The biggest asset for any business is the people it is catering to or its end-users. Whether it’s a big, established enterprise or a new, emerging MSME, customers run the show. With a boost from initiatives like Digital India, Make in India, Skill India, and others, e-commerce in India is going through an exciting phase right now. Online portals have paved the way for new businesses to explore new grounds and give them an opportunity to grow. Customer Relationship Management or CRM, hence, becomes an important factor for MSMEs to understand customer behaviour.
What is Ecommerce CRM and how is it related to MSMEs?
Ecommerce CRM is a software that helps store important and relevant data about existing customers and new prospects. It is a neat and compact way of understanding customer behaviour and provides excellent inputs for MSMEs. Ecommerce is a dynamic business and offers immense growth opportunities. CRM helps in improved information handling and better customer interaction. Also, the best part is that it a one-stop location for everything.
What important role does CRM play in MSMEs?
For faster growth MSMEs must develop market opportunities by developing products/services that cater to their customers. To achieve this, customer information is priceless. Some of the advantages of having an Ecommerce CRM for MSMEs are:
- Helps in exploring and acquiring new customers.
- Understanding customer buying pattern aids in better product development and marketing.
- Information on current customers helps develop loyalty programs to retain them and gives them incentives to stay.
- Customer management costs are drastically reduced.
How is Ecommerce CRM different from the regular one?
Regular CRMs are mostly aimed at managing B2B clients and collect information provided by sales reps, logs or counters. However, Ecommerce CRM is different. It integrates existing systems with the company’s website, compiles 360 view of customers and tracks their browsing history. Customer queries can then be routed correctly and handled by an efficient and informed workforce.
- Storing customer history – Customer behaviour like buying trends and habits are great pointers in targeting the right customers in case of new product launch or announcing early bird discounts. Customer preferences help MSMEs understand which products they’ll be likely to invest in. This helps in controlling production costs as they can then develop products that will be received positively. They can also identify successful products, price ranges and sales seasons.
- Proficient team management – Allocation of resources and Ecommerce CRM are closely linked with each other. With this software, customers can be categorised on basis of their buying pattern, e.g. premium customers with taste for expensive products or medium category for loyalty and regularity. MSMEs can identify targeted customer categories and assign right key account managers to them. This will give them an optimum after-sales service and experience.
- Ease in business expansion – MSMEs will always aim at growth, right? Ecommerce CRM helps save time and effort by providing customer data at one place thereby increasing productivity. Investment and allocating resources becomes easier and in effect accelerates business growth. Additionally, it provides insights in training your employees in customer handling leading to better sales.
Online presence helps widen their reach and attracting new customers. Hence, Ecommerce CRM is a priceless investment for MSMEs who aim at getting bigger. After all, investing in customers is the key to business expansion, isn’t it?
© This site A Vibrant Palette is the property of Varsha Bagadia. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Varsha Bagadia and A Vibrant Palette with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
You have give some really interesting ideas here
Very informative blog, thank you for sharing
You are absolutely right CRM plays a vital role in MSME. With good E-CRM merchants gets to know more about the customers expectations with the products, their buying patterns and this allows better marketing
Small businesses form the foundation of a country’s strong commercial infrastructure. Small business success and growth are critical for any country’s prosperity. CRM is commonly misunderstood as being only for large corporations. Here you have mentioned great pointers.
E commerce sites are time saving and hassle free. It gives great deals that saves money too. Very informative and so true that e commerce is the new future.
Ecommerce CRM is a new term to me. Its aghast good to educate yourself about the recent trends in the market. Thanks for sharing such a well conceptualized post.
e commerce platform is a new and great way to grow and reach new customers and using E-commerce CRM is going to be really helpful for the business owners.
As we know customer is the king. Knowing your customer well will definitely help any business to grow. E-CRM is definitely helping ecommerce business in order to understand their customers and act accordingly.
Online presence has given a totally new dimension to many businesses. In the last two years of lockdown Ecommerce has gained momentum. MSMEs need to focus on this aspect for a wider reach.
I think dedicated CRM for online selling by MSMEs is very essential. As even a negative review can be a breaking thing for the brand and company might lose the customers. As you mentioned that it also lets the company analyze customer behavior and also helps in customer acquisition.
I totally agree that a neat and compact way of understanding customer behaviour and provides excellent inputs for MSMEs.
I agree that customer relationship is very important in e-commerce business. And the software you have mentioned will certainly help businesses in maintaining relationships.