A Complete Guide To CRM For Ecommerce

Every business is about customers. A lot of effort is spent on attracting new customers and retaining existing ones.

The task of attracting new customers isn’t simple, on account of the fierce competition. However, there’s little doubt that the success of eCommerce companies depends on how well they interact with their customers.

Ecommerce businesses strive to reach out to their clients, learn their preferences, and determine their needs. That’s exactly what customer relationship management (CRM) systems help businesses do. In this article, we’re going to focus on the major CRM solutions for online stores and consider how to choose the best one for your business.

What Is A CRM System?

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system helps manage customer data. It supports sales management, delivers actionable insights, integrates with social media, and facilitates team communication. Cloud-based CRM systems offer complete mobility and access to an ecosystem of bespoke apps.

Why Do You Need A CRM For Ecommerce?

For those who are not familiar with the term, a Business Intelligence (BI) system is an IT solution that provides an overview of business processes, analyzes the data, gathers them in a single place, and serves as the source of all business decisions.

In order for CRM and BI systems to work, a company needs to store all the information about its clients, partners, and other entities of the business. These details are then analyzed and processed, leading to better management and efficiency, and allowing companies to make more precise decisions.

Because CRM facilitates interactions with clients, it is widely used in online commerce, which includes online stores. Once a customer has made a purchase or is just about to do so, it is dangerous to depend on the chance that they’ll repeat the purchase. One way to prevent this from happening is to get acquainted with the customer’s needs and determine the best way to reach them. Such information has a significant potential to be used in the creation of effective advertising campaigns.

The customer relationship management system underpins and supports most of the eCommerce processes, making them more systematic. It also streamlines communication with customers, making it more natural. Access to customer data, for example, helps create personal user experiences.

Although CRM systems are similar in all these respects, they differ significantly in the way they are used. The first step is to get acquainted with the main CRM solutions and understand the criteria you should base your decision on.

Free CRM For Ecommerce

No one will ever say that you have nothing to gain by using free solutions. Even if their capabilities are limited, free CRM systems can still be used for a variety of business purposes. My-datis is one such solution that you can use for free. This CRM offers limited space for personal use, meaning that it is ideal for small-sized businesses.

Go4CRM is another free CRM in the competitive market of eCommerce applications. Like My-datis, it also provides a basic set of features. However, while My-datis offers solutions for many business spheres – including accounting, Internet, logistics, and procurement – Go4CRM only suits eCommerce businesses.

If you want to try out a reliable yet free CRM system, you should definitely check out Leankit. This CRM offers a set of features similar to the ones offered by My-dati and Go4CRM. All three systems are aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises as well as sole proprietors.

All three of these systems allow you to import contacts from your email address book and social media accounts and make them follow the sales process and send you notifications on every step. They also provide contact-based management and allow you to create an efficient marketing campaign.

When it comes to CRM solutions that you don’t have to pay for, the situation isn’t clear-cut. Most eCommerce experts agree that you need to pay for a CRM system. The reason is that free CRM solutions are unable to provide all the required features that would allow you to run your business efficiently. What’s more, relying on free CRM may jeopardize the security of your business information.

What Are The Most Popular Types Of CRM Solutions For Ecommerce?

We will focus on the three most popular CRM solutions:

Cloudless CRM – cost-effective and not dependent on any specific infrastructure.

Cloud CRM – provides a high level of integration and provides the highest level of flexibility.

On-premises CRM – a stable and permanent solution. This type of CRM is similar to a cloud solution, with the exception that it is not connected to the network.

What Are The Major Characteristics Of CRM?

CRM applications should provide for contact management, allow for the formation of customer groups, provide for adequate communication tools and support a conversation with customers; they should also present timely and relevant information and facilitate business processes.

If you’re an eCommerce business looking for an optimal solution for CRM, you should consider some significant characteristics of the best CRM system. These features include:

Analytics Data Analysis. This provides a better understanding of common issues and areas of improvement with regard to eCommerce.

• This provides a better understanding of common issues and areas of improvement with regard to eCommerce. Productivity Tools. These allow you to gain insight into your business processes and increase productivity.
• These allow you to gain insight into your business processes and increase productivity. Communication Tools. They should provide for greater interaction between the members of the staff and customers.
• They should provide for greater interaction between the members of the staff and customers. Time Management Tools. These allow you to better control overall workflow processes.

