Choosing a CRM system for an online store

Effective management of an online store in 2024 is impossible to imagine without using a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system. According to Grand View Research, the global market for CRM systems will reach $96.5 billion by 2027, and its growth will be largely driven by the development of e-commerce.

CRM implementation helps online retailers to personalize interaction with each customer, monitor the effectiveness of advertising, forecast demand and optimize the assortment, and automate routine processes. As a result, companies using CRM increase sales by an average of 29% and improve customer satisfaction by 35% (source: Salesforce).

Many major Ukrainian eCommerce players, such as Rozetka, Nova Poshta, Moyo, and EVA, are already successfully using CRM. But the benefits of this tool are available not only to market leaders - any online store can find a solution that suits its budget and tasks.

In this article, we will analyze the main features and capabilities of CRM for online retail, compare ready-made and custom systems, and provide a step-by-step plan for choosing and implementing one. Let's get started!

What is a CRM system for an online store

CRM for an online store is a set of software tools for managing relationships with customers at all stages of their life cycle: from the first contact to repeat purchases and recommendations to friends.

The main task of such a system is to combine customer data from all points of interaction (website, social networks, messengers, email newsletters, call center) and give businesses a single picture of working with the audience. This is where CRM comes in:

• Segment the customer base by gender, age, purchase history, and other characteristics
• Launch personalized advertising campaigns and promotions for different categories of customers
• Control the quality of service, the speed of processing orders and claims
• Analyze the effectiveness of advertising channels and traffic quality
• Forecast demand, plan purchases, and manage warehouse inventory
• Automate sending transactional and triggered emails, notifications about order status
• Create sales funnels and track the movement of customers through them
• Set tasks for managers and evaluate their performance

According to the Capterra survey, 47% of companies implement CRM to improve the quality of customer service, 45% to increase sales, 39% to maintain the customer base, and 33% to control the work of employees.

An example of the successful use of CRM by a Ukrainian online store is the case of Yakaboo. After implementing the cloud-based Bitrix24 system, the company was able to automate order processing, segment customers by frequency and amount of purchases, and personalize email campaigns. As a result, the conversion rate of newsletters increased by 30%, and repeat sales by 24%.

Another case is the online perfume and cosmetics store Makeup. Using CRM capabilities, the company launched a loyalty program that uses various reward and communication mechanics for 9 customer segments - from beginners to VIPs. This allowed the company to increase the average check by 15% and the share of repeat orders from 40% to 58% over the year.

Key CRM features for an online store

Modern CRM systems offer a wide range of options for automating the work of an online store. Let's consider the main functions that will be relevant in 2024.

Customer information management is the foundation of any CRM. The system aggregates data from all communication channels: website, social networks, messengers, email, call center. The system creates a single customer profile with their contacts, preferences, purchase history, and requests. This makes it possible to segment the base according to various criteria and personalize the interaction.

Sales automation and control is another key function. CRM allows you to manage all stages of the funnel: from lead generation to closing the deal and repeat sales. The system helps to set tasks for managers, monitor deadlines, and analyze conversion by stage and channel. The use of CRM increases sales efficiency by an average of 34% (Salesforce).

Omnichannel marketing tools make it possible to manage advertising campaigns from a single center, whether contextual advertising, email campaigns, SMS, push notifications, or social media posts. CRM helps to tailor content to the interests of the audience, automate sending, and evaluate ROI for each channel.

Shops that use CRM-based personalization report a 10-15% increase in conversion (Accenture).

Product catalog and warehouse management functionality synchronizes assortment data between the website, CRM, accounting system, and warehouse programs. This helps to track the availability of goods, sales dynamics of individual SKUs, automatically update the catalog, plan purchases and sales.

Automating document flow through CRM saves managers' time, reduces the risk of errors, and increases customer loyalty. The system is able to automatically create contracts, invoices, waybills, reconciliation acts based on order data and send them to the client. Electronic document management speeds up processes by an average of 40% (M-Files).

