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Automation is quickly becoming a vital component for many of today’s businesses. Aside from improving your efficiency, automation can help businesses by streamlining operations, providing more value to clients, and offering better overall experiences to their customers.
As much as 80% of customers think that the experiences a company provides are as important as their offerings. With automation, businesses can enhance customer experiences further. For example, they can create a detailed map that documents the customer’s buyer’s journey and use this information to provide more personalized services. Furthermore, 91% of full-time employees find that automation helps them save time and enjoy a better work-life balance.
Simply put, adopting new technologies like automation tools equips businesses for growth. This game-changing process helps businesses scale their operations more effectively while ensuring that they continue to provide unparalleled customer experiences. For Amazon sellers, automation can streamline and optimize business with ease. Amazon automation allows you to automate repetitive tasks and improve both front-end and back-end Amazon-related processes, such as product research, order processing, pricing strategies, and listing management.
What role does automation play in growing your Amazon business? In what ways can you automate your Amazon business? And why is Amazon automation such a controversial topic? We’ll answer all these questions and more in this deep dive into Amazon automation.
Amazon automation refers to using automation tools to boost your operational efficiency without having to take on additional employees to grow your Amazon business. For instance, you can use automation tools or software programs to automate processes like inventory management, order processing, and competition tracking.
Amazon automation can also refer to a service offered by third-party companies to automate certain Amazon-related tasks. You’ll provide them with the initial capital while they take care of automating processes like customer service, product service, order fulfillment, and more.
According to Amazon, three-fourths of its sellers are using automation tools to enhance their business. To date, Amazon offers three free features for Amazon sellers. These are:
Amazon’s Brand Dashboard gives sellers an overview of details, such as customer experience, sales, and brand health. Through this feature, there’s no need for Amazon sellers to rely on complex spreadsheets to get a snapshot of their performance.
Amazon’s Brand Analytics provides a more in-depth look into an Amazon seller’s performance and covers key aspects, such as search terms, demographics, and purchases. Through Brand Analytics, sellers can identify emerging trends and new growth opportunities. For example, if you’re an Amazon seller, you can download the Search Terms Report from the Brand Analytics feature to learn more about the keywords customers use to find relevant products.
Note that according to Amazon, this feature is only currently available to sellers who have been invited by a brand to use brand benefits like the Brand Analytics feature.
Amazon FBA is also a form of automation since you’re letting Amazon fulfillment centers store, pack, and ship your products. Furthermore, Amazon FBA handles other aspects like customer service, inventory management, and shipment estimates.
Several aspects of your Amazon business can benefit from automation. Discover what you can do with Amazon automation with the following features.
Automated research tools like AMZScout are capable of collecting data while helping you save time and meet customer needs. Through automating product research, you can save time because you won’t need to find profitable products manually.
Depending on the automation software you use, some solutions can optimize product listings. By optimizing your product listings through automation, you can make your products more visible and drive sales. In addition to this benefit, automation can help you with keyword research to improve your product’s ranking on search results. Streamlining your listings allows you to synchronize your inventory in real-time to help prevent problems like stockouts.
Reviews are a great way to help potential buyers learn more about the products that you’re selling. However, managing customer feedback and product reviews can get overwhelming, especially if you’re dealing with a large volume of reviews. Through review automation tools like Threecolts’ FeedbackWhiz Emails, you can streamline your Amazon feedback and review requests.
Amazon’s Transparency protects both your brand and your customers. With this feature, you can ensure that you’re only shipping authentic products to customers, improve customer engagement, and gain insights to optimize your supply chain. Transparency works by allowing Amazon sellers to track products using unique automated codes to verify their authenticity. In addition to Transparency, you can use product monitoring tools, such as Threecolts’ FeedbackWhiz Alerts, to prevent fraudulent activities like hijacking and protect your business’ reputation.
Automation solutions can help Amazon sellers automate inventory management. InventoryLab, for instance, can provide timely updates on your inventory or stocks. This helps buyers access accurate product availability information and prevents sellers from overselling or not having enough stocks.
Through automation, you can optimize how you monitor sales and orders. For instance, using automation tools lets you quickly identify which products are selling, identify growth opportunities based on your product’s past performance, and get a clearer picture of product-level sales. For tracking orders, automation helps simplify how you estimate shipment or transit times. Amazon’s Shipping Setting Automation (SSA) feature can provide you with accurate delivery estimates based on factors like customer location and warehouse location. Simply enter an ASIN into the SSA’s shipping template to get accurate delivery time estimates.
Manually tracking prices to make your prices competitive is time-consuming. On the other hand, Amazon’s free Automate Pricing tool is capable of automatically adjusting prices based on the competition’s prices. With it, you can quickly and easily adjust prices and help your products break through Amazon’s Featured Offer category, thus increasing your products’ visibility. Then, there are advanced AI-powered repricers likeThreecolts' SmartRepricer who can be customized to your business needs and goals.
