiple different platforms. This means that if you have multiple different sales channels covering, say, Amazon, Etsy, and Shopify, the transaction and delivery process is streamlined and consistent between each of them; this negates the concern of missed orders or logistical errors, making for more reliable customer service.
Inventory Management Software
One of the most laborious aspects of running an online store is inventory management – but it’s also one of the most important elements and the most susceptible to human error.
Having software that helps you determine your stock levels, repeat orders, and avoid over or under-stocking can be a huge weight off your shoulders. It removes the need for folders full of paper or complicated spreadsheets, and many packages now allow for real-time updates and forecasting.
When it comes to inventory management, time is often of the essence: you don’t want to have to check everything manually when there are sales to be made, so this sort of software relieves you of the burden so that you can focus on more important aspects of your business – such as promotion and marketing.
Vendor Management Software
If you’re a larger store or a smaller one that deals with multiple different suppliers, vendor management can do a great deal to help you.
This type of software automates the task of paying vendors as well as maintaining accurate records of each transaction that goes through. Instead of having to chase the invoices yourself, everything is completed and recorded for you in the background. As well as relieving you of a huge chunk of time, the software provides peace of mind that things have gone through correctly, which can be a constant stress in and of itself.
These tools also offer clarity when it comes to the transaction process; both you and the vendor can see exactly when and what has been paid, negating the potential of most types of disputes and helping you maintain strong relationships with your suppliers.
Ultimately, your relationships with your supplies mean a great deal, and when your vendors are happy, business continues to move consistently in the right direction. You’ll still need to form human-to-human connections, but vendor software takes the grunt work out.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software
Maintaining a great relationship with your customers is essential for any business, but particularly for an online business where most interaction is done without human communication.
To this end, customer relationship management (CRM) software has become an invaluable tool in this industry. CRM helps you manage all customer interactions and personalize your marketing approach to different groups; it’s essentially the middleman between you and your customers and can be used to provide automation to a huge array of different tasks, such as email, reward programs, and customer service.
The goal is to use CRM to integrate as many processes as possible into one cohesive package, not only enabling you to build lasting relationships with your target markets, but collectively see those relationships as data.
Wrapping Up
Running an online store is tough, and if you’re doing it mostly on your own, it can feel overwhelming at times. There are so many separate elements to manage that you’re often constantly spinning plates, and your ability to multitask is taken to its limit.
Thankfully, modern technology – despite its many faults – is always there to aid you. Hopefully, the types of software described above can help you take your efforts to the next level.