Analytical reports and dashboards accumulate data from all CRM blocks: marketing, sales, service, warehouse, and finance. With their help, businesses can evaluate performance by different segments:

• Dynamics of revenue and average check by product categories, customer segments, managers
• The depth of product review, the percentage of failures, and the return rate
• Speed of processing requests and claims in the service center
• Conversion of advertising campaigns and channels
• Analytics by segments of loyal, dormant, and departed customers

A Capterra survey has shown that using CRM increases team productivity by 47%, improves analytical reporting by 42%, and makes it easier to find the right information by 39%.

Essential components of a modern CRM for eCommerce

When choosing a CRM for an online store in 2024, pay attention to the following technical characteristics and integration capabilities:

1. Deployment model: cloud or on-premise. Cloud-based CRM (SaaS) is faster to implement, requires no hardware costs, and is easy to scale. But if speed and data security are critical to you, choose an on-premise system on your own servers.
2. Integrations with telephony and instant messengers allow you to record the entire history of communications with the client, use a virtual PBX, take orders and consult through the channels familiar to the user (Viber, WhatsApp, Telegram). A survey by Eurasian Insights showed that 63% of Ukrainians prefer to communicate with brands through messengers.
3. Data import/export and database migration are critical if you are switching to a new CRM with an already established customer base. Evaluate the possibilities of transferring order history, balances, and other data from accounting systems (1C, Excel, CSV).
4. An open API and ready-made integration modules simplify two-way synchronization of CRM with your business applications: a website on popular CMS (Magento, OpenCart, WooCommerce), ERP, delivery services (Nova Poshta, UkrPoshta), payment systems (LiqPay, Portmone), call tracking, warehouse software.
5. Tools for teamwork and task setting include a calendar, notes, reminders, kanban boards, and the ability to set tasks and control deadlines. This functionality is available in 67% of CRM systems (Capterra). It helps to distribute responsibilities between sales and service departments, and to service each order in a timely manner.

Additionally, evaluate the usability of the interface, the availability of training materials, the level of support, and feedback from CRM customers in your niche. The most popular CRM systems in Ukraine are Bitrix24, amoCRM, Megaplan, Salesforce, and Hubspot. But there is no one-size-fits-all solution - only the one that fits your specific tasks and budget.

Advantages of custom CRM development for online stores

Despite the wide selection of ready-made CRM systems on the market, many large online stores prefer to develop solutions for their tasks. According to an ITCua survey, 39% of Ukrainian companies use custom CRMs.

What are the main advantages of this approach for eCommerce projects?

First of all, it is the maximum compliance of the functionality with the company's business processes. Off-the-shelf CRMs always have unnecessary modules and lack specific functions. When you develop from scratch, you get a system that is tailored strictly to your sales, marketing, and service. This means higher employee adaptation and efficiency of use.

Second, unlimited integration and scalability. Online stores use many external services and platforms: website, ERP, call center, delivery services, payment gateways, loyalty systems. It is easier to combine all these disparate data sources into a single space and set up real-time exchange through custom development.

In addition, a self-hosted CRM is designed for high loads from the very beginning and can be quickly expanded as your business grows, whether it's entering new markets, expanding your product range, or increasing traffic.

The third advantage is full control over the data. When you use an off-the-shelf solution, you actually entrust your customer base and commercial information to a third-party provider. And in the case of custom development, all the data is stored on your servers and is securely protected.

This is especially important for stores that process personal data and payment information. Self-hosted CRM allows you to implement multi-level access, encryption, and leakage protection in full compliance with GDPR and PCI DSS requirements.

And finally, there are no regular payments or license restrictions. Yes, the initial investment in developing a custom CRM is higher. But in the long run, these costs pay off, because you only pay for the server and support, not a monthly subscription for each user.

In addition, you can develop a mobile version of CRM or a special application for the convenience of field employees (couriers, merchandisers). And you can also use CRM as a platform for implementing loyalty programs, marketing automation, and a personal customer account. Thus, a single self-written system solves a set of eCommerce business tasks at once.

