Online retailing has several appealing advantages over brick-and-mortar stores: flexible shopping hours, easy inventory perusal, the convenience of having something shipped right to your door. But one area that can be really challenging to manage from behind your computer screen is building and nurturing customer relationships, something that is inherently easier to do in-person. This is where the importance of CRM tools comes in for e-tailers.
A recent article by Pitney Bowes’ Michael Lazar covered several important facts about CRM software that online retailers need to know. Lazar wrote, “While traditional CRM has been designed to help sales teams improve relationships, the ecommerce variant is helping online retailers capture cross-channel activity to put a name and face to orders while also highlighting shipping activity—in aims of helping retailers improve their bottom line and enhance relationships with customers.”
Lazar’s list is meant to help online retailers better understand the true impact of a CRM strategy and why they need to be implementing technologies that align with the company vision while improving the bottom line.
Some of these facts are as follows:
- The ROI on CRM can equate to an astounding 245 percent. In a recent study that followed more than 2,000 employees at several companies, it was determined, that the actual ROI of CRM is approximately $5 for every $1 that is invested (Forrester).
- Increasing demand has led to mobile CRM solutions, with statistics showing that mobile CRM users achieved at least 65 percent of their sales quotas, as compared to non-mobile users, which achieved just 22 percent (Innoppl Technologies).
- CRM helps reduce the cost of customer service. Recent studies have found that with the right CRM solution in place, businesses can decrease the cost of customer service by as much as 40 percent (Microsoft).
- Leads nurtured by CRM have a higher average conversion value. If your team uses this software to nurture leads, studies show that the average conversions value is 47 percent higher (HubSpot).
- Of all the features offered by modern CRM systems, emailing is the most popular and demanded one, accounting for 60 percent of usage by small and medium businesses (Forbes).
- Forty-seven percent of companies currently using CRM report an increased customer satisfaction rate (Capterra).
You can read all of the fact that Lazar touches on in the original article here and learn more about how sales teams can leverage customer data for ultimate personalization here.
To stay updated on the latest trends and best practices in retail technology, follow us on Twitter and subscribe to our newsletter.
