How ecommerce companies can rapidly boost revenue
June 15
At Patchworks, we’re always trying to set our sights beyond just integrations. By understanding ecommerce as a whole, it better positions us to understand our clients’ needs and provide a better service.
That’s why we’ve taken the time to think about some of the most effective ways ecommerce companies can boost their revenue and growth.
But we’re not just interested in the how - we also want to share why good data integration can feed into those methods and help you achieve your goals.
Here’s five ways ecommerce companies can rapidly boost their revenue - and how the Patchworks platform can help.
Enhance customer experience
Turning a profit starts with your customers, and convincing them to part with their hard-earned money.
The importance of driving traffic to your website is often talked about, but you won’t get anywhere if there’s nothing on your store to push those visitors into becoming customers. That’s why you need to prioritise customer journey and experience; from making sure links are functioning properly to having an effective tech stack.
That could be something like personalisation software, or systems such as buy now, pay later (BNPL) which provide visitors with more options.
Personalisation software, in fact, has been shown to increase sales by 20%.
But to reap the benefits, those systems need to be seamlessly integrated. Poorly integrated personalisation software, for example, is messy; if your customer data isn’t going to the right place, your tech could end up showing the wrong thing to the wrong people.
Patchworks has a range of partners who specialise in marketing solutions, such as Emarsys and Nosto, and with our low code/no code platform these systems are a click away from implementation.
Identify and retain your most profitable customers
Increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95% - so it goes without saying that building loyalty with your customers should be top of your list for boosting your revenue.
That starts with identifying who your most profitable customers are. Which segment of your audience brings in the most revenue? Who do you already cater to the most? By focusing your efforts, you can rapidly multiply your profits.
Using a customer relationship management (CRM) platform can help you identify those targets. Companies such as Salesforce help you collect and aggregate customer data so you can narrow down your objectives and construct an effective sales pipeline.
The next step is to put in place a strategy for retention. It could be as simple as implementing a loyalty system so returning customers are rewarded and given incentives to shop again - or perhaps, through your CRM, you notice a certain customer profile would find a specific solution such as BNPL appealing.
Whatever strategy you decide to take, it’s important to get your integrations up to scratch. To effectively use customer data, it needs to be correct and flowing to the right place; poor implementation can spell disaster.
Reduce and streamline returns
Around a quarter of items purchased online are ultimately returned, compared to just 8% in store. That’s a staggering figure which, if you’re not proactively trying to combat, is likely causing you thousands in lost revenue.
An item being returned doesn’t just set you back by the flat cost being sent back to the customer, after all. You also need to consider the cost of labour in processing a return, the cost of potentially replacing the item if it’s been damaged, and possibly even the cost of issuing compensation such as discounts to avoid losing that customer forever.
Of course, it’s impossible to completely eliminate returns. It won’t always be your fault; a customer might order the wrong size, or just decide they don’t like the product. But you can make moves to reduce returns, and simplify the process to make it cheaper and more efficient.
For example, partnering with a company such as ReBOUND which specialises in reverse logistics will provide your customers with more options for how they send orders back, and what they receive in return.
And with a properly integrated returns solution, you’ll see the most benefits from taking that route. By ensuring your data flows between systems, you can reduce refund times to become instantaneous - so your customers will get their money back as soon as possible.
Optimise your stock
The fastest way to ensure a new customer won’t buy from you again is to have your stock incorrectly recorded on your store. They’ll pay for an item, only to be told it’s run out - and that negative experience could be enough to make them never visit again.
That’s why you need to optimise your stock pool, and make sure your website is consistently up-to-date with how much of a specific item you have left.
Reducing overselling and underselling through stock control can greatly improve your profits and growth. It’s not just about reducing how many refunds you issue; it’s about ensuring even your underperforming stores don’t affect your bottom line, and your products can be diverted to where they’re needed most.
Integrating Patchworks’ Stockr solution is one way of dealing with this. With our expert data integrations combined with Stockr unifying your stock pools, your stores will be constantly and quickly updated.
Improve fulfilment efficiency
All customers want their order to arrive on time - and all ecommerce companies want to meet that demand whilst not spending a fortune on making it happen.
The first thing to consider when looking at upgrading your fulfilment system is what type of business you are, and how you currently handle your picking, packing, and shipping.
Perhaps you use a 3PL to take care of most things for you, or you’re still using your own in-house warehousing system which can’t keep up with your competitors.
By implementing a WMS or 3PL with your ecommerce platform, you can make sure your fulfilment is in the capable hands of a specialist partner. There’s plenty of companies which specialise in specific industries, too, so you can effectively choose software based on your own business needs.
With the Patchworks platform, integrating a fulfilment system has never been easier. Our self-serve capabilities means you can choose from a selection of partners and connect with them immediately.
And by outsourcing your integrations to experts, you ensure all the necessary data will flow efficiently from your platform to your WMS or 3PL.
Connect with Patchworks
At Patchworks, we provide expert integrations on a self-serve platform. With our low code/no code integrations, teams of all technical levels can plug-in-and-play the best of breed systems quickly and easily.
That’s why, if you’re looking to rapidly boost your revenue through connecting software solutions, you should consider Patchworks as your partner.