Tools for customer service automation include chatbots and automated responses. These can help sellers save time on handling and responding to customer queries and allows them to respond to customers more promptly and effectively. Aside from streamlining customer communications, sellers can also automate messages pertaining to orders and shipping to keep their buyers updated. Threecolts' Onsite Support reigns in this arena with its AI tools and custom-built help centers that will amp up your support capacity. With these two, you can ensure that your customer service team can do more with less work. Onsite even helps its customers enroll in Amazon's PLS program and get a "Get Product Support" button. This can redirect irate buyers to the sellers' custom help center where they can get the help they need before they file a return or complaint.
Amazon automation, particularly Amazon automation services offered by third-party companies, is controversial for a number of reasons. Some of the factors fueling this controversy include:
While it’s not illegal and isn’t exactly a scam, Amazon sellers should be cautious when approaching third-party services that offer Amazon automation services. That’s because by using such services, you’re essentially handing over the control of your Amazon business to these agencies or companies. Aside from paving the way for a hands-off approach to overseeing your business, you may encounter scammers. Some of the red flags to look out for before working with such agencies include:
It’s also worth noting that due to the lack of transparency when it comes to some Amazon automation practices, it’s also possible that some bad actors may implement processes or tactics that are considered illegal by the US Federal Trade Commission. Some deceptive practices to be aware of include making misleading representations and implementing practices that can potentially mislead consumers.
To ensure that you’ll only be working with legitimate and reliable Amazon automation services, you must do your due diligence. Take a closer look at their track record and check reviews from past customers. Weighing the pros and cons of Amazon automation services beforehand also helps.
Automating your e-commerce business improves it in several ways. For instance, automation can help you:
Other potential benefits of Amazon automation include:
Automation lets you automate repetitive tasks, such as pricing or listing updates and customer service. This helps you focus on more complex matters. It’s an ideal option for small businesses with limited resources. Aside from improving your operational efficiency, automation also reduces human error and minimizes the need for manual labor. By reducing your mistakes, you can improve accuracy and prevent issues such as mispricing. Improved accuracy also paves the way for better customer experiences.
Automation helps you scale your operations and equip your business for growth. Through automation tools or systems, you can grow your reach, accommodate more orders, and take measures to effectively engage customers, all without putting added pressure on you or your workers.
Leveraging Amazon automation lets you stay competitive by helping you attract new customers, increase the number of transactions, drive sales, and gain crucial business insights that allow you to optimize your business processes. If you’re using automation tools systems, or services that are compliant with Amazon’s requirements, you help ensure that your automation efforts are in keeping with Amazon’s guidelines.
Note that while Amazon automation unlocks several benefits, it does have some drawbacks. For example, you may be up against technical hurdles, especially if you’re unfamiliar with Amazon automation tools and services. You may also end up over-relying on automation tools, which can cause you to have a hands-off approach to running your business and therefore, unable to quickly pivot to changing market and consumer demands.
There’s also the issue with the upfront costs of these automation solutions, as well as the costs that come with implementing them. Lastly, while there are many automation tools that offer robust security, you still need to take proactive measures to keep your data secure to prevent problems like data breaches.
Ready to give Amazon automation a try? Before diving headfirst Amazon automation, you have to know which processes need to be prioritized for automation. Here are some examples of automation tools and software you can use to get started. We’re also sharing actionable tips on how to choose the best automation solution for your Amazon business.
When choosing the right automation solution for your Amazon business, assess your business needs first. This means determining which processes should be automated first or which aspects need to be optimized with the help of automation. It also helps to choose an automation solution that offers robust integration capabilities. This way, you can have a solution that seamlessly integrates with your existing system. Other notable factors to consider include security, scalability, and AI capabilities.
Automating your Amazon business can be a time-consuming and complex endeavor. Follow these tips to help you successfully automate your business:
Using tools like Jungle Scout’s Sales Analytics tool and AI Assist Chat helps you take advantage of automation for your Amazon business. The former gives you access to comprehensive data analysis and business insights, while the latter is designed to help you provide robust support for matters like how to use different Jungle Scout tools or finding answers for Amazon-related questions.
Threecolts also offers an array of tools to help you automate your Amazon business and unlock new growth opportunities. From review automation with FW Emails to pricing automation with SmartRepricer, Threecolts provides you with everything you need to run your business more efficiently, accelerate your growth, and become more agile. Discover how Threecolts can help transform your business today.
Browse through our blog and read our other posts and data-driven insights from our very own proprietary data. Learn more about Mother's Day trends and best practices, Easter sales, price elasticity of demand, Amazon FBA fee changes, Amazon product title optimization, winter seasonal products, Amazon end-of-year sales, Valentine’s Day trends and best Amazon fulfillment centers by location, and throughput.
