Increase productivity in your online shop with these 5 tips

As an online shop owner, you wear many hats. You're responsible for finance, marketing, operations, management, customer service and probably more. There's always something to do and tasks waiting to be done. Read on to find out how to get rid of the operational side of things and focus on what creates growth in your business.

What often hinders your growth opportunities is where your focus lies. If you focus solely on operations, you miss the opportunity to improve your operations and the associated helicopter view of your business. And that's exactly what gives you the opportunity to optimise and grow your business.

At Vendino, we help online shops become more productive every day, we focus on helping with product creationbut in this article, we cover some of the low-hanging fruit that you as an online shop owner can optimise. Read along and get inspired to create a better and more streamlined online store.

1. Product creation costs a lot of time

Have you ever wondered how long it takes you to create products in your online store? Maybe you even have employees to take care of the task?

With Vendino, you can save time on ongoing product creation. Vendino is a tool that you can easily start using in your webshop. Simply submit your product file and have it reformatted into a product catalogue from which you can select and import products. See how smart and easy it is by click here. Vendino streamlines your product creation and frees up the resources you would otherwise have allocated to this task.

At the same time, you lose revenue when your customers can't find the products on your shelves. So being late with new products to your product range can ultimately mean lost revenue.

2. Streamline packaging and logistics in your online store

Have you looked at all the processes related to packaging and logistics? Procurement and logistics are a core activity in your business and there are a multitude of solutions to support these areas. There is no 'one-size-fits-all' as each solution is customised to where your online store is in its journey. You can easily invest in a complex storage solution, but if your setup isn't ready for it, it can be overwhelming and overkill for your online store's specific needs.

By analysing and then systematising your processes, you can save time and identify where resources are being wasted. By optimising your business one step at a time, over time you will have a streamlined online store with a superior competitive edge. Consider implementing a WMS (Warehouse Management System) or similar.

3. Plan for seasonality and activity in your online shop

When you've been running your online shop for a few years, you'll have an overview of when your business is at its busiest. For example, the months leading up to Black Friday and the Christmas sales might be at their peak. Then it makes sense to schedule time to optimise your business when it's less busy. Remember to plan ahead and create a short-term, medium-term and long-term strategy for your online shop.

4. Automate your email marketing

You probably spend a lot of time sending newsletters to your customers, but a lot of these can be automated and you can even set up predefined flows that trigger automatic emails based on customer behaviour. This not only saves you time, but also benefits your customer so they don't get spammed with unnecessary emails. A good example of automated emails are abandoned cart emails, but also welcome emails, which then trigger other targeted emails based on customer activity.

5. Automate repetitive tasks

When you're not stuck in day-to-day tasks, such as when you're working out, walking the dog or any other activity that allows you to see your business processes from the outside. Then consider which processes are often solved over and over again.

Almost anything can be automated these days, either by developing a custom module or by utilising an existing solution. And no, developing a custom solution doesn't always mean that it has to be hugely expensive. However, it is always important to view such an implementation as an investment that should pay for itself over time. Also consider whether RPA (robotic process automation) might be the way to solve some of the repetitive tasks that are done on the computer.

Bottom line

Essentially, this article is about looking at where in your business there is room for improvement. It is often the repetitive tasks and time-wasting processes that are the root of all evil. But this is also where there is room for improvement, and by improving your online shop's wasteful processes, you can become even more competitive and grow your business in line with your strategy.

And maybe this post will make you re-evaluate the strategy you already have in place for your online shop. If so, we hope it has sparked the right thoughts that could take your online shop to the next level.