Our team of experts works round-the-clock to give you the best service possible. For a free consultation and more information on pricing, contact us today.
That’s why we’ve taken the time to think about some of the most effective ways ecommerce companies can boost their revenue and growth.
But we’re not just interested in the how - we also want to share why good data integration can feed into those methods and help you achieve your goals.
Here’s five ways ecommerce companies can rapidly boost their revenue - and how the Patchworks platform can help.
Enhance customer experience
Turning a profit starts with your customers, and convincing them to part with their hard-earned money.
The importance of driving traffic to your website is often talked about, but you won’t get anywhere if there’s nothing on your store to push those visitors into becoming customers. That’s why you need to prioritise customer journey and experience; from making sure links are functioning properly to having an effective tech stack.
That could be something like personalisation software, or systems such as buy now, pay later (BNPL) which provide visitors with more options.
Personalisation software, in fact, has been shown to increase sales by 20%.
But to reap the benefits, those systems need to be seamlessly integrated. Poorly integrated personalisation software, for example, is messy; if your customer data isn’t going to the right place, your tech could end up showing the wrong thing to the wrong people.
Patchworks has a range of partners who specialise in marketing solutions, such as Emarsys and Nosto, and with our low code/no code platform these systems are a click away from implementation.
Identify and retain your most profitable customers
Increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost profits by 25% to 95% - so it goes without saying that building loyalty with your customers should be top of your list for boosting your revenue.
That starts with identifying who your most profitable customers are. Which segment of your audience brings in the most revenue? Who do you already cater to the most? By focusing your efforts, you can rapidly multiply your profits.
Using a customer relationship management (CRM) platform can help you identify those targets. Companies such as Salesforce help you collect and aggregate customer data so you can narrow down your objectives and construct an effective sales pipeline.
The next step is to put in place a strategy for retention. It could be as simple as implementing a loyalty system so returning customers are rewarded and given incentives to shop again - or perhaps, through your CRM, you notice a certain customer profile would find a specific solution such as BNPL appealing.
Whatever strategy you decide to take, it’s important to get your integrations up to scratch. To effectively use customer data, it needs to be correct and flowing to the right place; poor implementation can spell disaster.
Reduce and streamline returns
Around a quarter of items purchased online are ultimately returned, compared to just 8% in store. That’s a staggering figure which, if you’re not proactively trying to combat, is likely causing you thousands in lost revenue.
An item being returned doesn’t just set you back by the flat cost being sent back to the customer, after all. You also need to consider the cost of labour in processing a return, the cost of potentially replacing the item if it’s been damaged, and possibly even the cost of issuing compensation such as discounts to avoid losing that customer forever.
Of course, it’s impossible to completely eliminate returns. It won’t always be your fault; a customer might order the wrong size, or just decide they don’t like the product. But you can make moves to reduce returns, and simplify the process to make it cheaper and more efficient.
For example, partnering with a company such as ReBOUND which specialises in reverse logistics will provide your customers with more options for how they send orders back, and what they receive in return.
And with a properly integrated returns solution, you’ll see the most benefits from taking that route. By ensuring your data flows between systems, you can reduce refund times to become instantaneous - so your customers will get their money back as soon as possible.
Optimise your stock
The fastest way to ensure a new customer won’t buy from you again is to have your stock incorrectly recorded on your store. They’ll pay for an item, only to be told it’s run out - and that negative experience could be enough to make them never visit again.
That’s why you need to optimise your stock pool, and make sure your website is consistently up-to-date with how much of a specific item you have left.
Reducing overselling and underselling through stock control can greatly improve your profits and growth. It’s not just about reducing how many refunds you issue; it’s about ensuring even your underperforming stores don’t affect your bottom line, and your products can be diverted to where they’re needed most.
Integrating Patchworks’ Stockr solution is one way of dealing with this. With our expert data integrations combined with Stockr unifying your stock pools, your stores will be constantly and quickly updated.
Improve fulfilment efficiency
All customers want their order to arrive on time - and all ecommerce companies want to meet that demand whilst not spending a fortune on making it happen.
The first thing to consider when looking at upgrading your fulfilment system is what type of business you are, and how you currently handle your picking, packing, and shipping.
Perhaps you use a 3PL to take care of most things for you, or you’re still using your own in-house warehousing system which can’t keep up with your competitors.
By implementing a WMS or 3PL with your ecommerce platform, you can make sure your fulfilment is in the capable hands of a specialist partner. There’s plenty of companies which specialise in specific industries, too, so you can effectively choose software based on your own business needs.
With the Patchworks platform, integrating a fulfilment system has never been easier. Our self-serve capabilities means you can choose from a selection of partners and connect with them immediately.
And by outsourcing your integrations to experts, you ensure all the necessary data will flow efficiently from your platform to your WMS or 3PL.
Connect with Patchworks
At Patchworks, we provide expert integrations on a self-serve platform. With our low code/no code integrations, teams of all technical levels can plug-in-and-play the best of breed systems quickly and easily.
That’s why, if you’re looking to rapidly boost your revenue through connecting software solutions, you should consider Patchworks as your partner.
Our team of experts works round-the-clock to give you the best service possible. For a free consultation and more information on pricing, contact us today.
