We’re big believers in automation and the resulting efficiency gains. One example of this in practice for us has been automating the handling of Houzz orders. Houzz is not a platform supported by any big name multi-channel software providers that I could find at the time; but, they do provide an API and do have a reasonably simple/consistent site that can be scraped/acted upon for features that said API does not provide.
We’ve written software to automate order processing, tracking number entry and return request processing on Houzz. This software saves countless time and provides automated, consistent, and quick responses to customer requests. With our custom integration to our shipping system we can reply to customer return requests with all the information they need to purchase return shipping online should they chose so (including box weights/sizes as shipped).
We’ve also heavily automated the phone system for incoming calls from Houzz staff to give them the information the need to know about our business/processes in order to most efficiently help “our mutual customers”. This includes things like how to check stock, if/when we can take photos in place of returns for refunds for damaged in transit items, etc.