Have you noticed how much time your employees spend on doing repeated administrative tasks? Do you ever wonder what they could have been doing instead of spending their office hours on repetitive and administrative tasks? If yes, you are not alone.
This constant need for employees to do repetitive administrative tasks that take away important time from their daily routine, which they could have invested in doing strategic tasks and fostering business success instead, has been a global concern. This concern has led to the development of workflow automation tools. One of the names that has become synonymous with workflow automation tools is Act-On. However, with so many alternatives to Act-On evolving, it’s a crucial time to evaluate Act-On marketing software alongside its competitors to determine which platform is best suited for your e-commerce needs.
This comprehensive blog explores the world of workflow automation for e-commerce while emphasizing Act-On marketing software. So, to identify what software you should choose, Act-On marketing software or alternatives to Act-On, for automating your workflow, read till the end.
The Power of Workflow Automation in E-commerce
Workflow automation can prove to be the catalyst for your E-Commerce business, as it helps E-Commerce businesses achieve efficiency and precision while enhancing their ability to adapt to the changing market demands.
So, let’s explore the benefits of workflow automation for E-Commerce businesses, however before that let’s take a step back to understand what workflow automation is.
What is Workflow Automation?
Workflow automation at its core is associated with using technology to enhance different business processes and tasks. With workflow automation tools you can automate, streamline, and optimize your business’s different processes and tasks. In the context of E-Commerce business, you can use workflow automation for a wide range of activities like order processing, marketing campaigns, inventory management, increasing conversion with lead nurturing, customer support, and much more. So, without further ado, let’s look into some of the major benefits that workflow automation can provide.
Benefits of Workflow Automation for E-Commerce.
The major benefits of workflow automation involve:
- Scalability: There are many alternatives to Act-On, which provides scalable tools. This means that the workflow automation tools from alternatives to Act-On will adapt to your growing business as its complexity increases with time. As a result, with these workflow automation tools, your E-Commerce business can easily handle increased order volumes and customer interactions, developing with growth. The need for significant manual intervention will decrease as well, as workflow automation tools streamline workflow while automating repetitive administrative tasks.
- Efficiency: By implementing alternatives to Act-On or Act-On marketing software you can enjoy automated workflow, which reduces the likelihood of human errors. As a result, you can enjoy enhanced processing time and developed consistency in tasks, which will increase the efficiency of your overall business.
- Customer Experience: With alternatives to Act-On or Act-On marketing software you can efficiently personalize customer interactions as these tools collect abundant customer data and make those data available as insights at the fingertips of employees. These insights can be used for personalizing communications. Besides, many automation software comes with the feature of omnichannel communication and automated message templates, which can be used for reducing response time and improving overall customer service.
Act-On: A Leading Workflow Automation Solution
Now that you have realized the benefits that you can achieve with workflow automation tools, let’s explore how Act-On marketing software, a name synonymous with work automation software, can benefit your overall E-Commerce business.
Act-On marketing software is a robust marketing automation platform, which is known for helping businesses by streamlining their marketing and sales processes. The primary focus of Act-On marketing software is enhancing the marketing operations of a business. But it also provides workflow automation features to cater to the specific needs of e-commerce enterprises.
Challenges with Act-On
Even though Act-On marketing software has been the preferred choice of many businesses for marketing automation, it is not free of limitations. As impressive as Act-On marketing software might be, it is necessary to acknowledge its challenges and limitations that as an E-Commerce business you might have to face. So, let’s explore some of the limitations and common issues that users of Act-On marketing software face.
Here are some of the common limitations of Act-On marketing software:
- Pricing: One of the main limitations of Act-On marketing software is its pricing structure. The pricing structure of Act-On marketing software is on the higher side, especially if you want to enjoy its wide range of features. This can be challenging for small to medium-sized eCommerce businesses that have limited budgets but need workflow automation to be able to compete due to the increasing numbers of SMEs across the global market.
- Learning Curve: Another limitation of Act-On marketing software is its learning curve. The interface of Act-On marketing software is known for having a learning curve, which increases the time for the users to become proficient in utilizing its full potential.
- Integration Challenges: Besides the challenges of pricing and the learning curve, some users of Act-On marketing software have reported difficulties with integrating the software. Integration of marketing automation software is necessary for businesses to be able to enhance their overall workflow, and this specific challenge faced by Act-On marketing software users is a big letdown.
- Complexity: Another common issue that has been reported by Act-On marketing software users is the complexity of the platform. This complexity demands expertise. However, not every business has dedicated experts who can understand complex software and help the business to utilize its full potential. Small and medium-sized businesses especially lack the funding needed for hiring dedicated experts or training their employees to learn how to utilize complex software like the Act-On marketing software.
