CRM system for an online store: useful tips and main selection criteria

In today’s digital world, where competition among online stores is growing every day, the implementation of a CRM system becomes a necessity. For example, in the US, more than 91% of companies with more than ten employees already have an appropriate CRM solution (source: TheEcommManager). With this customer relationship management tool, stores can turn anonymous visitors into loyal shoppers and improve operational efficiency.

In this article, we’ll look at important tips and key criteria for choosing a CRM system for an online store to help you make an informed decision and be more successful in eCommerce.

Already have a CRM system like Bitrix 24, AMO CRM or 1C, but are worried about security issues and the Russian origin of these products? There is a great opportunity to replace them. To get a consultation on replacing Russian software with a Ukrainian CRM solution, submit your request below!

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Why is an eCommerce CRM important?

Having a CRM solution creates a number of additional benefits for an online store. They include the following:

Ability to manage customer relationships:

A CRM system helps collect, organize and analyze customer data in eCommerce. This allows you to understand their needs, shopping habits, order history, etc. Thanks to the received data, you can interact with customers in a more personalized and effective way, for example, send special offers, recommend products, and develop loyalty.

Process automation:

The solution helps to automate many routine tasks related to customer service. For example, CRM can automatically remind you to contact the customer, track order statuses, manage product return requests, etc. This allows you to reduce the time and effort spent on administrative tasks and focus on the strategic aspects of the business.

Analytics and reporting:

The CRM system provides the ability to create reports and analyze data on sales, customers, marketing campaigns, and more. This allows you to receive valuable insights about business performance, identify trends and opportunities for improvement, and make informed decisions.

Team coordination:

CRM can serve as a centralized platform for communication and information sharing between different team members. It allows you to monitor the status of processes, work together on projects, distribute tasks and control their implementation. This increases the efficiency of the team and contributes to increased productivity.

Thus, the CRM system for an online store is an indispensable tool to help improve customer interaction, optimize business processes and ensure the successful operation of the store. It helps to maintain a database of customers, attract new customers, increase sales and improve customer satisfaction.

How to choose a CRM system for an online store?

The choice of a relevant CRM system is the basis for successful operation in eCommerce. With the wide range of options available, it’s important to know what to look for when choosing. By getting the right advice and taking into account the key criteria, you can make a justified choice of the CRM system that best suits the needs of your online store.

1. Analyze the needs of your business: The first step in choosing a CRM system is a thorough analysis of the needs of your online store. Determine what specific features and functionality you need. These can be features such as contact management, order tracking, sales analytics, automated messages, etc. A thorough analysis will help you choose the best eCommerce software.
2. Pay attention to scalability: Ensuring scalability is another important factor when choosing a CRM system. Consider the potential growth of your online store and make sure the system you choose can scale with your growing customer base and sales volume. Plan ahead and give yourself the resilience to expand.
3. Consider integration with other systems: Think about how the potential solution will integrate with other key systems used in your online store, such as an e-commerce system, inventory management system, or payment system. Integration will help ensure the continuity of data exchange and the efficient operation of all systems, which reduces the risk of errors and makes it easier to manage your online store.
4. Evaluate ease of use and learning: It is important to choose software that is easy to use and has a clear interface. This will ensure that your team learns quickly and reduces the time it takes to master a new system. Look for documentation, tutorials, and CRM vendor support.
5. Consider cost and budget: When choosing a system for your online store, consider its cost and how it fits your budget. Estimate not only the cost of implementation, but also the potential additional costs for support, updates, and other services. Make sure that the cost of the chosen system justifies its functionality and value for your business.

The benefits of an eCommerce CRM system for individual business components

• Marketing:
  • Campaign optimization: A CRM system allows you to collect data about buyers, which helps to improve targeting and personalization of marketing campaigns.
  • Effective lead management: You will be able to track and manage leads, turning them into potential customers and driving conversion.
• Sales:
  • Increased productivity: A well-chosen solution provides tools to organize and automate sales workflows, which can increase the efficiency of salespeople and reduce the time spent on administrative tasks.
  • Interaction history tracking: CRM tools track all customer contacts, orders, and communication history to improve customer service and satisfaction.
• Customer service:
  • Improved communication: The system has convenient tools for communication with customers, including email, chat, phone calls and social media. This allows you to provide a quick and efficient response to customer inquiries and questions.
  • After-sales support: You can track the warranty period, handle complaints and return requests. This will help increase customer satisfaction and maintain long-term relationships.

Why is SMART CRM a good solution for your online store?

SMART CRM is a comprehensive platform for B2B, B2C sales and service using Microsoft Power Platform technology.

The platform consists of several solutions, but in the context of an online store, we want to focus on one of them, namely SMART Order Management.

The solution is designed to create and process orders in the B2C segment and allows you to improve interaction with customers and manage the entire chain of the order process: from request to receipt of goods by the customer.

The solution functionality includes the following:

Customer base management. That is, maintaining legal entities and individuals, storing information about their contacts and addresses, as well as a complete history of interaction with the customer, in particular, the history of purchases.

Product catalog management, in particular, managing prices, discounts, the ability to add images to the product, and the multicurrency function.

Sales management as a single order handling process: from registration to receipt of confirmation of delivery to the customer. As well as fixing the terms of payment and delivery and monitoring the relevance of prices.

Address management thanks to integration with Google Maps.

And also: Communications management and Analytics and Reporting capabilities, providing a dashboard and a plan of activities in the workplace of a manager and supervisor.

Workplace in SMART Order Management

An additional and, probably, the key advantage of the solution in the context of eCommerce is the ability to connect additional modules and connectors to SMART Order Management.

For example, SMART Connector for Nova Poshta and SMART Connector for Ukrposhta, which provide the ability to create a waybill for sending to a branch or address sending when processing an order in CRM, with subsequent synchronization of the sending status. When processing an order, the generated waybill can be printed, canceled with a reason, or deleted.

Or a connector to the PayPal API, which provides the ability to create a PayPal invoice for the customer to pay when the order is processed and for synchronizing the payment status.

A complete list of additional connectors and modules, including Connector for GMS, Connector for Telephony, SMART Connector for eSputnik and the SMART Chat module, which allows you to bring the communication in all messengers to a single window, can be found on the solution website.

Overall, the SMART CRM platform was created based on the needs and demands of the local business, so if you are worried about the relevance of the solution for your company, we advise you to cast aside these doubts and learn more about the system. To get a consultation on the CRM system for your online store, submit your request below:

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