When selecting a CRM solution for your business, consider what features you need today and what you might need in the future. Try to get acquainted with the capabilities of a handful of CRM solutions through a free trial to make a proper business decision.

How Does CRM System Work?

CRM solutions help you customize your sales processes and increase productivity. They efficiently automate routine tasks and provide customizable and personal user experiences. One of the most important features of a CRM solution is that it collects, stores, and processes data that has been gathered about your customers over time, allowing you to create targeted sales and marketing campaigns and provide new and interesting offers and products.

A CRM system allows you to monitor data and allocate it to different groups by using a methodology called “scenario-based selling”. This method helps you to more efficiently reach out to your customers.

All features that well-designed CRM solutions have been aimed at making the work of the company’s employees easier by automating the most routine tasks. Efficient use of CRM solutions allows you to avoid the problem of too much information at a customer level.

What Are the Features of CRM For Ecommerce?

As previously mentioned, there is a host of features that are common for all CRM solutions, regardless of whether you’re using a cloud, on-premises, or “cloudless” solution. These features include:

Contacts Management.

In most CRM for eCommerce solutions, the management of contacts involves not only storing client data but also making it more accessible. For example, it is critical to have contact lists on-demand, especially when you need to choose the right audience for a marketing campaign.

• In most CRM for eCommerce solutions, the management of contacts involves not only storing client data but also making it more accessible. For example, it is critical to have contact lists on-demand, especially when you need to choose the right audience for a marketing campaign. Business Processes. There are processes engaged in sales interaction that need to be automated.
• There are processes engaged in sales interaction that need to be automated. Workflow. CRM systems include a workflow engine, which allows you to automate business processes and manage all operations under one roof.
• CRM systems include a workflow engine, which allows you to automate business processes and manage all operations under one roof. Marketing Campaigns. As an eCommerce business, you need to have comprehensive tools that allow you to develop an effective and efficient marketing strategy. One of the best features of CRM for eCommerce is the ability to create multiple campaigns and to fully integrate social media into the system.

What Are the Most Important Features Of CRM For Ecommerce?

• Social Media Integration. This is a key feature that even the best CRM for eCommerce should have. A CRM for eCommerce that can interact with social networking platforms, and provide social media marketers with the power to run tests and monitor campaigns will be more than sufficient.
• This is a key feature that even the best CRM for eCommerce should have. A CRM for eCommerce that can interact with social networking platforms, and provide social media marketers with the power to run tests and monitor campaigns will be more than sufficient. Mobile-Friendly. Make sure your eCommerce CRM solution is mobile-ready; otherwise, it will become less relevant and could potentially slow down your business’s performance.
• Make sure your eCommerce CRM solution is mobile-ready; otherwise, it will become less relevant and could potentially slow down your business’s performance. Information Ingestion. The ability to efficiently manage customer information is a key feature; desktop and mobile apps should provide efficient data input and consumption.
• The ability to efficiently manage customer information is a key feature; desktop and mobile apps should provide efficient data input and consumption. Marketing Automation. The best CRM for eCommerce should provide for automated marketing tasks and reports, and allow you to achieve all of the 100% personalization that is achievable.
• The best CRM for eCommerce should provide for automated marketing tasks and reports, and allow you to achieve all of the 100% personalization that is achievable. Lead Management. The better your CRM for eCommerce is when it comes to entering leads and following-up with them, the simpler it will be for your team to deal with them.
• The better your CRM for eCommerce is when it comes to entering leads and following-up with them, the simpler it will be for your team to deal with them. Chat. This is a must-have feature for the best eCommerce CRM solution. This allows you to engage with prospects and customers easily and in real-time, solving their problems in an efficient manner.
• This is a must-have feature for the best eCommerce CRM solution. This allows you to engage with prospects and customers easily and in real-time, solving their problems in an efficient manner. On-Demand Data. Putting the customer data right into your hands at any given moment is one of the key features of the best CRM for eCommerce.

Conclusion

While all CRM solutions enable you to track your leads, what sets them apart from each other is their pricing and scalability. The best CRM for eCommerce will include features that help you interact with your customers better, as well as help you reach them better, thus achieving the best ROI for your marketing efforts.

If you’re considering the best CRM for eCommerce solutions for your business, it’s important to establish the overall business goals in order to determine which feature you need the most.

Good luck!