Top E-commerce Workflow Automation Software in 2023
Even though Act-On marketing software is a formidable player in e-commerce workflow automation, the availability of abundant and efficient marketing automation tools for workflow automation has raised the competition Act-On marketing software faces today. Moreover, the above limitations and challenges are one of the main causes why e-commerce businesses regardless of their size are looking for alternatives to Act-On.
So, let’s look into some of the best alternatives to Act-On for E-Commerce workflow automation.
EQUP: EQUP is an emerging player in the field of workflow automation, it is one search alternative to Act-On that you can consider for your E-Commerce business. While being relatively new, EQUP has gained attention for its innovative approach and its user-friendly interface.
Besides, what makes EQUP one of the best alternatives to Act-On is its pricing structure. With this Act-On marketing software alternative, you can streamline your order processing by automating order confirmation emails, updating tracking, and handling returns and refunds.
This specific Act-On marketing software alternative can also enable you to hold personalized marketing campaigns as it empowers e-commerce businesses with automated marketing campaign templates, and abundant customer data, which can be used for creating highly personalized marketing campaigns.
Moreover, with EQUP you can manage your inventory in real life to avoid stockout and overstock situations, enhance your customer support with personalization, and enjoy seamless integration as well.
HubSpot: HubSpot is another renowned marketing and sales automation platform, which can be a great alternative to Act-On marketing software. HubSpot is known for offering robust CRM capabilities and a comprehensive suite of marketing automation tools, which can enable you to enhance your capacity for lead management, email marketing, and customer interaction.
The hallmark of this Act-On marketing software alternative is its user-friendly interface and effective customer relationship management. However, the pricing structure of this specific Act-On marketing software alternative can be an issue for businesses with limited budgets.
Mailchimp: Mailchimp is a householder name in email marketing and marketing automation, which is known for offering e-commerce-specific features. With Mailchimp, you can increase sales, as it provides features like abandoned cart recovery and product recommendation. Mailchimp is also known for its simplicity, so, you will not have to hire experts or wait until you learn how to use its potential fully to enhance your effectiveness.
Active Campaign: Another effective Act-On marketing software alternative is Active Campaign. It is a versatile marketing automation platform, which is known for providing robust features such as CRM, workflow automation, and email marketing. This Act-On marketing software alternative is particularly suitable for eCommerce businesses that are looking to segment their audiences effectively and personalize their customer interactions.
How to prepare for the future of Workflow Automation?
Now that you have identified the best alternatives to Act-On, let’s explore how you can prepare for the future of workflow automation by choosing the right Act-On marketing software alternative.
Step 1: The first step is to assess your business needs. To do so, you should emphasize your needs, budget, technical expertise, and your business goals. Considering these factors will help you choose the right platform that will not be a waste of money and time.
Step 2: Once you have accessed your needs, your next step should be choosing the right platform. To choose the right platform, you can just compare the capacity and features of the platform with your needs, budget, and technical expertise. Based on this, you can choose from Act-On, EQUP, HubSpot, Mailchimp, or Active Campaign, depending on your specific needs.
Step 3: The step after you have selected a platform is to work on the implementation process. Therefore, you should ensure that the platform you choose can be integrated seamlessly and ensure its seamless integration with your existing eCommerce processes and systems.
Step 4: Once you have ensured seamless integration, the next step is to look for whether or not you need to provide training to your employees to use the platform to its full potential. If you need to provide training, then your next step should be to create a training plan and provide training to your employees. However, Act-On marketing software alternatives like EQUP, do not require expert knowledge to be used to their full potential. In such a case, you can just hold a meeting with your employees to make them aware of the new platform and what you expect to achieve by implementing this platform.
Step 5: The final step is to achieve continuous optimization, as workflow automation is not a one-time endeavor. For this, you should continuously monitor and optimize your automated processes so that you can adapt to changing market dynamics and customer needs as and when needed to stay relevant to your customers and increase your success rate efficiently.
These steps will not only help you choose the right platform that you need for workflow automation and remain ahead of the competition, but they will also ensure that you are prepared for the future of workflow automation.
Getting Started!
Now that you have identified the features of Act-On marketing software, its limitations, why you should invest in alternatives to Act-On, and the best alternative to Act-On, it is time that you start deciding on which workflow automation tool will be best for your E-Commerce business.
Apart from assessing your needs, budget, and technical expertise, you should remember some additional points as well. For instance, when you look for the appropriate alternative to Act-On marketing software, apart from its cost-effectiveness and user-friendly interface, check whether or not this tool provides seamless integration. Within the Act-On marketing software alternatives, some platforms provide features of email marketing, WhatsApp integration, landing pages and forms, and omnichannel communication alongside workflow automation. Choosing a platform that provides all these features under a cost-effective package, can add to greater benefits of your business by increasing your efficiency and relevance to your customers.
Therefore, it is suggested that while choosing the alternative to Act-On marketing software, look for a platform that provides robust features alongside workflow automation and is pocket-friendly while being easy to use at the same time.