Stages of developing your own CRM for an online store

Let's say the benefits of a custom CRM have convinced you. How do you start developing it? Let's highlight the main stages and approximate implementation timeframes.

• Audit of business processes and requirements (2-4 weeks).
  At this stage, it is important to describe in detail all the scenarios for using CRM: how orders will be accepted and processed, how the sales funnel is built, by what rules the database should be segmented, what metrics to consider, etc. From these introductory questions, a detailed development specification is formed.
• Designing architecture and interfaces (1-2 months).
  The architect and business analyst determine which technologies and approaches are best to use, which modules and integrations are needed, and how the system components will interact. UX/UI designers work on the interfaces of the main screens and the logic of transitions.
• Development of the server and client parts (3-6 months).
  This is the most laborious stage, where a team of programmers and testers comes into play. They implement the designed functionality, interfaces, analytics algorithms, integration mechanisms, etc. They use technologies such as PHP (Laravel, Symfony), JavaScript, React, Angular, Java, .NET, 1C, and mobile frameworks.

Development is iterative, with progress demonstrated every 2-4 weeks. This allows you to quickly adjust requirements and control quality.

• Data migration and integration with external systems (1-2 months).
  After the basic functionality is ready, you need to transfer the accumulated data on customers, orders, and goods to the new CRM. To do this, we develop connectors and migration scripts from accounting systems, CMS, CRM, Excel spreadsheets, and other sources.

Also at this stage, integration with third-party services takes place: setting up data exchange, checking the correctness of uploading, testing end-to-end scenarios.

• User training and launch (2-4 weeks).
  Before launching into commercial operation, it is important to train employees to work in the new system. For this purpose, reference documentation, video instructions, and trainings are prepared.

CRM is deployed on product servers, tested under load, and integrated with backup and monitoring systems. After the final acceptance test, the system is put into operation.

The further development of CRM involves analyzing usage indicators, collecting feedback from business units, and planning the development of functionality in line with business growth and market changes. It is important to regularly allocate resources to support and develop the system to ensure its long-term effectiveness.

On average, a project to develop a custom CRM for an online store takes 6-12 months, depending on the scale and depth of integration. However, with proper planning, the first benefits can be obtained in 3-4 months in the form of automation of key scenarios and reduction of manual labor for managers.

Practical recommendations for implementing CRM in an online store

So, you have decided to implement CRM - congratulations, this is an important step in the digital transformation of your business! To ensure that the project doesn't stall and brings the expected results, we recommend following this action plan:

1. Define project goals and KPIs. What exactly are you implementing CRM for? Reduce order processing time, increase email conversion, prevent customer loss? Record your current performance and set measurable goals for 3, 6, 12 months. This is necessary to objectively evaluate the impact of the project.
2. Make a plan for a phased transition. You don't have to revolutionize everything at once. It's better to act iteratively: first, transfer your customer base to CRM, then automate order processing, then set up integration with advertising channels, and so on. This way, you won't paralyze operational processes and will be able to reap the first benefits faster.
3. Motivate employees. People are the most important factor in the success of a CRM project. It's not enough to just deliver a new program to managers, you need to explain its value to their daily work. Training, gamification, KPIs for CRM activity, rewarding the best users - all this will help create a culture of a data-driven approach.
4. Analyze metrics regularly and optimize processes. Installing CRM is the start of the journey, not the finish. It's important to continuously measure the system's usage, compare it with business metrics, identify weaknesses, and make adjustments. Almost all CRMs have built-in analytics tools - use them to the fullest.
5. Adapt business processes and roles. CRM implementation will inevitably lead to changes in the usual algorithms of the sales, marketing, and customer service departments. Some functions will be redistributed, and some routine operations will become a thing of the past. Don't be afraid to change the organizational structure and employee motivation to suit the new realities.

According to a Forrester study, 50% of companies are dissatisfied with the results of CRM projects due to resistance to change and low management involvement. That's why it's so important to enlist the support of top management and consistently move towards your goals, involving the entire team.