The value of automation for small businesses

In today’s rapidly evolving digital world, small businesses are constantly trying to find ways to streamline processes and enhance productivity.

A report by McKinsey & Company found that 50% of work can be automated today; therefore, automation can be a game-changer when empowering small business owners to take control of their success, and maintain loyalty to the businesses that serve them.

In addition, the World Economic Forum: Future Readiness of SMEs Report published in 2022 identified that digital process innovation is a top digital transformation recommendation.

At BaseKit, we understand our partners’ challenges in serving small business customers. That’s why we’re excited to highlight the transformative power of automation through our integration with Zapier. It was a key feature in our 2023 Connect Vision – designed to mitigate the complexities and potential business failure for small businesses tirelessly managing many different apps, accounting packages and spreadsheets at once.

The integration allows customers to automate store and appointment transactions between BaseKit and over 5,000 other applications they could already be using to run their business. Let’s explore how automation can help small businesses and how BaseKit’s solutions empower partners to deliver these benefits to their customers.

1. Increased efficiency and productivity

Automation can increase productivity by 20-35%

Automation is essential for small businesses to achieve efficiency. Automating repetitive tasks such as data entry and invoicing allows small business owners to focus on more impactful activities that promote growth and innovation.

A study by McKinsey & Company also reveals that businesses that successfully implement automation and digitisation can experience a 20-35% increase in productivity.

BaseKit provides small businesses with an intuitive website builder and e-commerce platform to easily manage their online presence so entrepreneurs can focus on strategic decision-making and customer engagement.

By integrating with over 5,000 applications through Zapier, businesses can automate tasks such as order processing and customer data management, which not only saves time for more critical activities but also ensures a seamless workflow.

For example, an event like ‘receiving a new order’ can be sent to Zapier and connected to any application the small business may already be using to manage their business, that can accept the order content.

Our Customers application, released early in 2023, is a single place to view and export all customer and transactional data. With Zapier small businesses can seamlessly connect this data with other applications such as an email marketing platform to send a sales offer only to customers who have purchased a product in the past 12 months.

2. Cost savings and resource optimisation

Automation can save businesses up to 30% in costs

One advantage of automation is its potential for significant cost savings. Indeed McKinsey & Company say this can be up to 30% for businesses who implement it successfully.

By decreasing the requirement for manual labour in routine tasks, small businesses can optimise resources, allocate them more effectively, and minimise the risk of costly mistakes, providing financial security and confidence.

BaseKit’s solutions, such as its appointment software , streamline operations by automating appointment scheduling and payment processing. For example, when a new order is received, it can automatically be sent to other connected applications, which reduces manual data entry and potential errors. Another example is automating the creation and sending of invoices based on BaseKit transactions, which reduces the likelihood of billing errors or discrepancies.

3. Enhanced accuracy and consistency

68% of businesses have enhanced data accuracy with automation

Automation can significantly improve the accuracy and consistency of a small business’s operations, ensuring seamless and efficient processes that minimise the risk of errors and enhance customer satisfaction.

Research conducted by the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM) revealed that 68% of businesses reported enhanced data accuracy after adopting automation. Automation streamlines operations and improves data quality, which is essential for making informed business decisions and providing better customer service.

BaseKit’s e-commerce platform ensures accurate inventory management and order processing for enhanced customer satisfaction. You can automate customer data from BaseKit to CRM systems or other databases to ensure customer information is always up-to-date and accurate across all platforms.

4. Improved customer experience

35% of SMBs say using automation delivers better customer service and support

Customer experience is crucial to business success. Adding automation can enhance the ability to deliver seamless, responsive service that meets today’s consumer’ expectations. According to Zapier, 35% of SMBs say using automation allows them to provide better customer service and support.

BaseKit’s solutions enable small businesses to offer 24/7 online booking, instant e-commerce transactions, and consistent branding across all digital touchpoints.

This level of automation improves customer satisfaction by providing convenience and consistency. For instance, you can automatically send follow-ups, notifications, or actions-based communication based on customer interactions, ensuring a consistent and personalised customer experience. This automation helps businesses build lasting customer relationships and enhance their brand reputation.

