Why Your E-Commerce Site Needs a CRM

Achieving an adequate customer experience directly correlates with having a vision of defining and measuring your objectives and organization to control business processes and customer service. Since your e-commerce strategy will focus on managing your relationships with your customers by offering them information of value to them, a CRM system is imperative. It saves time, lowers costs, and boosts earnings.

That’s why many online enterprises have opted for implementing a CRM for their e-commerce operations, and the numbers prove it. A study from ReadyCloud found that the CRM industry is already worth $36 billion and boasts an annual growth rate of 27%. This continual growth rate is not surprising if we consider another figure from the same study that found that the ROI from this system is 245%. 

It also appears that this growth shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. Seeking Alpha projects that the Customer Relationship Management market will be worth $82 billion in 2025 and maintain an annual growth rate of 12%. The CRM industry is in the midst of unstoppable development that brings crucial advantages for your e-commerce website.  

8 Benefits of a CRM for E-Commerce 

1. A CRM provides business insights 

Implementing a CRM in your organization requires a pre-established business vision. That means you need to create a set of overall objectives and then implement strategies that aid their completion and continuously monitor their progress. Following their performance lets us figure out ways to optimize our strategy further in case we do not achieve the desired performance. 

Source: Guadaltech

An organization should know itself and be aware of its needs so it can identify its strengths and weakness in how it organizes its e-commerce operations. In this first stage, we have to set a series of goals that will help us improve our Buyer Persona’s customer journey and lower our customer churn. 

2. A CRM lets you measure results 

Another one of the boons of implementing a CRM is that you can analyze and study your performance using metrics. These include the conversion rate, customer retention rate, or tracking processes in real-time, among others.

These metrics are fundamental in the tracking and control phase since they will be crucial in transmitting if we are achieving our performance goals or not. They’ll also serve as a basis for decision-making. 

3. A CRM requires someone to be in charge of the project 

Putting a qualified leader at the helm of your CRM is another one of the most crucial competitive advantages for your e-commerce site. The final performance figures will depend to some extent on the dedication the leader and the team support it put in. 

This commitment from the CRM team leader and the training of everyone who will touch the system will ensure your e-commerce site properly tracks the customer journey and properly guides users through your system. 

4. A CRM puts tools in your grasp  

Using appropriate tools to integrate a CRM on your e-commerce site successfully ensures effective implementation. You’ll need to invest in the tech infrastructure or contract CRM software solutions to render the desired effect.  

5. A CRM allows for testing 

A CRM lets you carry out pilot test implementations (Sandbox) to find out how your CRM works, what tasks it carries out, or what are the necessary adjustments you have to make to avoid future issues. 

6. A CRM provides you with real-time customer information

This benefit is fundamental for the end-result of a successful implementation process. Once you have the outcome of the pilot testing, the system will use the same method with data coming from your real-life customers. What does this achieve? You’ll create a reliable database for your e-commerce site. This database will serve as the nucleus where the CRM stores all the information about your customers to start interacting with them. 

7. A CRM studies your customers

What is another boon of the CRM in the e-commerce context? A CRM system lets your e-commerce site get the most out of its components to establish the relationship between your brand and your customers. You’ll have to include new customer-centric values within the culture of your organization from the very beginning of implementation to be successful. What do we mean by this? It’s about putting your customers at the forefront, walk in their shoes, feel like they do, and more. 

Four crucial factors make up a CRM: 

• Customer identification using systems that make it easier for you to boost your value proposition. Some tools can help you do this, such as call centers, help desks, or communication scripts.  

• Database differentiation that will help distinguish every single customer to create a valuable profile that lets us calculate the value shoppers will bring to your e-commerce site. You’ll need metrics to calculate the customer lifetime value (CLV) of these customers. 

• Interaction between brands and customers. Once you find out who your best customers are, you have to propose ways of interacting with them. 

• Personalization of your CRM’s services. You’ll need to tailor every service to each specific customer. You can use all of the information you’ve gathered to do so using your supply chain.  

8. A CRM controls performance 

This benefit lets you gain total control over your system using the indicators we mentioned in Point #2. What’s the goal? To make your e-commerce site customer-centric and related to them, as well as making decisions that bring us closer and let us help anticipate their needs.  

These are some of the competitive advantages associated with integrating a CRM system with your e-commerce site. We shouldn’t forget that this responsibility belongs to the entire organization while successfully integrating them. At WAM, we’re firm believers in the philosophy of Brian Solis, Principal at Altimeter Group, who affirmed that “those companies that implement technology without considering customers’ interactions with it and their firm are at a disadvantage.”  

Vision, culture, and commitment: they are three ingredients you will most certainly need if you bet on implementing a CRM.