RPA USE CASES IN RETAIL AND E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY

3 min Feb 08, 2021 Sandip Singh RPA Views : 1515
RPA USE CASES IN RETAIL AND E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY

The retail sector has witnessed a huge change since the turn of the century. What once was considered a hit is no more in vogue or even makes sense. The way people shop has seen a swift shift and organizations that really want to stay at the top of their game better shift as swiftly. 

There are multiple factors which are influencing this wave of change. To help businesses stay afloat and thrive, we bring to you this blog on RPA use cases in retail and e-commerce industry, which will help you understand why your business needs the expert assistance of RPA or robotic process automation today. 

The imbalance that has been created between the needs and wants of the customer and that what’s offered by the businesses has a lot of influencing factors. These balances can most certainly be rectified by the incorporation of RPA in retail sector and e-commerce. 

Here are some factors that have contributed to the imbalance -

→ Customers expect to experience a seamless buying experience, which not all businesses stand tall to meet. 

→ In the era of faster delivery, the supply chain gets disrupted more often than a customer would prefer. 

→ While technologies such as robotic process automation are there, very few businesses come forth to utilise them. 

→ With hundreds of brands, offline platforms, and online options being available, getting a customer to notice your brand gets tricky. 

→ The cost of productions has also risen in the years gone by. 

With exponential technologies like Robotic Process Automation in the picture, we can certainly expect a shift in the paradigm for the businesses very soon. There are multiple RPA use cases in e-commerce. Also, you are bound to find use cases of RPA in retail sector as well. In either case, the turn is expected to be positive. 

But before we begin telling you about RPA use cases in e-commerce and retail, here is a one line summation of what the role of RPA is. 

The biggest role of Robotic Process Automation is to help organizations lay off the recurring tasks to a bot and keep their employees’ skills and time open for more concrete tasks. 

There are multiple RPA use cases in retail and e-commerce, the top six of which are discussed here. Keep reading! 

RPA Use Cases In Retail And E-commerce Industry

There is no end to how widely the retail and the e-commerce industry can benefit by making use of RPA Services in their day-to-day activities. When the skills and time of employees are redirected towards more concrete tasks, growth is inevitable. 

Here are some RPA use cases in retail and e-commerce industry: 

 Also Read: Automation Anywhere Complete Guide 2021

1. SALES ANALYTICS 

No business can overlook the need to conduct a comprehensive analysis of humongous piles of sales data and consumer behaviour regularly. After all, these analyses are amongst the biggest factors in devising marketing plans that actually work. But manually creating and analysing such reports on a regular basis can turn out to be a true nightmare. 

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It is at such times that RPA bots can prove to be a godsend as they can efficiently analyse these exhaustive reports with fluency. 

2. CUSTOMER SUPPORT MANAGEMENT 

When we talk about RPA in retail sector and e-commerce industry, it comes without saying that the level of benefit in the case of customer support management is quite high. 

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Customers are what drives a business to prosperity and thus, it becomes important to keep them highly satisfied with the services. The first line of contact can very well be managed using RPA bots for a 24/7-hour assistance. 

3. ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING MANAGEMENT 

ERP management system is a powerful tool that helps businesses in planning and managing all core activities like manufacturing, finance, supply chain, services as well as related central processes. 

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These processes are mostly repetitive and hence can be competently taken over by RPA bots, reducing the time and the chances of errors significantly. 

4. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT 

Planning is an inseparable part of every business, online or offline. A business, in order to be successful, should be in line with the needs and demands of its consumers. However, doing everything manually is bound to lead to errors one day. 

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But the tables have turned for businesses that use RPA in e-commerce and retail. The right data is picked to formulate a strategy that would work for your brand and thus will yield brilliant results. 

5. CLAIMS AND REFUNDS 

No business, irrespective of how large or small it is, can escape the wrath of claims and refunds. After all, damage is unavoidable. 

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As careful as you might be while packing and shipping, a business should always be prepared for a mishap. But this does not mean you have to bear the ire of expenses too. All you have to do is find the proof, submit it, and go through a series of steps. 

However, the entire process can be cut to half by employing RPA bots to do the same for you.  

You may also like: Attended vs Unattended vs Hybrid Bot

6. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT 

The way to fully keep your customers satisfied is by giving them a complete blissful shopping experience. And a large part of the deed is the last step - shipment. 

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SCM or supply chain management relates to keeping a track of the shipments, reverse shipments and inventory management, among others. Since each of these steps can be extremely monotonous and are open to clerical errors, appointing RPA bots to handle it can give your business a much-needed boost in the right direction.  

Conclusion

While many still don’t believe it, the right  implementation of RPA in retail sector can save them millions of rupees. But since multiple business owners have become quite smart and savvy today, missing out on such an opportunity does not seem doable. 

We hope this blog on RPA use cases in retail and e-commerce industry has helped to take a step towards a deeper understanding of why your business needs this automation too.