«E-commerce Automation» is the use of software tools designed to convert tasks, processes, or campaigns into automation that run intelligently and exactly when needed. This is how companies can do more with what they have.

While some aspects of business activities still require human input, a significant number of tasks can be successfully automated. Automation works best for small, repetitive daily tasks that are always done consistently.

E-commerce automation is provided by intelligent platforms that adapt to the actions, contributions, or reactions of website users. At the heart of these capabilities is artificial intelligence (AI), which can mimic human actions and thought processes to a limited extent - although it is nowhere near as limited as it was in its early days.

The basic types of automation are performed by a simple AI with a list of criteria that triggers certain tasks such as sending an email after a predefined period of time following a customer's action. AI is also capable of performing more advanced tasks, and some AI functions can improve and develop their own programming through Machine Learning.

Machine Learning is a method of improving the "Intelligence" of AI by absorbing new information based on user interactions. This allows the AI to become more efficient over time and provide visitors with a more personalized experience.

For example, Machine Learning can be used to improve search functions in an online store by using data provided by customers when they search: the keyword they search for and the products they click on. From this information, the AI can learn which products in the search results are most likely to be relevant to the keyword used. These items will then be placed at the top of the search results for that keyword.

A customer service chatbot is another useful form of AI for Ecommerce that relies heavily on Machine Learning. Chatbots simulate a live chat with a company representative. They are not meant to replicate a conversation with a human, but they can gather information through the customer's responses and use it in a number of ways. Chatbots can answer certain questions and direct a visitor to the right department based on their answers if necessary. They can also make product recommendations and help the customer find what they are looking for. Machine Learning allows the chatbot to improve its automatic answers and to be more organic - and more "human" - towards the customers.

Automation offers many benefits to E-commerce, some tasks can be extremely valuable to the business, but simply cannot be done manually. The majority of these tasks involve constantly monitoring and collecting information, looking up certain parameters, and then processing them through a certain procedure (e.g. sending an email, reporting orders, adding customers to specific segments). Automation allows the software to process all this data and proceed accordingly.

The most obvious benefit of «Ecommerce Automation»  is the time saved. When the most subtle part of the workload is taken care of by the software, brands could focus on building their businesses and engaging their customers.

Consistency and accuracy are related benefits. As opposed to manual work, in which constant monitoring of procedures is required, with the possibility of human error. E-commerce automation allows tasks to be handled more professionally while relieving employees of some of the burden.