In modern online business, the introduction of automation of various processes has become a common thing. It is difficult to imagine a website without a newsletter subscription, online payment options, and other usual services. But there are more complex tasks that integration can solve: product accounting, fulfillment control, and documentation.
What types of integrations are there?
- E-mail is a service of communication between the user or administrator and the website;
- SMS – the user receives a login/password to enter the site or information about the status of his order (tracking number, delivery department, etc.) in the form of an SMS;
- Delivery systems – the ability to immediately calculate the cost of delivery without leaving the site, with a choice of branch and city;
- Payment systems – allow you to pay for the service without leaving your home. Delivery systems and payment systems are most often used by e-commerce sites;
- Product accounting system – allows you to combine a website with a centralized and unambiguously correct data warehouse in the final instance to facilitate work with the product;
- CRM is a system that helps to manage customer relationships. It includes programs for collecting customer data, managing operations, controlling performers, analytics, and forecasting;
- Custom integrations are software that is developed individually and tailored to meet rarely encountered needs.
With the development of technologies, these basic types of integration are becoming not just additional functionality but a prerequisite for the efficiency and profitability of online business. As a result, they make it possible to get a comprehensive and automated solution to the tasks set.
E-mail newsletters
Let’s take a look at the classic option of receiving email newsletters. Let’s say you were searching for something on the Internet and accidentally came to our website. It has a lot of interesting material on the subject, and you would like to read our articles regularly.
Of course, you can visit the site from time to time and search its depths for new materials. But there is an easier way – subscribe to the newsletter, and then new information will be sent to your email.
The user’s interest is understandable, but why does the administrator need it?
A properly developed integration greatly simplifies the work with newsletters: it automatically adds all new customers to the mailing list, subscribes to the trigger chain of the newsletter depending on the relevance to the user, and allows you to save the user’s address in the database for further scheduled mailings.
It is also convenient to track registrations or events on the site, create a customer base, and control requests.
A simple example is when a visitor requests a callback about a service or product that interests him or her. An e-mail message to the administrator signals the contact and helps to continue working with the client in a timely manner. The same happens with a request, the administrator receives a notification about the request by email, which makes it easier to control and further fulfill it.
SMS
SMS messaging is becoming increasingly popular among users. Indeed, it is more convenient to show the phone with the tracking number on the screen when receiving it than to print it out from the mail and then look for this sheet.
SMS is also often used for authorization on secure websites.
In addition to security considerations, this integration allows you to remind customers about yourself, inform them about promotions or discounts in your store, and gives you the opportunity to show concern for customers by congratulating them on the holidays.
Delivery systems
If the integration with the website is carried out, the client will always enter the actual delivery data, since there is an instant receipt of information from the carrier’s server – the choice of branches and the city of delivery, the ability to calculate its cost.
Also, the track number of the postal item is displayed in the user’s Personal Account, which allows you to track the delivery status on the carrier’s website. In this case, automation is implemented to simplify delivery management.
In addition to the convenience for the user, this integration simplifies the work of the resource administrator. The correct delivery data entered by the client from the admin panel allows you to automatically create a waybill after receiving the track number of the order, which significantly reduces the process of formation and subsequent registration at the post office.
Delivery systems make it possible to monitor the status of orders, see which ones have been paid for, the terms of delivery, and control what has already been shipped and what is just being prepared for shipment.
The system has the ability to inform the customer about the need to pick up or pay for the goods in the form of an SMS message, remind the delivery address and tracking number.
Payment systems
No website can do without online payments nowadays. They allow you to organize round-the-clock automatic acceptance of payments for goods and services through popular electronic payment systems.