There’s a lot of evidence to prove that aAdopting automation offers significant benefits for small businesses. Increased efficiency, cost savings, improved accuracy, and being able to offer an enhanced customer experience are just some of the most impactful ways it can help businesses thrive.

At BaseKit our vision is to enable our partners to serve packages with more valuable and time efficient software, and a better online experience for their customers.

OurStore and Bookings products, together with the Customers application have a powerful means to bring simple, effective automation to our partners’ small business customers with Zapier. By automating operations they can free up time to focus on providing a better service, building lasting customer relationships and positioning themselves for sustainable growth in today’s competitive digital landscape.

We’re on a mission for tech democracy for small businesses.

If you’re an existing BaseKit partner and need further information about any features or products mentioned in this article or are interested in the Zapier integration, please contact your account manager.

Not already a partner? Get in touch to try out our software and discuss what a BaseKit partnership could look like for your company.

We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. View more
Cookies settings
Accept
Privacy & Cookie policy
Privacy & Cookies policy
Cookie name Active
Privacy Policy

  1. Introduction This privacy policy sets out how we use and protect any information that you provide to BaseKit. We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Any personal information you provide when using our products or services will only be used in accordance with this policy. Note that this policy does not cover how we use and protect information provided to us from website builder customers. If you are a Go Sitebuilder customer, please see the Go Sitebuilder Privacy Policy. If you are a customer of another company that offers BaseKit’s website builder, please see the company’s privacy policy available via their website. We may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from January 2019.  

2. What information we collect We may collect the information you provide when you get in touch with us via the website, email, or phone.
  • You transfer your information to us via the website by filling in and submitting a form. We offer a number of different forms to help you find out more about the products and services we offer.
  • We have a number of different email addresses you can use to contact us. If you’re not sure which one to use then we recommend you send an email to support@basekit.com
  • We don’t provide a central phone number but BaseKit team members may provide their direct phone number for you to contact them.
 

3. How we use the information The information that we collect and store about you is primarily used to help us to stay in touch with you to provide our products and services. However, we may also use your information:
  • To improve our products and services
  • To send promotional email communications about special offers, news, product updates or other information which we think you may find interesting
  • To contact you for market research purposes
Note that we will only use your information as described in 3 and 4 above when you have explicitly opted in to receive such communications. You may opt out of these communications at any time by clicking the Unsubscribe link in any email or by sending a request to support@basekit.com  

4. Storing your personal data We store the data we collect using third party tools such as CRMs and databases. Any data we store is only accessible directly by a small number of authorised staff. The third parties that we use may store your data in locations outside of the EEA. We carefully review each supplier to ensure they handle data in line with this policy. We will store your data for as long as you remain a customer of BaseKit, or where you have actively been in contact with us about our products and services. We will keep data for up to 5 years if you’re not a customer or if we don’t hear from you.  

5. Security We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic, and managerial processes to secure and safeguard the data we collect and store. The transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent to us electronically. The transmission of data is entirely at your own risk.  

6. How we use cookies A cookie is a small file which allows websites and apps to identify individual users and store information about each user’s preferences. A cookie does not give access to any more information than a user chooses to provide. We use cookies:
  • To identify where visitors to the website came from
  • To identify the content that is being viewed
The third party suppliers that we work with may also use cookies for similar purposes. We carefully review each supplier to ensure they handle data in line with this policy. You may choose to enable or disable cookies. Most web browsers automatically enable cookies, but you can usually modify a browser’s settings to disable cookies if you prefer. If you disable cookies you may not be able to take full advantage of our websites.  

7. Disclosing your information We may disclose your information to third party suppliers that we work with to provide our products and services. We carefully review each supplier to ensure they handle data in line with this policy. We may also disclose your information where we are required to do so by law.  

8. Controlling your personal information You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:
  • When providing any information to BaseKit via this website, you may opt in to receive promotional email communications.
  • If you receive a promotional email, you may opt out by clicking the Unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email.
  • At any time you can opt out of promotional email communications by sending a request to support@basekit.com
  • If you would like us to delete all the information we have collected about you, send a request to support@basekit.com
  • If you would like to otherwise restrict the use of the information we have collected about you, send a request to support@basekit.com
  • Should you wish to access the information we hold about you, please send a request to support@basekit.com
Save settings
Cookies settings